In his latest book,
“Walking Briskly Toward the Sunset,” Jim Klobuchar tells of a
hairy weekend in the northwoods, where he skied and camped alone in the
middle of winter, experiencing for the first time in his life a day
when he did not see another human, did not hear another voice.
What he did hear and see at close range was a
conclave of wild wolves on a frozen lake, probably prowling for game.
After pausing to scan the scene—briefly—he made tracks in another
direction when the howling got serious.
In another part of the book he tells of a different
kind of edginess, at the beginning of a courtship several years after
he had been enrolled in the society of the Social Security
generation. His first act on their first date was to tentatively
place a forearm on the armrest of a theater seat, intending to make a
quiet and subtle hand and wrist contact with his companion. It was the
latest plunge into adventure in a long career of exploring new ground.
To learn the outcome, you’ll want to read the episodes he calls
Falling in Love on an AARP Card.
In 44 years of daily journalism, Jim Klobuchar
brought to the world the news of John F. Kennedy’s presidential victory
in 1960 via a wire service teletype, danced with Ginger Rogers
and took his readers to Himalayan mountain tops and the chaos of
athletic arenas. But he also took them into the troubled hearts of
voiceless human beings left behind in the midst of the country’s
power and riches.
He wrote a daily column for the Minneapolis Star
Tribune for 30 years and was also familiar to television and radio
audiences. His 21 books have ranged from “True Hearts and Purple
Heads,” the hilarious biography of a football team, to a candid account
of his recovery from alcoholism. He retired from daily newspapering but
quickly discovered that writing is more or less a pathological
condition. He quickly
re-enlisted as an occasional contributor to the Christian Science
Monitor, which in 2003 nominated him for a Pulitzer Prize. He also
joined the free-wheeling multitudes who write weblogs trying to make
sense of the country's tumultuous politics and the course America is
taking--or deploring it.
In “Walking Briskly Toward the Sunset,” he gathers
some of the material he’s written since he retired from daily
newspapering. He reminisces about another time in America, and other
times in his life. He comes to the reader as journalist, adventurer and
couch quarterback. He shares hours of excitement or amusement and what
he now recognizes as a self-indulgence that damaged the lives of some
of the people closest to him. His tells of his reconcilations and
fulfillments and discoveries that came later.
“Walking Briskly Toward the Sunset” can be obtained
at book stores or by contacting the publisher, Nodin Press in
Minneapolis at 612-333-6300 or at:
It is also available at Amazon. com. Through a misunderstanding in the
early marketing, Amazon listed the book as “Walking Briskly Into the
Sunset.” If the correct title fails to link in the Amazon search bar,
try Walking Briskly. It should work. Amazon offers its usual discount
from the retail price of $18.95. The book comes in hardback cover.
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