award-winning journalist and author

Features

The Reckoning

The Reckoning

Inside Minneapolis’s Lake Harriet homeless encampment, where a city’s growing housing crisis took on faces and names.

Mpls St. Paul Magazine, November 2020

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The Pretender

The Pretender

People in Blooming Prairie, Minnesota, thought Lois Riess was a nice wife and grandmother. If she had a vice, it was playing the slots. Then she committed murder.

The Atavist, October 2020

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A sinister parade float

A sinister parade float

In 1923, with the Ku Klux Klan’s popularity on the rise in the North, the hooded brotherhood entered a float in the University of Minnesota’s homecoming parade.

Minnesota History, Spring 2020

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The Old Man and the Clinic

The Old Man and the Clinic

In 1961, the most famous author in the world secretly came for treatment at the most famous hospital in the world.  This final chapter of Ernest Hemingway’s life story is a strange–and ultimately tragic–medical saga.

Mpls. St. Paul Magazine, February 2019

Winner 2020 Page One Award for Best Feature Story from the Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists

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The Irreverent Relics of the Baseball Reliquary

The Irreverent Relics of the Baseball Reliquary

It’s been called “the fans’ Hall of Fame,” “the antithesis of Cooperstown,” and “the motherlode vein leading to the heart and soul of baseball.” And yes, that’s a jock strap behind glass.

Vice Sports, August 2015

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How Casinos Enable Gambling Addicts

How Casinos Enable Gambling Addicts

Modern slot machines develop an unbreakable hold on many players—some of whom wind up losing their jobs, their families, and even, as in the case of Scott Stevens, their lives.

The Atlantic, December 2016


Winner of the Donald Robinson Award from the American Society of Journalists & Authors, 2017 Nominated for a National Magazine Award and a Pulitzer Prize

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The Casino Trap

The Casino Trap

As the gambling industry booms, aggressive marketing targets older patrons

AARP Bulletin, October 2016

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The Goal

The Goal

When Warroad and Roseau renew one of the best rivalries in sport, it’s more than a game.

SB Nation, February 2013

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The Rocket Richard Riot

The Rocket Richard Riot

“No one can know when the anger of men, whipped indefinitely, becomes sculpted into political revenge. And more, it is not just a matter of hockey.” —Quebec journalist André Laurendeau

SB Nation, March 2015

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A Game of Their Own

A Game of Their Own

They play the national pastime a little differently in Lake Tomahawk, snowshoe baseball capital of the world.

Sports On Earth, July 2014

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Fists of Freedom

Fists of Freedom

When American Joe Louis squared off against German Max Schmeling, he fought for more than personal vindication. He fought to free his people and preserve democracy

The History Channel Magazine, January / February 2005

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To Hell and Back

To Hell and Back

Imagine the torture of Idi Amin. The torment of losing your soul. A place where you can find it again

Mpls. St. Paul, January 2005

Honorable Mention for Reporting on a Significant Topic from the American Society of Journalists & Authors, 2006

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Runaway Bride

Runaway Bride

Seven years old, she walked and walked to escape her fate: circumcision and marriage to a man with five wives

Mpls. St. Paul, January 2007

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The Lakers vs. The Globetrotters

The Lakers vs. The Globetrotters

How One Game Paved the Way for Integration of the NBA

Mpls. St. Paul, March 2008

Honorable mention as Outstanding Article from the American Society of Journalists & Authors, 2009

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