Region & Place

We are here, in part, because choices made in big places have worked against rural places and rural people.

"Would that thou couldst last for aye, Merry, ever merry May" --William D. Gallagher Well, it can't. But herewith my May column from The American Conservative on...

The explosive growth in wilderness-designated land is one of the few modern desert Southwest trends of which I heartily approve. In 1975, Arizona had several hundred thousand acres of designated wilderness; now there are something like 4.8 million acres in 92 units. Fedeally managed or not, I approve. And I cite Edward Abbey as my authority.

If voting for your favorite baseball player doesn't prove his greatness, does the same lesson apply to your favorite or even your own community?

On the threshold between two unchosen ways of life - one of commitments, the other of choices. Both give rise to discontents, but ours today makes them a way of life.

But how can such plural sovereignty be realised under the circumstances of this century? Who will guard the guardians, so to speak? How will the stones of the arch fit together?

JEFFERSON COUNTY, KANSAS. It's been seventy years since John Steuart Curry unveiled his masterpiece murals on the walls of the Kansas State House.  Their...