Michael Perry's Blog

My Grandma Perry loved the Milwaukee Brewers. I can still see her in the recliner over by the big wooden console stereo, tapping her Carlton 100 into a cut glass ashtray, hollering in exhortation or cussing in despair, depending on how the game was going. She carried her portable radio and its extendable antenna with her into the kitchen, down to the laundry room, and to the backyard when she’d sit in her lawn chair and let the dog run. To this day when I hear a Brewers game playing in another room, or through a screen window, I think of Grandma.

All of this to say, when I was given the opportunity to record a voiceover for the video below, I welcomed it as a fan myself, but I especially welcomed the chance to send one out in memory of the most loyal Brewers fan I ever knew, my late Grandma Perry:

I first started listening to Brewers games in high school. This was the era of manager Harvey Keunn’s “Harvey’s Wallbangers” and their World Series run. I remember listening to a playoff game on the radio in high school English class. But my most distinct memory is of cleaning the sheep barn in the spring, eyes watering from the ammonia, arms tired from wrenching forkfuls of matted manure loose and flinging them into the spreader, but the time passing easily to the sound of Bob Uecker narrating the day’s game on a farm truck radio (must have been the neighbor’s as ours didn’t have a radio). I recall names like Gorman Thomas, Cecil Cooper, Ben Oglivie, Pete Vuckovich, and Sixto Lezcano. Gantner, Yount, Molitor. And freezing at the crack of Ben Oglivie’s bat, then breaking into a huge grin as Bob Uecker’s voice rose to a shout, “Get up! Get up! Get outta here! Gone!”

Anyways, as we say. Regarding these jerseys, my two favorite things are the bobber (symbol of my childhood) and the word FORWARD–Wisconsin’s state motto and one I try to maintain myself. So: Here’s to Grandma Perry, and forward we go.

Me and my buddy Boozy debuting our jerseys at the ballpark.

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Sometimes you just gotta go talk to a banker. This is Mike’s third visit with Jerry the Banker, and the third time Jerry has had to drink N.A. beer because It’s Banker With A Beer but Mike doesn’t drink!

This time around Mike and Jerry discussed:His New Book, Improbable Mentors and Happy Tangents What is Humor?Learning the Rhythm of Music, Speech, & the Written WordLighting RoundListen to Episode 251 on Apple , Spotify , or here .Beverages Enjoyed: Go Brewing, NA Pilsner.

The post Michael Perry’s Return to the Banker With A Beer Podcast appeared first on SneezingCow.com.

Sometimes you just gotta go talk to a banker. This is Mike’s third visit with Jerry the Banker, and the third time Jerry has had to drink N.A. beer because It’s Banker With A Beer but Mike doesn’t drink!

This time around Mike and Jerry discussed:His New Book, Improbable Mentors and Happy Tangents What is Humor?Learning the Rhythm of Music, Speech, & the Written WordLighting RoundListen to Episode 251 on Apple , Spotify , or here .Beverages Enjoyed: Go Brewing, NA Pilsner.

The post Micheal Perry’s Return to the Banker With A Beer Podcast appeared first on SneezingCow.com.

Michael Perry’s Voice Mail

A note from Mike:

Unless I slip and fall and break my larynx, I’m about to record the 300th episode of Michael Perry’s Voice Mail. We fired the first episode into the atmosphere on July 31, 2020, and have been putting one out pretty much once a week ever since. What is it, exactly? A mini-podcast? An email? A photo album? An audio essay? I know when I first conceived of it, I named it Voice Mail because I wanted it to come through like a call a friend left on your answering machine (the pioneer version of voice mail). Informal and relatively brief (10-15 minutes, give or take some either way), yet still worth your time. I wanted some of it to be polished, and I wanted some of it to be off the cuff. I wanted to include some behind-the-scenes stuff that gets at the day-to-day of what life as a self-employed writer/yapper/whatever-this-might-be is like. And I also wanted it–for lack of a more artful term–to be “value-added.” That is, sharing material that doesn’t appear in my books or on our other social media platforms. Sometimes that’s a peek at early drafts of a book or an essay in progress. Sometimes that’s a phone recording of a new song that’s still in the “figuring it out” stage. Sometimes it’s me digging into a box in the pole barn and revisiting a poem or a magazine piece or a pizza commercial I wrote back when I was still “Michael Ryan.” Over time we’ve also added what I call the “Marginalia” section, where we drop annotated excerpts from books I’m reading, or photos related to the audio or the essay, or just random moments of goofiness or peace.

At the end of the day, I’m a writer. No matter what form it takes, none of it happens if I don’t sit down alone and practice that craft. The Voice Mail project grows from that, and I hope serves to both uplift and expand the experience of the folks who subscribe and listen. Each week when I sit down to the microphone I imagine we’re at the kitchen table or cafe counter together, visiting.

Links to all the free episodes below, but first an example of recent Marginalia:

Thinking about highlighting random bits and pieces to suit/inform my reference and feeling dumb or inadequate that I do not/cannot pull it all together and present in whole form as does the scholar, I realize that is not my forte nor my ability but that my child-eyed granular take may be the way in for other non-scholars like myself who nonetheless hunger for & value these knowledges and insights*. (This after a Packers game and the woodstove with my little family that is so kind to me despite all my distant headspace.) *self-cultivation

 

“Michael Perry’s Voice Mail” is subscription-based but once a month or so there is a free episode. For ease of access we have collected all the free episodes to date in one spot. Please click on any or all of the links below to listen to any and all of the free episodes. If you enjoy the episodes and would like to listen to the paid episodes for a month free on us, please send an email to orders@sneezingcow.com.

