This Thursday, Sept 10, I’ll be part of a panel discussion about the trip I took with my father, John Musgrave, for his first return to Vietnam in over 50 years. The program can be accessed and watched live at 3:00 CST via the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics at KU. It will also be made available via their Youtube Channel to view asynchronously. Though the talk will be moderated, we’ll also be taking questions from the live-stream. I don’t anticipate speaking much, but a selection of my photographs from the trip will be part of the presentation.

The talk is well timed, as I have a short narrative nonfiction piece coming out in the Summer 2020 Issue of New Letters (arriving soon). The piece, “Secondhand,” is about the ways being raised by a combat veteran influenced me both explicitly and subconsciously. It focuses on three periods of my life when the interaction between his past and my future felt most tangible. And, perhaps also, most dire.

If you get a chance, stop by the stream and ask a question. I assure you you will not be disappointed, though you may experience deep emotions.