A Place Called Home: Moments from an ordinary life

For twenty-five years readers of the Lake Country Echo in north-central Minnesota have enjoyed the biweekly column by Craig Nagel called "The Cracker Barrel."

His essays have been photocopied and sent to friends, cut out and taped to the wall, read aloud at group meetings, reprinted in area newsletters and, on occasion, praised or damned in letters to the editor.

Nagel's observations of the world around him—sometimes witty, sometimes philosophical, always fresh and unique––have earned ...