A story from the heartland, told from the heart What was it really like to live on a South Dakota farm during the sweeping changes of the 20th century American Midwest? Helen (Ackley) Johnson grew up on a farm in the years between the two World Wars. In this remarkable personal memoir, enhanced with black and white and color photographs by the author (see deluxe color edition for color version), she describes day-to-day farm activities at a time when the small family farm was still a widespread, viable economic way of life in the United States. Johnson chronicles community customs, picnics, parties, and shared labor, and shows how the introduction of such inventions as the telephone and the radio changed her family's ties to the wider world. Johnson's words and photographs give us a detailed look at farm methods, farm innovations, and seasonal farm tasks. She tells us about the hard times-dust storms, fires-as well as the good. This is American history through a close-up lens: the story of one family's farm, and one child's growth to womanhood there. Helen Johnson was an "ordinary" person who left us this extraordinary document and photographs of everyday life on an American farm during decades of rapid and unprecedented change. It is a story of the Heartlands, told from the heart. Johnson was well aware that family farming was a vanishing way of life, and she wanted to describe that life before it disappeared. The farm story is essential reading for anyone interested in Americana, South Dakota history, the evolution of farm technology in the 20th century, and anyone curious to know what life was really like back when farming was a central experience in the American psyche.

This book provides an overview of the history of LGBT community newspapers and magazines in America. It provides a specific focus on weekly and biweekly newspapers, but also assesses the LGBT state of print media overall. Finalist for the 2013 Lambda Literary Awards; Top 10 selection for the American Library Association Over the Rainbow Project Book List, a committee of the GLBT Round Table of the ALA. The book starts with an in-depth look into the reasons a gay press started in the 1900s--as a response to either absent or anti-gay coverage by the mainstream media. It then explores the early gay media and journalists working in the gay press from the 1950s to the 1980s. The book includes chapters on some of the longer-lasting LGBT newspapers, such as the Washington Blade, Bay Area Reporter and Philadelphia Gay News. There is also an in-depth exploration of advertising and marketing in LGBT media, and a look at the future of queer media in America. Quotes about Gay Press, Press Power: "Tracy Baim's Gay Press, Gay Power: The Growth of LGBT Newspapers in America is a complete treasure for anyone interested in queer history, the intricacies of social movements, or media in the United States. Comprehensive, well written, and well researched, this media journey from homosexual to gay to queer is eye-opening and inspiring. If you thought you knew about this aspect of the gay movement -guess again: You will be endlessly surprised. The bravery of individuals, groups, collectives, and organizations here is breathtaking and vital. You can't understand queer life today without understanding the history of the LGBT media. This book is endlessly entertaining and extremely important." -Michael Bronski, author of A Queer History of the United States, Professor of the Practice in Activism and Media, Harvard University. "Gay Press, Gay Power is a meticulous and prodigious work, long overdue. It will be a reference source-but, more importantly, a source of inspiration." - Barbara Ettorre, former reporter for The New York Times, New York Daily News and Chicago Today. Founder and editor, LetterBalm.com. "This meticulously researched book captures the flavor and nuance of a myriad of specific events and times, such as the coverage of LGBT issues in Chicago in the 1980s and 1990s, through compelling interviews with the people involved, gay and straight, backed up with insightful analysis. Hundreds of images of magazine covers, news clips, photos and ads from the 1800s to today present a comprehensive, stunning visual history of the evolving relationship between the media and the LGBT community. Belongs on everyone's bookshelf." -Jean Latz Griffin, former Chicago Tribune reporter, author ofIn the Same Breath and One Spirit: A Creation Story for the 21st Century. "For the past two hundred years no oppositional movement has succeeded without the involvement of an engaged community press.The political successes of the gay liberation movement, and the defeats, were reported in the pages of the lesbian and gay press while the mainstream press ignored or denigrated our efforts. Today, in the age of presidential evolution towards recognition of our humanity, and in the era of the Internet, Facebook and Twitter, it is possible to presume that the need for an independent GLBT press is past. But this would be a mistake. As we learned during the AIDS epidemic, when push comes to shove - as it reliably does - there is no substitute for a focused, relentless and smart GLBT press. Tracy Baim has long represented the best of the GLBT press, and this book will be a valuable resource in the struggle not to forget our history as we continue to fight for our future." -- Larry Gross, USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, Author, Up From Invisibility: Lesbians, Gay Men and the Media in America.

Also available in black and white for $12.99. A story from the heartland, told from the heart What was it really like to live on a South Dakota farm during the sweeping changes of the 20th century American Midwest? Helen (Ackley) Johnson grew up on a farm in the years between the two World Wars. In this remarkable personal memoir, enhanced with black and white and color photographs by the author (see deluxe color edition for color version), she describes day-to-day farm activities at a time when the small family farm was still a widespread, viable economic way of life in the United States. Johnson chronicles community customs, picnics, parties, and shared labor, and shows how the introduction of such inventions as the telephone and the radio changed her family's ties to the wider world. Johnson's words and photographs give us a detailed look at farm methods, farm innovations, and seasonal farm tasks. She tells us about the hard times-dust storms, fires-as well as the good. This is American history through a close-up lens: the story of one family's farm, and one child's growth to womanhood there. Helen Johnson was an "ordinary" person who left us this extraordinary document and photographs of everyday life on an American farm during decades of rapid and unprecedented change. It is a story of the Heartlands, told from the heart. Johnson was well aware that family farming was a vanishing way of life, and she wanted to describe that life before it disappeared. The farm story is essential reading for anyone interested in Americana, South Dakota history, the evolution of farm technology in the 20th century, and anyone curious to know what life was really like back when farming was a central experience in the American psyche.