LAURA CHILDS: Minnesotan Gerry Schmitt, writing as Childs, hosts a meet-and-greet celebrating publication of “High Tea and Misdemeanors,” latest in her mystery series in which tea shop owner Theodosia Browning and her sommelier Drayton are hired to cater an elegant wedding with murder as a guest. Noon-2 p.m. Saturday, Once Upon a Crime, 604 W. 26th St., Mpls.

ALLISON EPSTEIN: Presents “Fagin the Thief,” in conversation with Ann Foster. 7 p.m. Tuesday, Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls.

TONI HALLEEN: Launches her novel “The Good Samaritan,” about a college professor’s entanglement with a boy he finds huddled under a tarp in a rainstorm. 7 p.m. Monday, Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls.

MARLENE M. JOHNSON: Minnesota’s first female lieutenant governor discusses her memoir “Rise to the Challenge,” in conversation with Margaret Kelliher, former speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives. 6 p.m. Friday, Story Line Books inside the Union Depot, 214 E. Fourth St., St. Paul.

EMILY ST. JAMES: Discusses “Woodworking: A Novel,” in conversation with Dex  Anderson. 7 p.m. Wednesday, Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls.

LESLIE JAMISON: Presents “Splinters: Another Kind of Love Story,” in conversation with Peter Bognanni. 7 p.m. Thursday, Mages & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls.

LINDA SUE PARK: Newbery Award winner celebrates her newest picture book, “Smiling Eyes,” which showcases the variety of Asian eye shapes and hues in an inclusive celebration of eyes. 6 p.m. Wednesday, Red Balloon Bookshop, 891 Grand Ave., St. Paul.

PRESS PLAY: Minnesota Center for Book Arts hosts a printing event with local artists Nancy Ariza, Robyn Awend, Andrea Shaker and Whitney Terrill in a celebration of International Women’s Day featuring female-identifying artists and the power of community and creative expression. Free. 1-4 p.m. Saturday, MCBA in the Open Book building, 1011 Washington Ave. S., Mpls.

(Courtesy of Orchard Books)

DAVID SHANNON: Internationally acclaimed author celebrates “That’s Not Funny, David,” newest companion picture book to his Caldecott Honor award-winner “No, David.” 1 p.m. March 9, Red Balloon Bookshop, 891 Grand Ave., St. Paul.

MAI DER VANG: Pulitzer Prize finalist joins poet/scholar Chaun Webster for a reading and conversation about Vang’s new poetry collection “Primordial,” focusing on the saola, a rare and critically endangered animal native to the mountains of Laos and Vietnam, as a vehicle to investigate the collective trauma experienced by the Hmong people. Free. 7 p.m. Thursday, East Side Freedom Library, 1105 Greenbrier St., St. Paul.

What else is going on

Minnesota author Julie Fasciana offers a twisty tale of domestic revenge in the new short story anthology “Deadly Yellowstone” (Thalia Press), made up of 13 original stories by fiction writers from across North America, set in Yellowstone National Park. She will host a meet-and-greet from noon to 2 p.m. March 29 at Once Upon a Crime bookstore, 604 W. 26th St., Mpls.

Excelsior Bay Books is for sale, according to a letter to customers posted by Shelf Awareness, publisher of news about book stores. Ann and Dale Woodbeck have owned the 28-year-old store in the Minneapolis suburb since 2019. They are looking for a seller dedicated to continuing their legacy.

Kat Beaulieu, St. Paul writer, has published “Owl Music,” the first book from his Tapestrata Inc. publishing company. It’s a fable about an owl, a boy and a feather inspired by the author’s finding a great horned owl feather four years ago. Illustrated by Melissa Crowley, the book’s first 1,000-copy printing sold out and 5,000 more made up a second printing. Beaulieu, a former IT professional, will discuss “Owl Music” during the International Festival of the Owls Friday through March 9 in Houston, Minn., across the river from La Crosse, Wis. For information go to festivalofowls.com.

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With the dramatic firing of two members of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff — the chairman, Air Force General C.Q. Brown, and the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Lisa Franchetti — President Donald Trump’s administration has shocked the armed forces. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth also dismissed the Air Force’s vice chief of staff, General James Slife, and three judge advocate generals (JAGS) — the top uniformed lawyers for the Army, Navy and Air Force. Trump indicated more firings of top military officials are in the offing.

