Lame Johnny Press

Linda M. Hasselstrom and James W. Parker, both South Dakotans, find stories everywhere in the prairies and hills. His photographs tell stories of forgotten places and lives through light, shadow, and color, creating love stories to the land.

Linda’s poems explore the same landscapes, finding humanity in the lands and people she knows and imagines. She can see herself walking to Decker’s Market in Lusk, Wyoming, and she recognizes that corporate-created pollution in Bhopal leads husbands to divorce wives whose babies die in their wombs, but she saves a spider instead of killing it. She watches spruce trees bow like ladies, and tastes summer in the juice of a plum. Like all writers, she battles with autocorrect on her computer.

Here are two poets: one with words, one with photographs, collaborating to show their love and understanding of western South Dakota, creating a book filled with compassion, humility, and gentle humor.