When you get a chance, take a look at a documentary that Jason Swanson and I just produced. It’s aired on TV6 and Fox UP and it’s now posted on the web. You can link to it here Spirit of Hiawatha
It’s called “The Spirit of Hiawatha” chronicling the last Hiawatha Traditional Music Festival in July. I first went to Hiawatha 6 years ago when I was considering coming to Marquette, and the festival convinced me this was a place I could live in and like.
Ever since, I’ve wanted to do a documentary on it because it’s so rich with video and sound.
Now we’ve finally done it, and I’m happy to say it met my expectations, thanks in huge part to Jason Swanson, the young videographer and editor who worked his butt off shooting everything he could at the festival, and then worked his magic in the editing booth.
I think the program does, in fact, capture the spirit of Hiawatha, and does justice to the skills of the musicians, as well.
I hadn’t done anything like this since I left Miami two decades ago, and it’s good to get back into it. The dream for any TV journalist is to do long-form pieces.
In the meantime, Money in the Ground continues to sell. It’s now available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble’s website, as well as as stores throughout the UP, and of course right here on this website.
And in recent weeks, I’ve been consumed with a project I’m collaborating on with the painter, Paul Grant. We’re putting together a coffee-table style book on his art as it reflects the UP, the culture, and the residents here. Very rewarding. We expect to have it out at the beginning of December.
A second novel on Yoopers is also underway.
Keeping busy and trying to keep cool during a warm and humid UP summer