How should we think about this rare purge at the very top of the uniformed military? Is it unprecedented? What are the likely consequences on the Department of Defense’s mission?

Let’s start with the legalities and precedents. Presidents, as commanders in chief, have unquestioned authority to relieve any senior military officer for essentially any reason. This power has been exercised across both political parties going back to the Civil War, when President Abraham Lincoln fired a whole series of ineffectual and indecisive generals before finding the leader he needed, Ulysses S. Grant.

Likewise, after the Japanese surprise attack at Pearl Harbor in 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt fired the Army general and the Navy admiral who had been in charge in Hawaii, and brought in Admiral Chester Nimitz and General Douglas MacArthur. A few years later, President Harry Truman fired MacArthur, then the nation’s top general, for insubordination and policy differences during the Korean War.

More recently, President Barack Obama fired Army General Stanley McChrystal for disrespectful conversations by his staff concerning then-Vice President Joe Biden (McChrystal was later exonerated by the Army inspector general, but by then he was out of uniform).

So, the question is not whether the president has the authority to relieve senior military officers, but whether Trump’s actions were warranted and what the repercussions on American security will be.

I know the case surrounding McChrystal all too well. He is an extraordinary leader, a former head of the fearsome Joint Special Operations Command, and an expert in special forces and counterinsurgency. I was thrilled when he became the leader of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, under my strategic command as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s military chief. He had an immediate and dynamic impact on the battlefield, and was a loyal subordinate and a fine shipmate.

I was deeply shocked and saddened when Obama, responding to an article in Rolling Stone magazine, fired Stan for a handful of disrespectful comments made by his aides while they were on liberty in Paris. I fought to keep him in command to no avail. Losing him altered the course of the war in Afghanistan and not for the better — had he stayed for several more years, we might have achieved a far better outcome there.

Similarly, I feel it was a major mistake to fire Brown, Franchetti, Slife and the judge advocate generals. No real reason has been given, beyond criticisms of a “woke culture” and that Hegseth is a longtime critic of the military lawyers, calling them “jagoffs” and writing that they put their “own priorities in front of the war fighters.”

I know Lisa Franchetti well, and she is anything but a so-called DEI hire. She has commanded a guided missile destroyer, a squadron of warships and two carrier strike groups in combat. She was also commander of the venerable Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean. She is an experienced warrior and a fine strategist — her departure under these circumstances is a serious loss to the Navy.

Looking at the mass firings overall, I am struck by how this will hurt U.S. security in three serious ways.

First, at the tactical level, it will create real disruption throughout the military. Each of these officers will be replaced by other uniformed military, who themselves will be pulled from key assignments, leaving temporary voids at uncounted numbers of senior positions. (The exception is the return from retirement of Lieutenant General Dan “Razin” Caine to replace Brown as Joint Chiefs chairman). All of their staffs will likely be replaced as well, and the knock-on effect of vacant posts will be significant, especially if even more officers are summarily fired. All of the policies and the strategy direction of Brown and Franchetti need to be reexamined and reissued. Moscow and Beijing are no doubt applauding.

More worrisome is the divisive effect these firings will have over time. Senior and mid-grade officers will be looking over their shoulders at their bosses and even their peers. They will be worried about whether they will come under fire for an anodyne email they may have sent years ago expressing concern about racial tensions in America or another controversial topic. Or if they are women or people of color, they will feel they will be judged as unqualified “DEI hires” by the new administration. This will inject politics into the military, and the effects will be felt top to bottom over time.

And finally, it will be a discouraging time in the senior levels of the military. When the president and secretary of defense select a retired three-star officer to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs, they are, in effect, passing over about 40 active-duty four-star officers and 150 three-stars.

I know Caine, and he is smart and charismatic, a former fighter pilot and White House fellow. In 2009, he switched to the National Guard and became an entrepreneur, but returned to full-time service and ascended to three-star rank and a top position at the Central Intelligence Agency — a remarkable achievement. (Caine and I have both advised the VC firm Shield Capital.)

But he has a very difficult leadership challenge ahead given the circumstances around his selection and the very human reactions we can expect from the generals and admirals he has vaulted over.

