The Saturday Evening Post January/ February 2018

More than 200 writers entered the Great American Fiction Contest this year, and we were bowled over by the vast talent exhibited by the entrants. It was no easy task to whittle down the list to our finalists and to select a winner. And what a wonderful story it is! Lucy Bledsoe, who won our first Great American Fiction Contest and who is one of our judges this year, explains how “Open Season at the Café Rumba” won over the hearts of our jury: “The protagonist grabs you by the lapels, looks you in the eye, and tells you a rollicking good story. And just when you think you know where this story is going, it swerves delightfully, taking off in a fresh direction. It sparkles with heart, hope, and a…

Mark Orwoll Snorting bulls, whinnying Appaloosas, whip-snapping cowpunchers — there may be no more authentic Western experience than the annual roundup of the bison herd at Custer State Park in South Dakota’s Black Hills. In “Thundering Herd” (page 34), Orwoll, who covered the spectacle from the bouncing bed of a pickup truck, reports on the environmental success story that is also a thrill of a lifetime. “Standing among the wranglers, the nervous horses, the massive buffalo, you can’t escape the sense of drama about to unfold in those incredibly beautiful hills.” Ken Budd “I’m a dog lover, so I know the human-animal bond can be intense, but I was amazed by how animals have so dramatically transformed the lives of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans suffering from PTSD and other conditions,” says Budd, who…

Music to Our Ears I just finished the moving and insightful article “Saving His Music” by Tom Hallman Jr. (Nov/Dec). The more I read, the more I felt. And the photos by Beth Nakamura helped us enter the world of living with early-onset Alzheimer’s as well as share the family’s fears, hurts, and joys. Nancy Kienitz, Laingsburg, Michigan My husband is Steve Goodwin, the musician with Alzheimer’s whose personal story appeared in the Nov/ Dec issue. The Saturday Evening Post was always on the coffee table in my home growing up. You can imagine our amazement when the author of the article shared with us that his story would be featured in the Post. Challenges rarely faze me; they strengthen my resolve. However, I tear up thinking about the love and kindnesses that…

It’s understandable if you think traditional funerals are passé. We have been treated lately to stories about shooting a person’s ashes (or cremains, as we in the funeral business call them) into space and placing them into biodegradable burial pods from which trees can sprout. Others advocate eco-friendly “green” burials, in which unembalmed, shrouded bodies are buried in wicker caskets. These concepts may grab the attention of readers, but they are not the reality of funeral service. I know this because in my long career as a funeral director, I’ve had a front-row seat to the importance of funeral customs. “When words are inadequate, have a ceremony,” says grief counselor and educator Dr. Alan Wolfelt. “The elements of ceremony — music, symbols, words, actions — help us know what to do…

When it comes to predicting pop culture hits, don’t count on me. Prime example: As a teen in a pip-squeak of a New Jersey town, I had a neighbor who was a schoolteacher and sometime songwriter. Sweet guy. Word got around that he was working on a musical — intended for Broadway, no less — about the founding of our nation. Ha!, I thought to my simpleton self. A song-and-dance extravaganza about John Adams and the gang? Ain’t gonna happen. You know where this is going, right? 1776, my neighbor’s creation, scored as Best Musical at the Tony Awards and enjoyed an epic run on the Great White Way. Lesson learned: When it comes to what’s gonna be hot, ya never know. (What are the odds Taco Bell’s brand-new clothing line…

We bought our first house 20 years ago, still live there, and will die there if we have any say in the matter, which I suppose makes it our last house, too. It’s not a perfect house — the kitchen, where we spend all our time, is on the north side of the house and doesn’t get much sunlight — but the house is otherwise suitable and fits us well. The best feature is the kitchen wood-stove, which we fire up in fall and keep burning through late winter or until we run out of firewood, whichever comes first. Like most purchases I’ve made, it was impulsive but has given us more pleasure per dollar than anything we’ve owned. I haven’t yet discerned whether we own the stove or it owns…