Vintage boat water ski challenge New York Times bestselling author to visit with White Bear area fans

BY MERRINA O’MALLEY PRESS INTERN

William Kent Krueger begins his day with a cup of dark french roast coffee and 3 hours of writing. With this amount of dedication, it is no wonder he has continued to turn out novels that win both awards and the hearts of his readers.

During Krueger’s childhood his father, a high school English teacher, helped him fall in love with literature. When he was just 18 years old, he was introduced to the works of Ernest Hemingway. From there, he decided he would write the next Great American Novel.

After a midlife crisis and research into popular literature genres, he began his fruitful journey into the world of mystery.

As Krueger puts it, “It’s a genre whose appeal cuts across all socio-economic levels, all age demographics, [and] all ethnic groups.”

Following a four year learning curve, he finished his first published book, ‘Iron Lake’. This was the beginning of his most famous Cork O’Connor series, which now includes 19 books and a loyal following.

As a full-time writer, Krueger could not imagine his life any other way. “I’ve always wanted to be a writer,” he said. “There was never anything else I really wanted to be.”

Cities were given the authority to restrict the operations of cannabis businesses after the Minnesota Legislature legalized the use of marijuana for adults,

The new law also required the creation of the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) which was established on July 1 and is meant to work with local cities to develop model ordinances and reasonable restrictions on the time, place and manner of cannabis business.

The ordinance enacted by White Bear Lake will allow city staff to conduct studies during the moratorium period to better understand their next steps.

“Given the uncertainty regarding all of this new legislation and the lack of model ordinances yet to be developed by OCM, I do recommend that the city council does adopt an interim ordinance imposing the moratorium to protect the health, safety and general welfare of White Bear Lake residents, business, and citizens until we can further study this,” City manager Lindy Crawford said.

Mayor Dan Louismet supports the moratorium and is disappointed how the state legislature handled this issue.

“I think the state legislature should be ashamed of themselves for passing a broad and sweeping law and setting an effective date that is so quick before the regulatory bodies can develop the rules and necessary backfilling of regs [regulations] to figure out how we’re going to deal with this,” Louismet said.

William Kent Krueger

Krueger has lived in Minnesota for 43 years, and his appreciation for it shows up throughout his many works. His books showcase the many types of landscapes that can be found in the state, and highlight the local

SEE KRUEGER, PAGE 2A

Louismet thinks the city needs to “take a beat” to figure out how everything is going to play out but is open to discussion of regulatory structure for controlling cannabis later down the line if the state figures out how to lay the law out safely and “somewhat properly.”

“Right now, with a brand new law that’s a

SEE MORATORIUM, PAGE 3A

Native American cultures of Minnesota. The Cork O’Connor series takes place in the great northwoods area, and the main character is part Ojibwe and part Irish.

His standalone novels are also set in Minnesota. ‘Ordinary Grace’, his novel published in 2013, is a New York Times bestseller and received the Edgar Award for best novel. The companion novel, ‘This Tender Land’ spent nearly six months on the New York Times bestseller list.

Krueger will be visiting Lake Country Booksellers in downtown White Bear Lake on Sept. 8 at 9:30 a.m. His newest book, ‘The River We Remember’, is set to release on September 5, and copies will be available at the store for purchase.