Books | Thursday, December 6,2012

A literary album of a farm

Jackie Jackson recalls the well-ordered life of her youth

The Round Barn: A Biography of an American Farm, Volume 2, by Jacqueline Dougan Jackson. Beloit City Press, 2012. 487 pages, $24.95 Imagine you’ve discovered a box of jumbled old black and white

Guest Opinion | Thursday, October 27,2011

What scares me at Halloween

By Lola Lucas

A recent Chris Britt editorial cartoon in the State Journal-Register showed two kids anxiously peering through the window at a stranger standing outside their home. “Dad, who’s that on the

Profile | Thursday, October 20,2011

Rounding out her career

Jackie Jackson releases her magnum opus, Vol. 1

By Lola Lucas

Jacqueline Jackson still tends a herd of cows but nowadays they’re figurines on her mantle.Raised on the Dougan Guernsey Dairy Farm near Beloit, Wis., in the 1930s and 40s, Jackie decided at age

Poetry | Thursday, February 25,2010

Out of darkness come Needles of Light

By Lola Lucas

Needles of Light doesn’t claim to be an easy book to read. “Many of these poems are dark, darker than the reader will be comfortable with; but I believe the path to light must include ackn

Books | Wednesday, August 6,2008

Quite a rush

Two university-affiliated literary magazines showcase Springfield talent

By Lola Lucas

Some college literary magazines exist primarily to publish the scribblings of a group of friends. I edited — OK, perpetrated — a couple of them back in the d

Books | Wednesday, May 14,2008

The sensuality of everyday life

Springfield’s Celia Wesle publishes engaging poetry collection

By Lola Lucas

Untitled Document Imagine sitting in your favorite coffeehouse, surrounded by paintings done in a riot of color. A wise friend is sharing a latte, along with stories from her lif