As a potter, Theaster Gates learned to shape clay. Now he is reshaping a Chicago neighborhood — and lives.

DREAMERSThe AtticJuly 15, 2021Theaster Gates, South Chicago, Rebuild Foundation, Urban Renewal, Inner city Comments

THE MAN ON THE FLYING CARPET

Swimming the Panama Canal, flying to Timbuktu, crossing the Alps on an elephant, Richard Halliburton enthralled a housebound America.

History, DREAMERSThe AtticJune 18, 2021Richard Halliburton, Travel, Adventure, Roaring Twenties, Daredevil Comment

WALKING NYC -- EVERY LAST INCH

Coast-to-coast? Done that. So Matt Green set out to walk New York. Every borough. Every street. Every pier and park. Eight years and 8,000 miles later. . . (As seen in “The World Beneath My Feet.”)

DREAMERS, WALKING AMERICA, ATTIC AT THE MOVIESThe AtticMay 13, 2021Matt Green, The World Before Your Feet, Walking, NYC Comments

WALKING AMERICA WITH THE MASTER

“I have met with but one or two persons in the course of my life who understood the art of Walking.” — Thoreau

DREAMERS, WALKING AMERICA, BOOK-ISHThe AtticMay 6, 2021Thoreau, Walking, Walking across america Comment

THE WHOLE EARTH'S QUIRKY CATALOG

From a rooftop vision to a counterculture bible, Stewart Brand sowed the seeds of several revolutions.

DREAMERS, BOOK-ISHThe AtticApril 15, 2021Stewart Brand, Whole Earth Catalog, Hippies, Counter-culture, 1960s, Steve Jobs, Personal Computers Comments

OCTAVIA BUTLER -- SCI FI, SLAVERY, AND SEEDS OF THE FUTURE

Reading science fiction, Octavia Butler saw no one like herself. So she vowed to “write myself in.”

DREAMERS, BOOK-ISHThe AtticSeptember 3, 2020Octavia Butler, Imago, Parable of the Sower, Science Fiction, Black writers Comments

EYES ON OUR EAGLES

Once endangered, bald eagles are back! And from coast to coast, webcams are watching.

DREAMERSThe AtticMarch 7, 2020Eagles, American eagles, Bald Eagles, Eagle nests, Webcams Comment

EMMA LAZARUS -- GIVE ME YOUR TIRED, YOUR POOR. . .

Her stirring poem about a statue was almost forgotten. Today the statue still speaks in the voice of Emma Lazarus.

Women, DREAMERSThe AtticSeptember 13, 2019Emma Lazarus, Statue of Liberty, Give us your tired, The American Colossus Comments

THE ASTRONAUT WHO NEVER CAME DOWN

After Apollo 14, Edgar Mitchell kept soaring. ESP? Psychokinesis? UFOs? When you’ve been to the Moon, anything seems possible.

History, DREAMERSThe AtticJuly 12, 2019Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14, Parapsychology, ESPComment

NELLIE ON THE FLY

Long before journalists were “embedded,” Nellie Bly amazed readers from inside an asylum and by circling the globe — in 72 days.

Women, DREAMERSThe AtticJanuary 26, 2019Nellie Bly, Around the World in 80 Days, Journalism, Women journalists Comments

MISS MITCHELL'S COMET

Alone on an island rooftop, Maria Mitchell’s telescope “swept” the stars. Could a woman calculate the clockwork of heaven?

DREAMERSThe AtticOctober 3, 2018Maria Mitchell, Astronomy, Vassar, Comets Comments

FLYING THE WRONG/RIGHT WAY

Took off for L.A. Landed in Ireland. Was “Wrong Way” Corrigan confused or just clever?

DREAMERSThe AtticJuly 10, 2018Wrong Way Corrigan, Airplane travel, Adventure Comment