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I also worry about losing the leaders of the Judge Advocate General Corps. These are apolitical, legally trained, uniformed officers who only advise commanders. When I led the intervention in Libya in 2011, I relied greatly on my JAG to help us avoid killing innocent civilians during thousands of strikes. I never found a military lawyer I worked with to be a “Dr. No” who forbade me to take action — a power they do not have. Rather, they were a group of “Yes, but …” soldiers who helped me assess the risk/reward calculus of applying combat power. They made me a better, more just and honorable commander — without restricting my lethality in commands from Colombia to the Balkans to Afghanistan to the Horn of Africa to Libya.

Will the Department of Defense continue to conduct prompt and sustained combat operations? Sure — new leaders will step up and perform. The new JAGs will be people of honor who cherish the law. And I have faith that all newly promoted generals and admirals will hew to their oath to “support and defend the constitution of the United States,” full stop.

The ability to replace leaders and keep fighting is at the center of our military DNA. That is the nature of combat. But firing senior officers, suddenly and peremptorily, without providing a coherent and understandable rationale, will gradually reduce America’s security, not enhance it.

James Stavridis is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist, a retired U.S. Navy admiral, former supreme allied commander of NATO, and vice chairman of global affairs at the Carlyle Group. He is dean emeritus of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He is on the boards of Aon, Fortinet and Ankura Consulting Group, and has advised Shield Capital, a firm that invests in the cybersecurity sector.

Spring’s coming and we all want to be outdoors. But when the daylight fades we still read or anticipate what books we’ll take on vacation. Here’s a peek at spring/summer books in a clip-and-save format so you’re in the know about Minnesota authors and publishers.

March

Fiction

“Shadow Falls” by Christopher Valen (Santa Rita Press): St. Paul homicide detectives John Santana and Gabriel Cruz investigate the death of the daughter of a venture capitalist whose body was found in Shadow Falls park in Valen’s 10th Santana thriller.

“The Sun” by Frank F. Weber (The Story Laboratory/BookBaby): Forensic psychologist Weber (“Scandal of Vandals”) returns with a real-life-inspired crime in this story of a brilliant young defense attorney dedicated to getting her narcissistic lover out of prison, plunging her into a spiral of danger from which there may be no return.

“The Parlor” by John Louis Lauber: The owner of Chicago’s best pizza parlor is threatened by the city’s crime family

(Courtesy of Dial Books)

“Nellie’s Big Splash” by Cori Doerrfeld (Penguin Young Readers): Illustrator of the bestselling “The Rabbit Listened,” as well as others, tells of a newly hatched turtle as she overcomes her fears of the ocean and sets out to reunite with her family. (Reading April 12 at Red Balloon Bookshop, 891 Grand Ave., St. Paul.)

Nonfiction

(Courtesy of the University of Minnesota Press)

“Gentlemen of the Woods: Manhood, Myth, and the American Lumberjack” by Willa Hammitt Brown (University of Minnesota Press): A cultural history of the life and lore of the real lumberjack and his place in American history in a correction to the Paul Bunyan stories of an ax-wielding guy striding across the Midwest.

“Horse Lovers” by Karen Winegar (Horse Feed Press): Former Minneapolis newspaper writer explores the female fascination with horses based on her years of caring for and riding horses. (Reading at 7 p.m. April 23, Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls.)

“Lighthouses of the Great Lakes: An Architect’s Sketchbook”: by Jim Lammers (ORO Editions): A road trip around the Great Lakes tells stories of lighthouse building and establishment as well as how lighthouses and their components work and memories of keepers and tenders. Lammers is an arborist on his 18-acre farmstead in Chisago County and teaches travel sketching at Marine Mills Folk School.

“Masters Of Hockey Scoring Magic” by Jeff Olson (Palisade Head Press): Minnesota college and professional line mates Natalie Darwitz and Krissy Wendell-Pohl and their journey to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

“Smash, Crash, Topple, Roll!” by Catherine Thimmesh, illustrated by Shanda McCloskey (Chronicle Books): From the award-winning author of nonfiction for children comes a picture book subtitled “The Inventive Rube Goldberg: A Life in Comics, Contraptions, and Six Simple Machines,” an illustrated look at six simple machines — lever, wheel and axle, inclined plane, wedge, screw, and pulley, that will also intrigue adults.

April

Fiction

“The Flip Side” by Jason Walz (Penguin Young Readers): Graphic novel inspired by a story told to the author by his best friend before his tragic death, about loneliness and depression that come with losing someone at a young age as seen through the eyes of a grief-stricken boy, offering a way navigate tough conversations about mental health and grief in the home.

