Zenith City: Stories from Duluth

by Michael Fedo

Duluth may be the city of “untold delights” as lampooned in a Kentucky congressman’s speech in 1871. Or it may be portrayed by a joke in Woody Allen’s film Manhattan . Or then again, it may be the “Zenith City of the unsalted seas” celebrated by Dr. Thomas Preston Foster, founder of the city’s first newspaper. But whatever else it may be, this city of granite hills, foghorns, and gritty history, the last stop on the shipping lanes of the Great Lakes, is undeniably a city with character—and characters. Duluth native Michael Fedo captures these characters through the happy-go-melancholy lens nurtured by the people and landscape of his youth. In Zenith City Fedo brings it back home. Framed by his reflections on Duluth’s colorful—and occasionally very dark—history and its famous visitors, such as Sinclair Lewis, Joe DiMaggio, and Bob Dylan, his memories make the city as real as the boy next door but with a better story. Here, among the graceful, poignant, and often hilarious remembered moments—pranks played on a severe teacher, the family’s unlikely mob connections, a rare childhood affliction—are the coordinates of Duluth’s larger the diners and supper clubs, the baseball teams, radio days, and the smelt-fishing rites of spring. Woven through these tales of Duluth are Fedo’s curious, instructive, and ultimately deeply moving stories about becoming a writer, from the guidance of an English teacher to the fourteen-year-old reporter’s interview with Louis Armstrong to his absorption in the events that would culminate in his provocative and influential book The Lynchings in Duluth. These are the sorts of essays—personal, cultural, and historical, at once regional and far-reaching—that together create a picture of people in a place as rich in history and anecdote as Duluth and of the forces that forever bind them together.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

216 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Nikolas Bayuk · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one I should have grabbed from the library instead of purchasing. It was a great book but the essays were so far before my time in Duluth I couldn't identify with them as someone who lived in the 60's and 70's did. If you are from Duluth or live here currently, read this as you will enjoy it.

[Cyndy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grew up 70 miles east of Duluth. We went shopping there all the time and I also went to college there - UMD. I lived very close to where the author grew up and so it was fun to read and look up the places he mentioned. If you have ever lived in Duluth, I would recommend checking out this book.

[Sara Jordahl · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last chapter saved it. I'm honestly really bummed out about this book. This authors other book The Lynchings in Duluth is my all time favorite book. I love dark local history and I had no idea until I read that book. So I was all excited about this one because Michael told such a good story on his other book I had read. However, I'm not saying this one was boring by any means. But it wasn't what I was hoping it would be. I was looking for history stories and while I know these are technically history stories. They felt more like "when I was a kid" stories. Which normally I would love. However, because I'm not from Duluth I missed a lot of the points. A lot of the areas that a Duluthian that grew up there would have known. So while this book would be really good to someone else. It just wasn't it for me. I loved the last chapter though. I loved the history of the book I mentioned above.

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Has some fun vignettes. Sometimes it reads like the author did some sloppy thesaurus hunting.

[Andrew Post · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started off pretty good, and then got all self-aggrandizing and social justice-y.

[Jack · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked how the book served as both a reminiscing of the authors childhood as well as a mini history of Duluth.

However, I thought the last section, which was about racism in Duluth and the upper Midwest, was a little over done and as result, muddied the message of the book. The first 95% of the book was about stories, peculiarities, and histories of the authors hometown. And then, abruptly, at the very end, he goes on a 10 page plea for civil rights. I thought it was rather odd and out place.

[Marie Zhuikov · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Zenith City” is a collection of stories by former Duluthian Michael Fedo (cousin of former Duluth Mayor John Fedo). The memoir chronicles his time growing up in Duluth, Minn., in the 1950s and 60s.

I enjoyed reading the book. I recognized Fedo’s references to the city’s inferiority complex (which is turning around, now, thank you, with Duluth being named things like Best Outdoors City, etc.), and Fedo’s references to Duluthians’ relationship with their hills, KDAL Radio, dear old Denfeld High, the Flame Restaurant, and the Pickwick.

However, in many instances, Fedo writes about a Duluth with which I am unfamiliar -- one where relatives live next door (my parents were the northernmost transplants of their central- and southern-Minnesota families), where the vices and haunts of downtown were nearby (I grew up in more distant Piedmont Heights), and where folk music was popular (I was born about 15 years too late for that).

