Michael Perry's Voice Mail

Howdy folks: Welcome to the Michael Perry’s Voice Mail, episode 26. This one’s free to all, and to all a good night. Click the player above to listen. Included in today’s installment:  Mike doesn’t mention it, but he knows he really oughta hook up the snowplow. In this episode’s  “Roughneck Rewind,”  Mike revisits and reflects on a piece he often shares this time of year, about how he went from Ch...

Came out of the woods this morning thinking about a passage in Visiting Tom that isn’t about Thanksgiving but invokes Thanksgiving. Whatever the state of your heart, mind, and table, thank you for being thoughtful and thankful. Mike P.S. Just in case you think I’m unceasingly reflective and morose, here’s my favorite Tom video ever . For subscription options, click on the button below (it says “Su...

A few words. Thank you,Mike This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit michaelperry.substack.com/subscribe

One of my favorite Tom pictures. He just finished telling one of his stories, and he’s enjoying my reaction as much as he enjoyed telling it. Love this informal snapshot, and how much it conveys of what we miss these days—dropping in to eat a little something, shoot the breeze, pass some time. Howdy folks: Welcome to the Michael Perry’s Voice Mail, episode 13. This one’s free to one and all. Click...

Art by Andrea Worthey Back before the pandemic I was having a bad day. Felt I was failing as a husband. Had a daughter in distress far from home and calling for comfort. Another daughter on the edge of change. I needed sunlight. I stepped outside into a beautiful summer afternoon. First thing I saw was an indigo bunting, dead in the grass. So I headed back into my little room above the garage and...

Got a message the other day: “WPR tonight had your intro to Greg Brown, would love the transcript of that.” The transcript is below. I was introducing Mr. Brown for his final appearance at the Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua. If some of my words sound familiar it’s because they drew upon what I wrote about him in Truck: A Love Story and in a profile I wrote of him included in Danger: Man Working...

Howdy folks: Welcome to the third full episode of Michael Perry’s Voice Mail. Click the player above to listen. Included in today’s installment:  From his window Mike can see he never put the grill away, which sends him off on a tangent about men and meat. Also addressed: Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Dr. Tressie McMillan Cottom’s book THICK , eggplant, and sad corn on Instagram . In this episode’s  “Rou...

NOTE FROM MIKE:  We plan to release “Voice Mail” once per week to subscribers. The first few are free, and even after we go to a subscription model we’ll release some freebie extras now and then. We’ll also release some spur-of-the-moment posts (like this one) to subscribers. We’re new at this, so we welcome your comments. I was awake and worrying before dawn today so I headed to the little room a...

Howdy folks: Welcome to the second full episode of Michael Perry’s Voice Mail. Click the player above to listen. Included in today’s installment:  From his window Mike can see the last of the lilies and reveals his favorite plant name; a teenager picks the onions; what the sheriff found in our pole barn; and, in this episode’s  “Roughneck Rewind,”  Mike revisits and reflects on one of the most pop...

Howdy folks: Welcome to the first weekly episode of Michael Perry’s Voice Mail. Click the player above to listen. Included in today’s installment: From his window Mike can see his daughter’s hammock (her slumbers interrupted by a thunderstorm), state of the garden report (dang deer), HOT SHOWER NEWS, and in today’s “Roughneck Rewind,” Mike revisits and reflects on a piece he wrote in 2013. NOTE FR...