TWENTY SOMETHING He began at the beginning: “Left St. Paul Jan. 23rd 98 at 4:30 P.M.” In a leather-bound journal, his neat cursive scrolled in pencil across graph paper, Frank Storms charted his epic pursuit: to strike gold in Alaska. He arrived in 1898, in the middle of a stampede — some 100,000 prospectors […]
Christina Capecchi: Leap of faith
TWENTY SOMETHING I’ve been following the press around the most anticipated biography of the year: “Elon Musk” by Walter Isaacson. I’m interested in the controversial innovator and also the author’s writing process, which involved shadowing Musk for two years. Isaacson, an acclaimed journalist, gained surprising access to Musk, sitting in on high-profile meetings and […]
Christina Capecchi: Hand-me-downs, pick-me-ups
TWENTY SOMETHING It all started with a used coat. Betty Henson didn’t need her fuzzy green coat anymore, so she offered it to her son, an aspiring puppeteer. Jim stuffed and stitched it, creating a round head, a dense torso and lanky limbs. He folded a deep mouth and split a ping pong ball to […]
Christina Capecchi: Her life was a work of art
TWENTY SOMETHING Two parts reverence, one part mischief. That’s how I’d sum up my grandma, whose name — Elinor Marcella — captures her mix of poise and playfulness. She raised five kids with a kind of 1950s ease: neck bows and neatly coiffed hair, family dinners and at-home haircuts, playing Bud & Travis on the […]
Christina Capecchi: No cell phones, no problem
TWENTY SOMETHING It started with news from Camp Wapo, the Bible camp I’d attended as a kid. The camp counselors in Amery, Wisconsin, enforce a strict no cell-phone policy: Ditch your iPhone when you arrive, get it back when you leave. My reaction surprised me. I felt relief, triumph, a sense that the arc of […]
Christina Capecchi: The path of inspiration
TWENTY SOMETHING During his down time at work, a Minnesota surgeon often browses the New Yorker in the hospital library. One day he spotted its famed cartoon caption contest — a caption-less cartoon that calls on readers to submit captions and then vote on their favorites, to be published in the following issue of the […]
Christina Capecchi: The duty of delight
TWENTY SOMETHING Here we are, in the thick of summer, this deep and gentle place. The world is still broken, but we are given a season of delight. Sweet corn and watermelon, birdsong and bare feet and the nostalgic sensation of endless summer stretching out before us like a million tufts of cloud roaming the […]
Christina Capecchi: Designing a better swimsuit
TWENTY SOMETHING For years, Catherine Huss’ twin passions were evident: faith and fashion. The 30-year-old Catholic never felt that her faith was at odds with her penchant for apparel. But the career path she projected for herself did appear lonely. She wasn’t aware of any other Catholic fashion designers. “I didn’t see anyone doing it,” […]
Christina Capecchi: Bedtime stories of saints
TWENTY SOMETHING We never really outgrow the desire for a bedtime story. It just takes different forms when we’re older: Netflix, the evening news, Instagram Stories. But the original cannot be improved upon, the bare-bones version told in the dark. When it doesn’t come with special effects, it flips on more lights in the listener’s […]
Christina Capecchi: Finding God in the wilderness
TWENTY SOMETHING The sense of place and pull to the wild that inspired Nick Ripatrozone’s new book are tucked in his very name. The rip-roaring surname is the name of a mountain town in central Italy, which the 40-year-old writer has visited. Like his ancestors, Nick is drawn to the mountains, living with his wife […]
