Lost Lake Folk Opera V6 – Covid-19 2020 Special Issue

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Lost Lake Folk Opera

Covid-19 2020 Special Issue

$12.99 – Purchase online

Writers reflect on Covid-19, the border closings, quarantines, lockdowns; George Floyd and the aftermath of peaceful protests hijacked by riotous smashers, looters, arsonists; U.S. Census work in Boston, Buddhist meditation in Bali, and so much more.

FEATURING

Emilio DeGrazia

Larry Gavin

Julie A. Ryan

Louis Martinelli

Emilio Regina

Jennifer Wang

Becky Boling

Steve McCown

Jim Johnson

Waliyullah Tunde Abimbola

A.S. Arcilesi

James Petrillo

Michael Crane

Janet Preus

Dan Butterfass

Neale Torgrimson

Wm. Anthony Connolly

Lee Henschel Jr.

Rob Hardy

Raymond Luczak

David Patt

Mercury-Marvin Sunderland

Roger McKnight

Imani Skipwith

D.E. Green

Justin Watkins

Kemuel DeMoville

Delta Eddy

Tom Driscoll

Lost Lake Folk Opera V5N2

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From deep inside the Polar Vortex – the Dark Ice of the Moon, Winter 2018-2019 issue.

 

Featuring
Short plays by Lee Gundersheimer & Emilio Regina
John Torgrimson from Guantanamo—On Asylum.
& Jon Welsh inside the State Funeral of
George Herbert Walker Bush Nametag Peggy by Dan Butterfass
Looking for a horse poem after an eye exam by Scott Lowery
Department of Catastrophe Management by Neale Torgrimson
Club of Stars, a fragment from the forthcoming memoir by Maria Sousa Hogan
Scott Lowery
Maria L. Sousa Hogan
Holly Day
Lee Gundersheimer
Christopher G. Bremicker
Andy Roberts
Tomer Klein
Dave Hunter
David Carkhuff
Dan Butterfass
Neale Torgrimson
Jim Johnson
Folk Opera Book Review—
Text for Our Nomadic Future, poems by Jim Johnson
Micheal Akutagawa
Hrithik Rana
G. L. Rockey
Jon Welsh
Wayne Farmer
John Torgrimson
Emilio Regina
Tom Driscoll

Lost Lake Folk Opera V5N1

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Special Poets Laureate Issue

to celebrate the Fifth Anniversary of Folk Opera

 30 Stellar Contributors, including 6 past & present poets laureate

Poets Laureate
Joyce Sutphen • Minnesota Poet Laureate. Four Poems of the Road. Ken McCullough • Winona Poet Laureate. The Bear Husband – John Osa & Ursula. Rob Hardy • Northfield Poet Laureate. Three Poems – Rebecca, Jane & Light. Nicholle Ramsey • Winona Associate Laureate. Two Poems – Water and Sand. Jim Johnson • Duluth Laureate Emeritus. Two Trout Tales from Minnesota and Iowa. Emilio DeGrazia • Winona Laureate Emeritus. Late Thoughts – at the Mayo Clinic ER. 

Short fiction & essays                        

Anne Muccino. Dalia & J.T. Christopher Bremicker. Relapse. Justin Watkins. John Bass & other prose.  Jim Miles. My First Hunt. Steve Cooke. Lawn Adventures. Roger McKnight.Burnt Potatoes. John Torgrimson. Feast & Requiem. James Petrillo. Ashyer. Dan Coffey. Nowhere to Go. Nancy Palker. Zipper Lady. Ken Kakareka. Cabrón. Ken Fliés. Dog Days of Winter

Poetry                     

Steve McCown. Six Poems. Lee Henschel Jr. Forty Lenten Haiku. Tufik Y. Shayeb. Three Poems. Robert Wooten. Four Poems. Michael Ceraolo. Eighty Days. Kay Bosgraff. Three Poems.  Steve Toth.Three Poems. Steve Schild. Three Poems. Ed Schwartz. Five Poems. Marcus Hines. Three Poems. Nicole Borg. Waiting for the Prince. Ken McCullough. The Levee: Then and Now

Everybody has one — Op-Ed                        

Tom Driscoll v5n2. My Crystal Ball

Into the Backlands—a Peace Corps Memoir

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Ken Fliés

An uplifting two year odyssey of a young man to Brazil and back home again.

 $17.95 – buy a print copy


A spirited memoir of Ken Fliés’ wild odyssey from the dairy farm in southeast Minnesota to the Backlands of Brazil in 1962, where he learned about the frustrations and joys of rural community development, the satisfaction and longing that comes from genuine friendship, and back home again, a principled young man eager to take on the world.
Reviews:

I was present at the creation when the bright flame of conviction took hold in the imagination of the country and the Peace Corps became a promise fulfilled.—Bill Moyers

Into the Backlands, a Peace Corps Memoir, by Kenneth E. Dugan Fliés, reminded me of reading Eric Sevareid’s classic coming-of-age book, Canoeing with the Creed. While Sevareid paddled a canoe 2,250 miles from Minneapolis to Hudson Bay in 1930, Fliés followed President Kennedy’s challenge and joined the Peace Corps in 1962. His anecdote-ladened account of a dairy farm kid’s journey to Brazil resonates as a wide-eyed adventure during climatic times.

From training in the Deep South as racial tensions began to explode, to venturing to South America just as the Cuban Missile Crisis ratcheted up, there’s a Forrest Gump-esque feeling of witnessing history first hand. I can’t help shrugging when I think of today’s youth, glued to their screens, Twitter and text messages. Writers like Sevareid and Fliés rekindle the spirit of adventure I hope still percolates in our youth.

