Broken at the seams, Hemingway stumbled upon an old trunk and brought his Paris back to life.

Nebraska stifled many a soul but Mari Sandoz "willed herself" to become its bard.

Raised on Route 66, Bob Waldmire roamed "The Mother Road" sketching it into fine lines.

Heeding a poet's call, Andrew Carroll put poetry books in motel rooms, waiting rooms, hospitals, buses, airplanes. . .

Seventy years ago, Willie Mays made a play they're still talking about.

The hardscrabble Osceola McCarty gave her life savings to young students. But was she the only "better angel?"

America's good gray poet went dark for a while. But Walt Whitman surfaced with a new hope for America.

Before Hillary, before Kamala, the zany Gracie Allen threw her hat in the ring.

Bold, brash and just so funny, Molly Ivins taught us to laugh at the powers that be.

Central Park. Prospect Park. The Capitol grounds. Emerald necklaces. . . Frederick Law Olmsted spread greenery coast-to-coast.

Near Vermont’s mountain of granite, quarrymen carved their dreams into stone.

Nearly forgotten, Scott Joplin’s ragtime captured an era with its magical syncopation.

With “truth” up for grabs, one year responded with hoaxes, clever and convincing.

Historians are a dour lot, but Sarah Vowell looks at America with dark amusement. And that voice!

One Oppenheimer brother fell but the other rose to spark a world of wonder.

The Bicentennial was a bust — until the Tall Ships saved the day.