by RICK DANLEY // September 1, 2018 *In part one of a two-part series, former professional jockey and new ACC ag instructor Joshua Boyd recalls the race that changed his life. On the afternoon of Jan. 29, 2005, Josh Boyd was helping his dad put up a horse barn at his grandma’s place outside Los … Continue reading A Final Ride (Part I)
by RICK DANLEY // October 14, 2016 It had been a crisp blue autumn morning when, around 11:30 a.m., a single rain cloud stalled over Gilbert Covey’s farm. “Starting to sprinkle a little bit,” said Covey, who stood amid a cluster of small outbuildings south of the family farmhouse. Heavy drops pelted the cement slab where … Continue reading Charles (not) in Charge
by RICK DANLEY // June 26, 2015 IN THE YEARS before Velma Ensminger died, her husband, Dave, used to carry her from room to room. The pair shared a winding, single-story ranch house on a large farm near Moran. Dave was already in his eighties. Velma was five years his junior. The couple had been married … Continue reading A Grief Observed
by RICK DANLEY // October 18, 2018 On the evening of July 13, 1992, former Texas Representative Barbara Jordan, suffering from multiple sclerosis, was wheeled on-stage at the Democratic National Convention in New York City, where she gave the night’s keynote speech. Jordan’s remarks emphasized inclusion, acceptance, diversity, grace. She urged those watching to reject … Continue reading Laura Kelly for Governor: The Wonk We Want*
by RICK DANLEY // November 29, 2018 Marriage is the fat on which the modern American theater has feasted for years. Tennessee Williams. William Inge. Eugene O’Neill. Neil Simon. Sam Shepard. Sarah Ruhl. Tracy Letts. All playwrights who’ve cheerfully tucked their socks into their swamp boots and taken a flying leap into the nuptial morass … Continue reading Love Among the Lizards
By RICK DANLEY // September 8, 2018 This is part two of a two-part series. In part one, former professional jockey and new ACC ag instructor Josh Boyd recalled the horse racing accident that nearly cost him his life. Subscribers can read part one here. It’s around 10 o’clock on a rainy Thursday morning. Josh … Continue reading Adapt and Change: A Jockey’s Motto (Part II)
by RICK DANLEY // March 22, 2019 It must be the case that among the many performing arts events staged each year in Iola, nine out of ten are family-friendly. And that’s nice…if, you know, family-friendly is your thing. The Iola Community Theatre, on the other hand — in its expert staging of “Avenue Q,” … Continue reading Avenue Q
Painting tucked away in Iola bank vault could be worth $500K by RICK DANLEY // May 29, 2018 In January of 1922, nearly thirty years after swapping his native Sweden for the rolling plains of central Kansas, the painter Birger Sandzén received his first one-man show in New York City. To this day, that exhibition at … Continue reading Hidden History: Sandzen in Kansas
by RICK DANLEY // May 4, 2017 Every play should have at least one character who describes another character as smelling “like a bucket of hot links” — but only one play does. The Allen Community College theater department delivers another knockout in their production of “Dearly Beloved,” an exuberant wedding comedy set in a gossipy … Continue reading ‘Dearly Beloved’
by RICK DANLEY // April 4, 2019 Perhaps the most immaculately acted theater event you’ll see this year, Iola High School’s musical version of “The Wizard of Oz” runs tonight and tomorrow at the Bowlus Fine Arts Center from 7 to 9 p.m. I’ll spare you the plot. “The Wizard of Oz” rests with such … Continue reading A Whiz of a Wiz if Ever There Was
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