Sarah Kendzior’s Newsletter

5 days ago | sarahkendzior.substack.com | Sarah Kendzior

It was the 30th of December, and I was driving the Natchez Trace Parkway, looking for Bobbie Gentry. I didn’t want to find her. I only wanted to know she was out there, eluding everyone. I wanted her to outwit every man who did her wrong. Many are dead: Bobbie Gentry is in her 80s. She hasn’t appeared on stage since 1981, when, after a series of music industry disputes, she left public life behind with a steadfastness unrivaled.

1 week ago | sarahkendzior.substack.com | Sarah Kendzior

Three years have passed since I contemplated writing this story. I kept changing my mind. What’s the point of a story in which nothing happens, and no answer is found? Then again: does anything sum up the middle of 2022 better than that? In November 2016, the weekend before the election, I took my children to southern Illinois on what I came to call “the last good day.” They were five and nine. We drove three hours and back from St. Louis to show them the southlands of our neighboring state.

2 weeks ago | sarahkendzior.substack.com | Sarah Kendzior

At a lake near my house there is a heron I call my therapist. I hadn’t seen him since October: seven months weighted with the ache of a century. Too much happened and too little changed. I wish current political horrors felt unrecognizable, but it’s like watching a reboot of a movie no one wanted the first time. Familiar in the worst ways, leaving me longing for what’s familiar in the best ways. From a distance, I questioned if it was really him. There are a lot of herons in St. Louis.

3 weeks ago | sarahkendzior.substack.com | Sarah Kendzior

Thank you, subscribers, for your thoughtful questions! I answered most and tried to address the main points of those I didn’t list. I apologize that I ran out of space!I do these Q & As once a month. If you’d like to submit a question, become a paying subscriber. You can do that here:Sarah Kendzior’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Paying subscriptions are particularly appreciated right now.

4 weeks ago | sarahkendzior.substack.com | Sarah Kendzior

I am back from a one-month, nine-city book tour for The Last American Road Trip — and I’m still hungry for questions! Welcome to the return of the monthly Q & A. We’ve got some catching up to do, but first, a few announcements:1) My 2022 book They Knew is on sale for $2.99 as an ebook. This sale won’t last, so buy it at one of the vendors linked here! And read about They Knew — an exploration of real conspiracies and how the term “conspiracy theory” is weaponized to negate critical inquiry — here.