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The Upper Basin Chronicles comprises
a periodic serial on the soil and water conservation adventures
and misadventures of a cast of characters in the Upper Mississippi
River basin. The Chronicles seek to bring forward in story
form relevant environmental issues facing people and communities
in the upper Midwest. Your feedback is important and very
valuable. Thanks for reading!
Chapters
Here's the latest chronicle,
Chapter 57,Anaerobica Exotica-A Dream of the River (02/17/04).
Other chapters are here.
Download Compiled
You can download an Adobe Acrobat
PDF file of the entire story here.
Get the Acrobat Reader here.
Cast of Characters
Laura Paruzzi, early 30's, liberal
environmentalist Buddhist biologist elementary school teacher
Alexander Murphy, early 40's, Iowa farmer, conservative single
parent with children struggling to make ends meet
The Murphys, Alexander's extended family; immigrant great-grandparents
homesteaded the farm, grandparents and parents worked it before
him
Teresa, Alexander's grandmother, matriarch, 90s
Owen, father of Alexander, retired, cancer, 70s
Michael, age 10
Rose, age 8
Lucy, age 2
Ruthann Garcia, farmer, late 30s girlfriend of Laura, Murphy's
neighbor
Rick Garcia, late 30s, husband of Ruthann, federal agency field
conservationist
Rachel Garcia, age 13
Ramon Garcia, age 10
Harold Mundt, early 70s, corn and bean grower, cattle and feedlot
entrepreneur
Irene Mundt, wife of Harold, more than 50 years wed
Daniel Mundt, Lutheran rural circuit rider pastor, late 30's,
son of Harold and Irene
Delbert Crawford, retired neighborhood farmer, who helps out
with his draft horse team.
Helen Wilson, branch banker; farm loan and real estate specialist
Stephanie Wilson, age 13, best friends with Rachel Garcia
Johnny Wilson, age 8, boy in Laura's class
Frederick Hermann, agricultural co-op manager, Helen's boyfriend
George Jorgensen, state game warden
Myron Jorgensen, implement seller, brother of George
Father Norbert Marquette, parish priest where the Murphys and
the Garcias attend mass.
Lottie Thompson, mid-20s, Ioway member from Oklahoma, North
Central Iowa University graduate student
Beverly Norton, small city municipal water and waste water treatment
engineer
The Vangs, market gardener family, sponsored by Daniel Mundt
as immigrants.
Mai Vang, age 8, student in Laura's class, best friend
of Rose Murphy
William Vine, mid-30's, small company president with a new product
and a toxic wastewater problem
Edna Parker, corporate board of directors member in William
Vine's company, mid-60s; environmentalist, philanthropist.
Richard Roth, attorney in an environmental NGO (non-governmental
organization), late 40s
The Longs, an urban black family with a small boat who like
to get out on the Mississippi to get away.
Michele Long, African-American, North Central Iowa
University professor of geology with graduate students
The Allens, Lutheran suburban family of four, beautiful lawn,
minivan, cabin up north with shoreline erosion problems.
The Caldwells, a hard-living family from a tough neighborhood
Fishing folk, including contestant bass fishermen and women,
immigrants, kids, and Mom and Pop and the six-horse.
Boaters, including power, sail, human-powered, personal watercraft,
and towboat.
Hunters, including duck, geese, deer, upland bird, and varmint.
About the author
John P. Gabbert, an Iowan by birth, and veteran technical writer
and editor is presently a full-time graduate student at Saint
Mary's University of Minnesota. He is working on a masters of
science degree in Resource Analysis. Raised in southeast Iowa,
the son of daily newspaper journalists, he worked on farms as
a young man, and shoveled enough corn and hog manure to write
about it.
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