“Lived to its fullest, the hero’s journey results in the ascent or flight of an individual from unconsciousness to illumination and to a newfound freedom of understanding,” Fliés writes. “The flying white dove on the Peace Corps emblem fittingly symbolizes this ascent. In this way, my work and adventures in Brazil as a Volunteer expanded both my world-consciousness and self-consciousness, leading to a deeper understanding of life. Brazil became my portal of transformation. I crossed a great divide and came back with a new perspective on life.” Ken’s account will widen and broaden the reader’s perspective as well.—Curt Brown

Amazon Reviews—
From Bruce: This is a fascinating personal story of a Peace Corps volunteer. This book provides insight into the early, somewhat bumpy first few years of the Peace Corps. Told through the eyes of a talented, inquisitive, and sincere volunteer, the historical context and difficulties of making a difference in Brazil make this an excellent read.

Bill says: Great well written book. The story line flowed very nicely and the book is well written. Background information was provided throughout to bring a sense of the moment and give it context. I truly enjoyed the adventures that the Author endured. I Highly recommend this book.

From Elliott: A Wonderful Suspense, Adventure and Love Story.This memoir is a compellingly woven tale with so much depth, touching on themes of adventure, coming-of-age, religious faith, family, politics, and above all – love. I found it to be a “page-turner” that you want to keep reading to find out what happens next. The author’s vocabulary and imagery are first-rate and in my mind I could see it as a movie while I read the book. What a great window Flies has provided to us into the 1960s, the “Backlands” of the Brazilian frontier, and into the heart of a young man leaving home for the first time ever heading off into the adventure of a lifetime to serve his country and the people of Brazil. And, in the end, the underlying love story with his long-distance girlfriend back home make this story complete and utterly satisfying.

Bob Flaco: “Peace Corps brings an idealist down to earth!” Sargent Shriver. Want to know what Peace Corps was like then and now? Into The Backlands, a Peace Corps Memoir takes you by the hand into the early years of JFK’s Peace Corps and the spirit and challenges of the times…1962-1964. Ken Flies was 19 years old when he reported to Training at the University of Oklahoma as part of Brazil II, one of the first. I doubt if Ken knew what he was getting himself into, and Brazil…where’s that?

Ken’s Memoir shares the beauty and innocence of Kennedy’s “kiddie corps” as the press portrayed the first Volunteers. The isolated community of Correntina would be his home, and his adopted Brazilian family…something he never considered prior to his arrival to Brazil, and speaking Portuguese! Ken paints his new home with words and emotions that are new to this 19 year old. And Ken will never be the same, and Brazil will always be his second home! He found himself, faced the challenges of being a Volunteer, and added new friends and adventures beyond his expectations…and the two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer would be the foundation of who Kenneth Flies is.The beauty and charm of the early years of Peace Corps, with Giants such as Shriver, Jack Vaughn, Warren Wiggins and Frank Mankiewicz laid the ground work for what we have now, some 50 plus years later. The fears, frustrations, happy moments, love of our neighbors, and meeting people that will be our “families” is what Peace Corps is all about. Ken and Dave, a fellow Volunteer…made a path that we followed…and still do. Meeting new Volunteers in 2018, is like talking to the newbies of 1962…the current Volunteers seem a bit smarter than us…but they have that flame of pride and warmth of friendship they want to share. That flame is still within us, I can feel the warmth and strength. Be proud of what you and Brazil II brought with you Ken. Padre Andre saw that in you, and so did Millie.

As you read Ken’s awesome Memoir, remember what Mankiewicz believed in…”Volunteer’s first job is to get to know the people and the setting of their lives; the Volunteer starts building a community.” It isn’t the monuments you leave behind, but the communities that are now a part of you. I recommend Into the Backlands to RPCV’s, Trainees, PCV’s, and Peace Corps staff. Jody Olsen, I am sending you a copy! Ken gave us a message…The Peace Corps community is as strong now as it was in 1961! Don’t let anyone tell you differently. I encourage you to read and learn from this Memoir, share your thoughts!

As Ken would say, bate papo, chew the fat. Thank you Ken for sharing your life in Brazil and the person you became. I read your Memoir twice, had to relive my memories. My family is very Peace Corps, my brother Ron went to Peru 1963-1965 and I went to Colombia 1964-1966…I believe we were one of the first brothers to serve at the same time. Changed my life

Folk Opera Fall – V4N2

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Your Safety is Our Number One Priority

A fabulous anthology of poetry, short fiction and essays, opinion, photography and graphic arts

Featuring
Gun oil, hot metal and justice, 9 poems by Nicole Borg
Judy Garland’s Mother, short story by Konnie Ellis
As a man 2 short essays by John Torgrimson.
I know what’s coming, 4 poems by Andy Roberts
Solve for x, photography by Nathan Wagoner

Fiction and essays
Mr. Maryport Lee Henschel Jr.
Sold Jim Joe Ducato
The remarkable cat Daniel Moeller
Why? John Weiss
Mary Louise Kate Halverson
Sin and X C.J. Pickens
Rougher prose Carole Stoa Senn

Poetry
Try to stay alive David L. James
People lived here once Bart Sutter
Sisters paired Connie Sanderson
Paired sisters Nancy Kay Peterson
A wise fool’s song Robert Wooten
Another and better dream J. Niko Le
Rapier pen Mark Gaffney

Moral hazard Opinion by Tom Driscoll