This episode goes off topic a bit here and there (my fault), discussing conspiracy theories and the KKK in Colorado, but mostly it is about Vachel Lindsay, a poet from my hometown who traveled the nation in the early 1900’s without money, trading poetry for room and board. Ian is actually a Vachel Lindsay expert, having been involved with tours at the Vachel Lindsay house since he was 11, as well as featuring in a documentary and other videos/interviews. I happen to be playing Vachel Lindsay in a local short play also. Vachel came up with a concept of the “Church of the Open Sky,” one that accepts all creeds and encourages one to travel far and wide and then come back to their home and put in work to make their own “hearth and neighborhood the most beautiful, the most democratic, and the holiest in the world.” The concept is not about God but the world around you, and for many reasons (some you might guess) I feel a kindred spirit with Vachel, and many of the things he wrote about over a hundred years ago are things I’ve been thinking about when it comes to local community.

Here’s a link from a video where coincidentally my sister Rachel (then working for NPR) interviews Ian about Vachel as they tour the house:

A Tour Of The Vachel Lindsay House with Ian Winterbauer

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