Today in History, We Lost a Giant: Vincent van Gogh
Today in history we lost one of the greatest artists the world has ever known: Vincent Willem van Gogh died on July 29, 1890. He was a Dutch Post-Impressionistic painter who produced most of his 2,000+ paintings in the final decade of his life. He became known for landscapes, portraits, still lifes, and self-portraits. In […]
Our 250th Anniversary, and an Immigration Story
We are a nation of immigrants. We should never forget that. In the summer of 1976, I was 18 years old and had just finished my first year of college at the University of North Dakota. During that summer, I spent a few weeks with my family in Seattle. My sister Lois’ favorite place to […]
Why Birches Are White
by Elena S. Smith, 2006 As we often do when we enjoy an author’s latest novel, we go deeper into their catalog. Such was the case with my decision to read Why Birches Are White—Elena S. Smith’s first book, written in 2006. Elena is a colleague and local Spokane author, and a retired English professor […]
Family of Spies: A World War II Story of Nazi Espionage, Betrayal, and the Secret History Behind Pearl Harbor
by Christine Kuehn, 2025 Every family has secrets—shameful things they’d rather not get aired in public. Then there are other families that have real whoppers. Imagine finding out that your German grandparents were not only Nazi loyalists, but were the key spies who supplied the Japanese with critical intel leading up to the bombing of […]
