Wander & Wonder

In western Minnesota, a writer rooted in two worlds seeks common ground

a man types on a computer
Brent Olson, photographed on Oct. 23 in Clinton, Minn., has been a farmer, a county commissioner and a short order cook. He built this writer's cabin so he can be a full-time writer in retirement.
Dan Gunderson | MPR News

Quick Read

Brent Olson’s newspaper columns reach several hundred thousand mostly rural readers across the country. Despite his liberal politics, “the readers I meet seem to have a fondness for me. They think of me as the loudmouth cousin at the end of the Thanksgiving dinner table.”
This activity is made possible in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment's Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.