published on
Show Notes
Nicole and Dianna met at Boneshaker Books’ community room on July 17, 2018 and chatted about the history and stories behind Dianna’s 2018 memoir Wild Mares: My Back-to-the-Land Life, which she explained she did not want it to “become a theory book…more so a story of the way things were”.
Wild Mares is a rich and timeless true story situated within the context of domestic and foreign policy issues of the 60s and 70s, second wave feminism, identity politics, and as Dianna says, “the complexity of viewpoints changing over time”.
Subjects
Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam War, sins of materialism, hegemonic military dominance, advent of feminist coursework at Macalester College in the 1970s, perennial “call of the land” and lesbian collectives, farm polices and empty farms, Red Stockings Manifesto (1969), Civil Rights Act and figuring out what sexual harassment looks like, Trump presidency, #metoo movement, gender equity struggles, the first Lesbian Conference (1973), Robin Morgan, and transgender activism, Women’s Liberation and the Wave Theory, White privilege, consciousness-raising groups, the origins of the storied Amazon Bookstore (aka Amazon House, Amazon Collective), the iconic Gay & Lesbian bar in St. Paul TownHouse Bar, Our Bodies, Our Selves, Nicole’s coming out story, Dianna’s creation of the first Women’s Studies course at Macalester College in Saint Paul, reflection on “the woman problem”, laying the groundwork for intersectional feminism; the utility of idealism, utopia, lesbian separatism.
With regard to the subtext of Wild Mares—and the perennial project of "chasing utopia", Dianna told me, “I guess I look at it as…why not? If you are going to simply accept that life as it is handed to us is the way things are—that’s reality—there is no room in that for change and there has to be room for change because we are humans—and what we do is change things and we change—so why not go for your ideals and what you see as perfect.”
We talked about the enduring quality of books, and her first book–Breaking Hard Ground, 1980s Reagan Era farm economic crisis, the importance of marginalized people telling their own stories, and living a deviant, politicized life.
I asked Dianna how she feels about her life today--is she content?
“I do feel content…especially now that I have written this book…I left a record.”
Quotes
Audre Lorde
“But the true feminist deals out of a lesbian consciousness whether or not she ever sleeps with women.”
https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/1982-audre-lorde-learning-60s/
Bill Mahr (Summer 2018)
“Fascism is at the door.”
Resources
Dianna Hunter (website)
https://diannahunter.com/home
Dianna Hunter Papers (Archive)
https://archives.lib.umn.edu/repositories/13/resources/7493
Boneshaker Bookstore
https://www.boneshakerbooks.com/
Macalester College
https://www.macalester.edu/about/
A look back at the Cuban Missile Crisis | MinnPost
https://www.minnpost.com/politics-policy/2012/10/look-back-cuban-missile-crisis
Rebecca Walker - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_Walker
Making Waves Beth Bartlett
https://www.bethbartlettduluth.com/about
To Believe in Women: What Lesbians Have Done For America - A History
Lillian Faderman
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/14/us/queer-lesbian-women-suffrage.html
Our Bodies, Our Selves
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Bodies,_Ourselves
OutNorth PBS Amazon Bookstore
https://www.pbs.org/video/real-amazon-bookstore/
Lesbian Resource Center
https://archives.lib.umn.edu/repositories/13/resources/2062
The Town House: Saying Farewell To A GLBT Institution | Lavender Magazine
https://lavendermagazine.com/our-scene/clubs-music/st-pauls-oldest-gay-bar-sold-to-new-owner/
Visit lspotshop.com for more information about Dianna Hunter.
- Genre
- author interview