Lessons from Lockport: Dispatches from the Great American Divide

by Jim Shultz

A long-time liberal activist gets an up-close political education about conservative America when he moves to a small town in upstate New York.

During a time of great national division and a growing working-class rebellion that has turned American politics on its head, a longtime liberal activist moves to a small town in the conservative northwest corner of New York State. He becomes a weekly opinion columnist for the city's two-hundred-year-old daily newspaper. His columns force light into the dark corners of local politics and provoke local debate over national issues, from guns to climate change. Dozens of people begin to speak to him about his columns, in stores, on the street, in playgrounds, and beyond. His columns also spark fierce debate in a community Facebook group that includes almost everyone in town. The result is an up-close education about what makes small-town America tick, just as small towns like this one are driving a national political upheaval. Told through stories that will entertain readers as well as make them think, Lessons from Lockport offers a unique look at one of the most misunderstood corners of American culture.

278 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 1, 2025

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since the 2016 election, I’ve done a lot of reading in trying to understand what happened. I started with Nancy Isenberg’s White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America (Viking, 2016), moved onto Berkeley professor Arlie Hochschild’s Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right (The New Press, 2016), and even ventured into a certain memoir of bootstrapping out of Appalachia, by an author I’d never heard of (I am haunted by the $10 I contributed to the skewed timeline we now find ourselves in). I also threw myself body, mind, and checkbook into the 107 day long 2024 campaign, talking to dozens of voters through swing state door-knocking and phone-banking. I’m not sure I’ll ever fully recover from the myopic and selfish comments I heard from so many voters, justifications for voting against our nation’s best interests due to narrowly focused personal interests. (One Phoenix voter told me he’s frustrated that he hasn’t been able to purchase a vacation home in the mountains during the Biden administration, and with the increasing heat he needs to escape occasionally, so he’s voting the other way. There’s just so much to deconstruct with this logic.)

In Lessons from Lockport, Jim Shultz isn’t just writing about dipping a toe into a swing state. This is his story of moving to a politically conservative small town in western New York state, becoming a community member as part of a multi-generational family entirely immersed in the town’s culture. From this, I’m reminded of a term coined at the height of the “culture wars” in the early aughts: the West Wing writers created a term for the archetypal liberal (coastal, well educated, possibly Jewish): A “New York Times person.” If the residents of Lockport were aware of this near caricature (and I’m sure in some sense they are even if not that specific reference), they probably recognized Shultz as fitting this mold. Yet, he’s also father and grandfather to local school children, rides his bike through town, shops at the farmer’s market, and socializes in the local pub. Shultz, though, actually
has connections at the New York Times on speed dial, a detail that became beneficial to the community of Lockport when a technology opportunist came to town looking to sell a facial recognition software to the public school district, peddling misguided sentiments linked to fears of school shootings (how often is a potential school shooter, nearly always a member of the school community, already cataloged in a facial recognition database?)

Shultz’s expertise in advocacy is further called upon when well meaning NYC liberals champion solar panels driving energy across rural NY farmland, effectively reducing square footage of actual farmland, while creating an aesthetic assault on the experience of a rural lifestyle. Herein lies almost the exact point of this book: we don’t understand one another and we’re terrible at listening. That might not be how we arrived at this point in history (realistically, 400 years of deliberately promoting racial identity over class consciousness and structuring a flawed system of public education has had a lot to do with it), but without learning to listen and adopting effective methods of advocacy and persuasion, we’re not going to survive this era. Shultz provides us with tools based in real world examples that might help us get to the next election.

[Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Must-Read for Western New Yorkers — Especially Lockportians

*Edited for formatting*

Lessons from Lockport: Dispatches from the Great American Divide is an absolutely essential read for anyone who calls Western New York home—especially those of us from Lockport. Jim Shultz does a remarkable job capturing the deep national divides, not through abstract theory, but by showing how those divisions manifest in our own backyards, in the places where real life unfolds.

As I read, I felt a deep sense of shame—not because the author tries to guilt the reader, but because I realized how disengaged I’ve been from local politics. Jim never scolds or preaches; the tone of this book is thoughtful, constructive, and full of care for the community. My reaction was personal. I was struck by how little attention I paid to local elections, scandals, and decisions that affect my neighbors and me every day. Many of the events Jim recounts were ones I vaguely remember, but had always considered background noise. This book forced me to confront that complacency, and I’m grateful it did.

Jim, a transplant to Lockport, has done more to shine a light on local corruption and push for change than most lifelong residents. His writing is clear-eyed and unflinching, but also deeply hopeful. He shows that when people come together, when they put aside the distractions of partisan identity, real change is possible.

One of the most powerful parts of the book comes in his conclusion. Jim reflects on his own tone in early newspaper columns—how cringeworthy they now seem to him—and makes the case for a different kind of dialogue. He argues that we should spend more time talking about what we love and what we have in common. That we need to listen not just to what we’re saying, but to how we sound to others. That our ideology—if we must have one—should be rooted in common sense, compassion, and the well-being of our neighbors.

We all want the same basic things: a good life for ourselves and our children, honest governance, and a community that works for everyone—not just for corporations or the politically connected. This book reminded me that local action matters, and that staying informed and involved is both a right and a responsibility.

I will never skip another local election. I will no longer dismiss local corruption as “just how things are.” Lessons from Lockport gave me a renewed sense of civic duty—and a glimpse of what’s possible when a community comes together.

This book should be required reading in our local high school civics and history classes. It makes the abstract lessons of government and democracy real and tangible, and shows students how much power they actually have—if they choose to use it.

An excellent, inspiring, and timely read. Highly recommended.

[Thomas Rosenthal · Rating 5 out of 5]

How to understand your neighbors, a manual.

I opened this book with low expectations. However, the author gradually builds his logic through local stories from the lives of his neighbors in a small rural upstate New York city. He circles back and forth between his adopted home town and national programs and policies. In the process I learned a great deal about today’s American culture strain. I want to say Thank You!