EPISODES

#1

Thank You for Subscribing

#2

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Forward

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Went out looking for sheds. Turned on my tracker. Walked 2.56 miles. Through hill and dale. Mud and burdock. Green dot is where I started. Red dot where I ended. Blue dot where I found the shed. Literally within view of the swing set.

But did get real close to a big ol’ fisher:

The post Roundabout Antlers and a Fisher Sighting appeared first on SneezingCow.com.

Athletes aren’t the only ones who “play hurt.” The photo above is of Long Beds pedal steel player Ben Lester during soundcheck at our last show. Brother was sick as a dog. Finished soundcheck, crawled off into a dark dressing room and fell asleep. Minutes before we took the stage I cracked the door and woke him gently as I could. Then he went out there and ripped it up. Thank you, Ben. That was professional grade.Happy to report he’s feeling better and will be with us when we play Jensen Community Center on May 2. See y’there.

The post Sick Pedal Steel, Man appeared first on SneezingCow.com.

We make choices. I knew when I wrote it the correct word was “rears,” and 99 times out of 100 I let the editors and copyeditors save me from myself, but sometimes nothing is more delicious than intentionally deploying the colloquial misusage of yer original milieu. I’ve performed that passage at hundreds and hundreds of live gigs over the years, and the way the audience titters when “rares back” hits–the key is to take a beat after that comma–I know it’s the right call. The perfect setup for the escalating ridiculousness of the rest of it. I can’t believe I get to do this stuff.

(Passage from Truck: A Love Story)

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Mike will be a presenting author at this year’s Tucson Festival of Books, (Saturday and Sunday, March 14 & 15, 2026). As well as his usual entertaining presentation, he’ll be discussing his two latest books, Forty Acres Deep and Improbable Mentors & Happy Tangents.

Over the years, “T-fob” has raised and donated over $2 million to support local literacy programs. It has also grown into one of the largest book festivals in the United States. Admission is free, but some venues are space-limited, so you’ll want to plan ahead. All the information you’ll need is right here.

He Did It His Way … and Theirs

For 30 years, author and humorist Michael Perry has been his own boss, working with a wide range of bright and creative people. Not long ago, he realized some of them had actually served as mentors, even if he didn’t know it at the time. If this is a leadership model, count us in.

Arizona Daily Star Stage (Seats 250) 
Sat, Mar 14, 4:00 pm – 4:55 pm

Multigenre
Signing area: Signing – Arizona Daily Star (following presentation)Panelist: Michael Perry
Moderator: John Humenik
Sponsor: Session made possible courtesy of Arizona Daily Star

The full list of presenting authors is here.

 

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NOTE FROM MIKE: I’ve done thousands of interviews. Just when I figure I’ve covered it all, I’m invited on board for a stemwinder of this unique nature. Thank you Matt Zeigler for being so well prepped and so willing to tug the random threads…

“Too Dumb to Quit: Michael Perry on Stubbornness as a Long-Term Career Strategy”

In this episode of The Intentional Investor, Matt Zeigler sits down with bestselling author, humorist, and essayist Michael Perry to explore the life experiences that shaped his writing and worldview. Perry shares stories from growing up on a dairy farm in rural Wisconsin, the lessons he learned from sports and hard work, and the powerful influence of his parents’ humility and charity. The conversation moves through his unlikely path from farm kid to nurse to full-time writer, including the mentors, moments, and unexpected decisions that helped shape his career. Along the way, Perry reflects on independence, purpose, faith, and the role storytelling plays in understanding both investing and life.

Main topics covered:

• Michael Perry’s childhood growing up on a dairy farm in rural Wisconsin and the values it instilled.

• The life lesson he learned from consistently finishing third in track competitions.

• His parents’ unusual journey from city life to farming and their deep commitment to charity and humility.

• Growing up in a strict religious community and how it shaped his perspective on life and meaning.

• The role reading played in his childhood and how books shaped his worldview.

• Early independence through farm work and the experience of working on a Wyoming ranch at age 16.

• Paying his way through college and why he chose nursing as a career.

• Working as a nurse and the practical lessons he learned from caring for patients.

• The moment he realized people could actually get paid to write.

• How curiosity, persistence, and unlikely mentors helped him become a professional writer.

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction and overview of Michael Perry’s journey.

04:30 The track story and learning that effort does not always overcome limits.

10:30 Growing up on a farm and the story of his parents’ life together.

24:50 Books, reading, and the role literature played in shaping his thinking.

37:00 Independence, farm life, and the experience working on a Wyoming ranch.

45:00 College decisions, paying his way through school, and choosing nursing.

50:30 Working as a nurse and lessons from caring for patients.

56:00 Discovering writing and realizing it could become a career.

The post Too Dumb to Quit: Michael Perry on Stubbornness as a Long-Term Career Strategy appeared first on SneezingCow.com.

NOTE FROM MIKE: What happens when you look into your computer and see readers (and one dog) from all over the country looking back? You start answering their questions and have a great time doing it. If you missed the live event, the recorded version is available below. As well as a photo of Pepper, the dog in question.

Rebroadcast of Humor, Heart, and Reflective Rural Stories with Michael Perry

Mike joined The Library Speakers Consortium’s Virtual Author Talk series to talk about his background, his inspiration, his improbable mentors and the resulting happy tangents, and his books Population 485, Forty Acres Deep, Off Main Street, Improbable Mentors, and one hard to find book he wrote under his other handle: Michael Ryan.

You can watch or listen to, in the background, the episode below.

All books available here (even for Pepper).

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