But that’s all right. The descriptions gave me a better understanding of the place where I live. I especially enjoyed his reminiscences about Don LaFontaine, the famous movie trailer voiceover actor (think, “In a world where….”), his encounter with Louis Armstrong, and with Bob Dylan’s mother. And because of my exposure to this book, I now intend to read “Babbitt” by Sinclair Lewis, who lived in Duluth for a time. (Also because my home economics-major mother once made and served him dinner when she was working in college for a family who entertained him.)

I noticed two punctuation errors: one where closing quotation marks are missing, another where a sentence ends with both a period and a comma. This surprised me since I’ve come to expect better from the University of Minnesota Press. I don’t know if it’s a sign of their quality slipping or of my editorial eye getting sharper with experience.

The only other thing that gave me pause was the repetition among the stories. For instance, we hear that Fedo worked at the local college radio station at least four times throughout, but I suppose this is an artifact of the book being a compilation of stories that were written for other publications. Just be aware it’s not a seamless memoir written in a singular effort.

Earlier this year, I went to an event by Fedo at Duluth Public Library. He read from many of the stories, and afterwards, he and his wife were generous with their time for a discussion with me, a newbie novelist. They were a class act. I highly recommend this book, even to non-Duluthians.

[Arlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is not a requirement to have lived in Duluth, MN to appreciate and enjoy this personal history of the author's growing up years in that interesting city. But to thoroughly appreciate and enjoy the entertaining stories in this book, it is practically a requirement to have lived in the 40's and 50's, the time setting for many of his stories. Meeting that requirement gives you a one-up on the culture of the time, knowing the "old-time" radio programs he listened to and knowing exactly how exciting it was to have your father come home with your family's first television set. When the author talks about wanting to be like Arthur Godfrey or Edward R. Murrow, you know his career goals. And when he begins to talk about celebrities like Joe DiMaggio and Satchmo Armstrong coming to Duluth, you know of their fame and wonder what drew them there. Chances are likely you would not have a personal point of reference for the "infamous stories" -- the questionable connections of some of the author's relatives and the infamous lynching in Duluth, a well-kept secret for many years. All in all, I found every one of this author's stories interesting and spot-on, true-to-life narrations. This book is a four-star read for me.

[Harley Gee · Rating 4 out of 5]

For Duluth fans this is a nifty read. The chapters are more like independent vignettes of Fedo's childhood growing up in the "Zenith city of the unsalted seas". Mostly autobiographical, the book examines Fedo's extended family, impoverished immigrants from Italy, who settle in Duluth. Fedo claims an extraordinary recall and he recounts memories beginning when he is but two years old. The book is wide ranging covering his family's story, his personal history as a school boy in the 1940's and 50's and his development as an aspiring athlete, musician and writer. The references to specific Duluth addresses enable one to follow (via mapquest) exactly where the stories take place. A quick read of 171 pages, Zenith City is both entertaining and informative.

[Stephen Hero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Instead of asking Duluthians, former or otherwise, the basic question What do you lack?, the author instead lets us know that the name Zenith City is derived from the state's motto L'Étoile du Nord which is a French phrase meaning The Star of the North.

The author also failed to mention that Duluth's unofficial motto is not the following: Opportunity in life is like an over-easy egg. Once it's over, it's over.

And, speaking personally, as a former Duluthian I can tell you that I lack a cool nickname like Tri-state or even Knock Nevis.

[Rhonda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe a 2.5 I had high hopes and while I enjoyed some of the essays it is not a book I'd go back and re-read, a bit irreverent for my tastes, agree with reviewer who said it would have been a good library read

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually gave this unusual collection 3 and 1/2 stars. I was expecting a memoir and this grouping of essays is something quite different. As always, a longer review is up at www.cloquetriverpress.com.
Peace.
Mark

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book a great deal. I'll probably need to read the author's "The Lynching in Duluth" now as well.
A couple of the vignettes were clunkers, but for the most part, and importantly, overall, the book provided a glimpse of Duluth, a city I find fascinating. Thanks.

[Carol Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collection of essays about Duluth, Minnesota. Very well-written and interesting.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hit and miss. "The Hill" was one of the funniest things I've ever read. But, it felt like some other stories were just filler.