Book review: This author lives far away from Wapakoneta, and in some ways he never left

In his latest essay collection “Other Worlds” he is still circling around his hometown of Wapakoneta but he also takes a far more expansive view, this time he is looking at the world and recounting some of his memories and adventures. Newland writes with verve and the stories flow out of him. The pages of these books seem to almost turn themselves.

In the essay “Some Lessons I’ve Learned About Writing and Life” the author dispenses advice and hard earned wisdom. He writes: “the cemetery is full of ‘indispensables.’ When you come to believe that without you, the world you live in will grind to a halt, it’s time to take a deep breath and get a grip... if you think you are indispensable, you are only kidding yourself.”

One of this reviewer’s favorites is his piece “Michigan Dreaming.” He takes us back to his childhood and precious trips to a lake called Manistee for family vacations. His dad worked twelve hour days at his diner in Wapakoneta, rarely taking time off. When they arrived at the lake his father would take a ritualistic first swim across, mostly underwater.

He recounts how he admired the man who owned the resort, a friend and former co-worker of Newland’s grandfather. They would be out on the lake fishing and his grandfather would demand that he be allowed to borrow one of his friend’s prized lures. His friend would finally grumpily agree to let him cast with one of his lures.

Newland’s grandfather would make a spectacular long cast. The lure would fly a long way. Of course this is when we realize he intentionally tied the lure so it would fly off into the faraway distance, never to be seen again. Hilarious hijinks out on that lake.

Newland lives in Patagonia. His essays about cutting firewood and acting as a warden in a gorgeous mountainous region surrounded by virgin forest are meditative and breathtaking. He is back at work on his memoir about being a newspaper editor in Argentina during “The Dirty War” (1977-1983) when journalists like him were being hunted down by death squads. While surviving those perilous times Newland understood we can never take democracies for granted.