JIM HEFFERNAN'S BLOG

A & Dubs is back!

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Heffernan) — Sat, 19 May 2012 19:38:00 +0000

Hey... made it to A & Dubs (on Facebook) for the first time this season. Thanks to Perfect Duluth Day for the heads up notifying readers that they're open for the season. I had my usual frosty...

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Zenith City where east meets west...

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Heffernan) — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:02:00 +0000

Zenith City Online The new Zenith City Online web site is up and running and a fun place to browse, especially for those of us who delight in historic Duluth. As I mentioned previously, I'm writing...

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Duluth's Tycoons in New York Times

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Heffernan) — Mon, 14 May 2012 15:29:00 +0000

Heads up for those of you coming to Duluth this summer... Tycoons, a new alehouse in downtown Duluth, recently opened its doors and provides good eating in a vintage Duluth atmosphere. Owners, Tim...

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The Lone Ranger rides again--on stranger plains

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Heffernan) — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 02:21:00 +0000

By Jim Heffernan Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear when, from out of the past, come the thundering hoof beats of the great horse Silver. The Lone Ranger rides again. I...

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Smelt memories...

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Heffernan) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 17:27:00 +0000

Dan Kraker, Minnesota Public Radio reporter, interviewed me for a Duluth smelt run piece that aired yesterday. I'm on air very briefly but we had a fun time at the Duluth Grill discussing the glory...

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Lost Duluth and Zenith City Online Launch...

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Heffernan) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 19:30:00 +0000

Below are the details of the event launching the new book exploring Duluth's past, "Lost Duluth," by Maryanne C. Norton and Tony Dierckins. I had the pleasure of reading several chapters as the book...

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Mayors stage dive for Trampled by Turtles Day in Minneapolis and Duluth

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Heffernan) — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 03:49:00 +0000

It's official. It's Trampled by Turtles Day in Minneapolis and Duluth and the two Minnesota cities' mayors, RT Rybak and Don Ness, not only proclaimed it, they took stage dives at the proclamation...

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A penny for your thoughts and $50 for a tank of gas...

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Heffernan) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 05:39:00 +0000

By Jim Heffernan If you are a certain age (and I am most certainly of that certain age) you can remember when things seemed a lot cheaper than they do today, even making mental adjustments for...

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Where have all the pseudo-intellectuals gone?

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Heffernan) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 23:58:00 +0000

By Jim Heffernan The Republicans running for president have been fueling suspicion of intellectuals, especially elite intellectuals like the Harvard faculty (as opposed to the first 500 names in...

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Minnesotans rein...

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Heffernan) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 05:31:00 +0000

What do Minnesotans do when they vacation in warm climates during the winter? They form "Minnesota Clubs" and get together with others hailing from Minnesota and who are all thrilled to enjoy a...

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Lost Duluth documentary airs March 8.....

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Heffernan) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 05:18:00 +0000

Be sure to tune in to Duluth's WDSE-TV this Thursday (March 8) at 8:30 p.m to learn about a part of Duluth's history–now vanished–in what promises to be a most interesting...

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Cop shop memories: If the walls of the vacated Duluth police headquarters could talk...

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Heffernan) — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 19:55:00 +0000

By Jim Heffernan So, the Duluth Police Department has moved out of its long-time headquarters in City Hall. It’s the end of an era. I hate to put that in such a clichéd way, but it really is,...

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Severity of blizzards increases over time...

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Heffernan) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 19:33:00 +0000

By Jim Heffernan As this is being written (midday Feb. 29), the Duluth area is being hit by a massive blizzard with near-hurricane-force winds, heavy snowfall, drifting and disruptions to civil...

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Me and Dmitri and Vladimir and Luciano

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Heffernan) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 20:55:00 +0000

By Jim Heffernan I frequently think in terms of degrees of separation between people. The reigning theory is that everyone is about six steps away, by way of introduction, from any other person...

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A Kennedy affair to remember–even in Duluth...

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Heffernan) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:22:00 +0000

By Jim Heffernan Still another of President John F. Kennedy’s extra-marital girlfriends – some call them mistresses, quite accurately it turns out – has written a book about their affair that is...

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Mardi Gras hype...

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Heffernan) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:49:00 +0000

We arrived safe and sound to our vacation destination and found that the merriment of Mardi Gras has already begun. Until we experienced the madness down here in the Land of Mardi Gras, we had no...

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The land of Mardi Gras....

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Heffernan) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:56:00 +0000

I've been a bit busy lately with some other writing tasks and just a busy life. And now– here it is–time for me and my wife to travel south on our winter vacation for (we hope) some sunshine and warm...

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A short jaunt up the North Shore by way of the digestive system...

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Heffernan) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 20:31:00 +0000

By Jim Heffernan Split Rock Lighthouse As I lay on the operating table last week waiting for the anesthetic to take effect before the start of an extremely invasive procedure, the woman nurse...

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Here's news for Bachmann: America not missing...

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Heffernan) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 22:54:00 +0000

By Jim Heffernan Before Michele Bachmann got to the point in her withdrawal speech in which she said she would “step aside” from her presidential campaign after finishing dead last in the Iowa...

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A Christmas Gift: When my Grandma played Jingle Bells

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Heffernan) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 06:12:00 +0000

Note: My mother, Ruth Heffernan (a local church organist and choir director, now deceased), could play the piano with skill and feeling. It was when Ruth sat down at the piano at Christmas time to...

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Christmas Memories: The Coal Man cometh, with the Night Stalker not far behind...

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Heffernan) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 20:15:00 +0000

By Jim Heffernan One of my grandsons, a five-year-old kindergartner, is concerned that he might be getting a lump of coal for Christmas. We all know why he has that concern, although lumps of...

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Devil missing from hell; said lurking in details...

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Heffernan) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 19:18:00 +0000

By Jim Heffernan Here’s some good news you won’t find in the mainstream media – just in time for the holidays. DATELINE HELL -- Officials here announced today that the devil has gone missing....

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When wolves almost got the deerslayer...

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Heffernan) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 21:20:00 +0000

By Jim Heffernan Firearms deer hunting season is over in Minnesota, but the Wisconsin nimrods are still going at it. I do not hunt, but my father did – deer only. Never partridge or ducks...

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Reflections on 11/11/11: The ignominious final salute to an ancient uniform...

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Heffernan) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 23:38:00 +0000

By Jim Heffernan WWI campaign hat Veterans Day 2011, or, as everyone has noticed, 11/11/11. The first Veterans Day – marking the armistice among the World War I belligerents – was signed on...

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Trick or treat, smell my feet...

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Heffernan) — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 01:01:00 +0000

By Jim Heffernan First Captain Underpants book Three of my grandchildren – boys ranging in age from 3 to 5 – are getting geared up for Halloween, it should go without saying. It’s a great...

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