KURT MANNER

Time for another travelogue:

Day gig business took me this month, briefly, to the good city of Indianapolis. While there I had the opportunity to sneak away to the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library...

(Thank you to the random Hoosier kid passing on a bike who took this pic.)

The museum is devoted to the Indianapolis-born novelist, short story writer and essayist best known for Slaughterhouse-Five and other hipster classics. If, like me, you're a lifelong reader and fan, and if you find yourself nearby during its hours--the place is only open Friday through Monday--I highly recommend, especially if you can get the excellent Beth Anne to give you a tour.

Attractively arrayed over three floors, the collection includes everything from personal items to drawings; Vonnegut was an avid doodler who sometimes illustrated his own books...

...to letters, to tributes by other artists inspired on the author's work. Look one way and you'll see paintings based on Vonnegut's P.O.W. experiences...

...look another and you'll see a hand-crafted Tralfamadorian...

I was most entranced by the personal items. On display is the typewriter on which Vonnegut wrote Breakfast of Champions and other books, in the same case as his reading glasses...

Elsewhere you'll see his Purple Heart alongside his membership card in the Alplaus, New York, Volunteer Fire Company...

...and a big box in which he diligently saved his rejection slips.

There's also a gift shop, of course, generously supplied with post cards, fridge magnets, t-shirts and, it goes without saying, books. Note to Santa: This Christmas feel free to bring me the Sirens of Titan couch pillow.

I also managed visits to the Koorsen Fire Extinguisher Museum...

...and the Indiana State Museum, where I was looking forward to seeing Fred the Mastodon; alas, when I got there Fred was wrapped in plastic...

A friend wondered if this was a COVID precaution; after all, he already went extinct once.

Fortunately, I was able to obtain a postcard showing Fred and some of his Ice Age pals...

Walking between museums--Indianapolis seems to be a fine walking town; it is, as advertised, blessedly flat--I came across the Indiana Workers' Memorial...

What, then, can I say about the whole trip?...