After high school, I spent several years taking classes at Yavapai College, a short distance from my hometown of Chino Valley, Ariz., hoping to eventually go to a university and getting a journalism degree. Life didn’t quite work out as planned, but I’m in the career I originally aspired to be in. It had been…
Author: Lee Pulaski
Lee Pulaski is a Wisconsin journalist, photographer and author of more than 25 books in the mystery, romance and fantasy genres. He writes about his Arizona upbringing combined with his life now in the Midwest. Pulaski can be reached at leepulaski2@gmail.com
Mural survives bigotry but may fall in face of school closing
An interesting little debate hit the streets of Prescott in 2010, the year before I left Arizona. A mural on the side of an elementary school, the side pointing toward a main intersection, was causing a fuss because the dominant figure in the mural was a black boy. I never got the chance to see…
From the ashes of a corporate bookstore rises an independent Peregrine
Bookstores are not dead. Despite the advance of ordering anything and everything via the Internet, some bookstores have managed to not only survive the online invasion but thrive, as well. One of the things on my list for my vacation in Arizona was to check out the Peregrine Book Company, an independent bookstore in downtown…
Forget all your worries, forget all your cares and go downtown (in Prescott)
Downtowns are the heart of any American town. They can either be vibrant and alive, or boarded up and dead. Living in Shawano, I’ve seen how the downtown area has struggled from falling into the latter category. Today, I reacquainted myself with downtown Prescott as part of my Arizona holiday, and I was floored not…
Traveling the winding road proves to be stop-and-go
The winding road home in Arizona has gotten a little more congested. That’s one of the things I took away from my first day back in the state since I left in early 2011 to pursue a new chapter of my life in Wisconsin. After waking up at 2:30 a.m. Wisconsin time, which was still…
Returning home should be an interesting journey
It’s been an interesting transition the last five-and-a-half years going from the desert climate of Arizona to Wisconsin, where there’s plenty of green—until the snowstorms hit and bury it in white. I made the journey partially out of necessity, as I had lost my job at the newspaper I was working at. I could have…
County fairs are shooting galleries for photographers
I was excited to read in the newspapers back home that the Yavapai County Fair was returning to the original fairgrounds in Prescott, Ariz. After the fair had been moved out to a new site in Prescott Valley and later run into bankruptcy, it was resurrected with the help of dedicated volunteers who have now…
Limbaugh’s cautionary tale of lesbian farmer invasion laughable
With all the vitriol from the presidential election washing over people, you have to think that things can’t get any worse. Then you see a random link on Facebook, and you discover, by golly, it can get worse. Apparently, Rush Limbaugh, the right-wing radio host who proclaimed the last Clinton presidency was basically America being…
The twisted irony of an Olympic swimmer drowning in a pool of lies
Ryan Lochte is one of the best swimmers in the world, with 12 Olympic medals to his name. Now, if he only had the same intimacy with the truth that he does with a pool, then he’d really be a force for good. He doesn’t, though, and that is why many Americans are covering their…
Lazy authors shouldn’t count on others to make sales
Being a writer is no easy task. Most of the time, you have to put in the time and the effort to give your story life, but the work doesn’t end there, especially if you self-publish. Once the story is in the pipeline for printing, you have to promote yourself, market yourself and be your…
Quilt of old Army uniforms a heartwarming hometown tale
Sometimes hometown news is the best antidote to the national tidal wave of despair you see on the networks and read about in the metro newspapers. This morning, I woke up after spending the previous night proofreading and laying primary election copy to catch up on the news in good ol’ Chino Valley, Arizona. In…
Disavowing daughter in her father’s obituary an act of cruelty
While this blog always showcases my personal perspective on things, this is particularly personal for me. I love my family, and it burns me up when someone tries to hurt a member of my family. This time, someone took a swipe at my 15-year-old niece, Reese, and it was about the cruelest thing imaginable. She…
Rural Roots and American Rainbows 