Friday, Jan. 10, 2014
Poet from front page His writing hours are in the early morning. He often gets up around 5:30 a.m., puts on a pot of coffee and writes. “Sometimes I write for onehalf hour and sometimes I write for a couple of hours,” Marwitz said. “As a writer, you write and rewrite and rewrite.” Marwitz said sometimes his writing flows really easily and other times he struggles with it. One of his poems, “Alone,” he started in college and put away. He was never really satisfied with it until he pulled it out in recent years, reworked it and finally finished it. Marwitz and his wife, Mylla, moved to the St. Joseph
St. Joseph Newsleader • www.thenewsleaders.com area nine years ago. Mylla had taught history in Sauk Rapids years ago so they were familiar with the area and also have friends and family here. He said they are glad they moved here. “We like it here,” Marwitz said. “There are so many things to do, and there are a lot of cultural events and really good entertainment.” Mylla is one of his critics and offers suggestions for his writing. “Some I take and some I don’t,” Marwitz said. “She’s a gentle critic.” The Marwitzes have three daughters and one son. One daughter is a lawyer and the other children are teachers. They have six grandchildren, three boys and three girls. Marwitz’s hobbies include walking and hiking. He and
Mylla enjoy visiting the state parks. Marwitz also enjoys reading. He said he feels fortunate he has remained healthy and is able to continue to work and enjoy his hobbies. Mar-
witz’s years of teaching and directing plays were very busy years. He said he is glad he has had career opportunities, such as his current position at the colleges, to continue to work part-time.
3 Both poetry books are available at Cold Spring Bakery in Cold Spring, and “Turning the Cup” is available at Barnes and Noble in St. Cloud and The Local Blend in St. Joseph.
Frigid temps cause cancellations by Cori Hilsgen news@thenewsleaders.com
Temperatures in the central Minnesota area dropped to dangerously cold levels last weekend due to a northern cold air mass. The National Weather Service issued early warnings about the “dangerous and historic cold-air outbreak” which lasted from Saturday evening until Tuesday noon. Windchill warnings issued covered 20
states. Local wind chills dropped to 50- to 60-degrees-below zero. At 50-degrees-below-zero temperatures, frostbite can occur in five minutes. The cold streak was compared to a six-day stretch in 1996 when temperatures stayed at 20-degrees-below zero or colder every morning. Gov. Mark Dayton ordered a statewide closing of schools Monday. Area colleges, churches and other ac-
tivities were also cancelled. Early warnings and cancellations allowed many people to make other childcare arrangements for Monday. The St. Cloud School District 742 and many other regional schools and events were also canceled Tuesday. Concerns were expressed for the area’s homeless population and pets that normally stay outside. Many shelters remained open to offer additional help.