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Book Burning in Minneapolis
As the line goes in Death of a Salesman, “Attention must be paid.” On Friday one of the great institutions in Minneapolis and one of the best independent bookstores in the country was burned to the ground by rioters. For decades Uncle Hugo’s and its co-located operation Uncle Edgar’s have been The independent bookstore for science fiction and mysteries, especially rare books and signed first editions. There are probably less than a handful of bookstores in the entire country promoting science fiction the way Uncle Hugo’s did.
It’s all gone. The owner, Don Blyly, got the alert from his alarm service at 3:30 a.m. He drove to his store to see storefronts on both sides of Chicago Avenue engulfed in flames, including his. The arsonists were dancing in the streets. Since his fire insurance is sure to have an exclusion for “civil disturbances” the chance of any insurance coverage on the loss is practically nil.
In the midst of college students and Democratic politicians behaving badly, might there be signs of second thoughts by more responsible, more moderate leaders? Cop shows have been used to make progressive political points for years. Episodes on two CBS shows this January featured messages that seemed quite out of synch with the dominant narrative. Are these green shoots in the cultural wasteland?
