Read Jim Klobuchar's story about meeting the team for ECUMEN, a Lutheran literary publication
Jim Klobuchar, a longtime figure in Minnesota journalism, spoke to the Macalester Scots following football practice Thursday (Aug. 25), talking about his years covering the Minnesota Vikings, the rewards and benefits of being a member of a team, and several other topics.
An iconic figure in Minnesota journalism, Klobuchar has worked 45 years in daily newspapering, radio and television, and 30 years as a daily columnist for the Star Tribune. He retired from daily journalism several years ago, but still writes widely and has published 23 books, including the recent “Pieces of My Heart,” in which he gathers some of his more memorable experiences in wild nature and reflects on the gifts that have come into his later years as a result. Another recent book, “Walking Briskly Toward the Sunset,” includes a variety of essays and excerpts from books he has written since his retirement.
Since his retirement as a columnist his writing has appeared frequently in the Christian Science Monitor, which in 2003 recommended him for a Pulitzer Prize in journalism. He is most familiar to his readers both as an adventurer-columnist, a venue in which he took his readers to mountain tops and snow caves, and as a commentator on society's follies and moments of grandeur. As a climber he has reached the summit of the Matterhorn eight times and also climbed in the Himalayas, Andes and Africa.
In 1984, was named the country's outstanding columnist for newspapers over 100,000 circulation by the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. He was also a finalist in NASA's journalist-in-space program before the project was put on hold because of a shuttle accident. He danced a tango in the middle of the Nicollet Mall with the late Ginger Rogers and also survived a near fist fight with the late Viking football coach, Norm Van Brocklin. He says the scuffle with Van Brocklin and the tango with Ginger were equally hazardous, but he didn't need a tourniquet after dancing with Ginger.
His daughters are Amy Klobuchar, who was elected to the U.S. Senate from Minnesota in 2006 after serving two terms as the chief prosecutor for Hennepin County, and Meagan McGlade of Des Moines, Iowa, an auditor- accountant with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
