Please see my About page!
Or read this, below:
I need your subscription (even a free one) to help me keep going. Here’s why.
But first, a bit of background. The Inquisitive Quad Citizen is a new newsletter written by me, Alison McGaughey, a writer based in Davenport, Iowa. To locals, that means I live “on the Iowa side,” which is how we identify ourselves in the Iowa/Illinois “Quad Cities” that cross the Mississippi River (and consist of more than four cities, but whatever – we can get into that later.)
I’m a lifelong Midwesterner who started my career as a reporter for a small-town daily newspaper in 1999. I grew up on a farm, attended school in a county with one stoplight, and went “away” to college on a tiny campus a full hour from home. After two years working for small-Midwestern dailies, I shifted from journalism into working as a writer/editor in higher education marketing and communications. Today, I make my living, and find a deep sense of purpose, as an educator working with English language learners.
When I was in my 30s, after having lived all of my life in a region of west-central Illinois once referred to as “Forgottonia,” I packed up and moved to the “big city” — scratch that, the “cities,” plural! — now two whole hours from home, and have lived in the Quad Cities for the past decade plus.
By following, you’ll learn about interesting people (and the things that interest them).
My forte as a reporter was human interest features. In my most recent round of freelancing, I interviewed:
Cedar Rapids-based musician and former high school teacher Natalie Brown, who is now spreading healing through sound, actual sound vibrations, (as opposed to those “good” ones that are “only” allowed, per t-shirt directive) throughout the Midwest and beyond.
Iowa native Robert Jury, writer and director of the feature film Working Man, which tells the story of a laid off factory worker who keeps going back to work anyway (and which co-stars Talia Shire, who played a role in Rocky you might have heard of. Say it with me: Adriannnnn!)
You’ll get local curiosities and quirks.
While living and working in the small Midwestern city of Galesburg, Illinois, (birthplace of poet Carl Sandburg), I hunted down, profiled, and tried to verify local claims to fame, or “rural urban legends,” if you will:
A radio deejay in town once having been none other than Louise Harrison, sister George (true)
R.E.M., in one of their most famous songs, mentioning Knox College (nope, and I think some alumni still hate me for myth-busting that one),
How and where the Marx Brothers got their stage names. (Yup, it apparently happened in the ‘burg when the bros were on the vaudeville circuit.)
But in my current surroundings of the Quad Cities – where there are seemingly countless ties to important moments in American history, (like the site of an Abe Lincoln-involved court case just a couple of blocks from my apartment), I’m most interested in the living Quad Citizens who are, at least to me, noteworthy. People who contribute to some of the best parts about living in the QC. People who, for whatever reason, pique my interest, and who I hope you’ll enjoy reading about, too.
And as I said in my intro post, one of the other lives I’ll be looking into is my own. I’ve long been an aspiring essayist and creative nonfiction writer, inspired by a long list of idols, (including former journo Nora Ephron, who said “Everything is copy”), but also one who has no shortage of crippling self-doubt. (This brain that’s constantly drafting a list of possible column ideas is the same brain also constantly questioning why a regular ol’ Midwesterner like me should be trying to take up people’s time.)
So, back to the thing I referenced in the headline:
While it’s clear I’ve got work to do on overcoming imposter syndrome, [now accepting contributions toward therapy bills - click here!], it’s just the straight-up truth that I’ll be viewing your clicking the Subscribe button —even for free— as a vote of confidence and a nudge to keep going. For real. The pressure of knowing I have real subscribers might help me get out of my own way.
So if you like anything I write, please share, and encourage others to subscribe. (Quick note about paid vs. free: I’m not asking people to pay just yet, but I’ve got some ideas up my sleeve for “perks” for paid subscribers.)
I’m hoping that in a year or so (hopefully less), I’ll be able to delete this last part about doubts and just say: Please subscribe! Please pay!
In the meantime, please know that in this world where a fuller inbox is the absolute last thing anyone needs, I am truly honored if you take the time to read.
Sincerely,
Alison
P.S. Subscribing (for now) is free.
I’m not asking for paid subscribers yet, but I welcome your pledges for when I do decide to go paid in an effort to help sustain this effort.
P.P.S. I’m among some seriously great company.
I’m proud to be a part of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative and included in this list. Please follow and support those who you can.
I can tell this is going to be a great column so get rid of that imposter syndrome! You're a writer, soon to be author. I spent many of my "growing up years" in Davenport, Burlington and Ft. Madison but haven't been back much in the last few years. I still have relatives there though. Good memories, for sure. Looking forward to reading your first collection of essays!