(Courtesy of the author)
Peter Geye (Courtesy of the author)

“A Lesser Light” by Peter Geye (University of Minnesota Press): One of the most anticipated books of the season from the author of “The Lighthouse Road,” “Wintering” and “Northernmost.” In 1910 in a lighthouse on Lake Superior, the bride of the lighthouse keeper is unhappy in her ill-suited marriage when a clairvoyant girl and her uncle emerge from across the cove. (Launch reading at 7 p.m. April 15, Norway House, 913 E. Franklin Ave., Mpls.)

“The Murder Show” by Matt Goldman (Forge): From the author of the Nils Shapiro crime series, this stand-alone features an out-of-work TV showrunner who returns to Minnesota to help his former classmate, a police officer, investigate the hit-and-run that killed their friend.

(Courtesy of Coffee House Press)

“No Names” by Greg Hewitt (Coffee House Press): A debut novel from the author of five books of poetry inspired by the iconic punk scene of the late ’70s, blurring the lines of affection and sexuality in a story about a washed-up former rocker and the young fan who finds him.

“The Seers” by Sulaiman Addonia (Coffee House Press): Chronicles the first weeks of a young Eritrean refugee in London as her sexual encounters become an expression of self, told in a single, continuous paragraph.

Nonfiction

“Dearly Beloved: Prince, Spirituality and This Thing Called Life” by Pamela Ayo Yetunde (Broadleaf Books): The author, a Prince fan and founder of the Theology of Prince project at United Theological Seminary, argues that the Minneapolis-born rock icon’s music transcended religious beliefs.

“The Lonely Veteran’s Guide to Companionship” by Bronson Lemer (University of Wisconsin Press): St. Paul-based writer’s memoir in the form of interrelated essays as seen through the lens of a queer veteran, focusing on the difficulty of forming true connections with others. (Launch reading April 8, Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls., in conversation with Chris Stedman.)

“Racing Uphill: Confronting a Life with Epilepsy” by Stacia Kalinoski (University of Minnesota Press): Emmy award-winning journalist whose career ended after a seizure details how she learned more about her condition and offers inspiration for taking control of one’s own health.

(Courtesy of the University of Minnesota Press)

“Shelter and Storm: At Home in the Driftless” by Tamara Dean (University of Minnesota Press): Twelve essays by an author who sought a way to live lightly upon the land and built a sustainable lifestyle in the driftless area of Wisconsin that was untouched by glaciers.

“One Spring Up North” by John Owens (University of Minnesota Press): Freelance illustrator and author of “One Summer Up North” and “One Winter Up North” takes young readers in this picture book to the Boundary Waters as winter melts away and wildlife awakens.

May

Nonfiction

“Chasing Wildflowers” by Phyllis Root, photography by Kelly Povo (University of Minnesota Press): Author of more than 50 books subtitles this one “An Adventurous Guide to Finding Minnesota’s Native Flowers In Their Unique Habitats.” A continuation of their previous book “Searching for Minnesota’s Native Wildflowers.”

“Chief Rondo: Securing Justice for the Murder of George Floyd” by Medaria ‘Rondo’ Arradondo with Jennifer Amie (Diversion Books): Former Minneapolis police chief’s book on leadership, justice and race, published five years after the murder of Gorge Floyd, detailing the city’s first Black police chief’s experiences at the helm of a troubled department where he put accountability first.

“Global Heartland: Cultivating the American Century on the Midwestern Farm” by Peter Simons (University of Minnesota Press): Highlights the critical role of Midwestern farmers in the creation of the American Century.

“The Scenic Route: Building Minnesota’s North Shore” by Arnold R. Alanen (University of Minnesota Press): Fact- and photo-filled story of the section of Minnesota Highway 61 that parallels Lake Superior’s North Shore, considered one of Minnesota’s best driving experiences. A field guide to the cultural landscape of the North Shore Scenic Drive and a journey into its evolution.

“Tree Trek” by Stephanie Mirocha (Holy Cow! Press): The author of this memoir, who grew up climbing trees and exploring Como Park, weaves a blend of botany, philosophy, personal reflections and healing through nature from grief after the loss of her father with the backdrop of her father’s educational Tree Trek.

“You’re Too Young to Understand” by Liz Fiedorow Sjaastad (Wise Ink): Former St. Paulite’s memoir of caring for her aging parents and what those four years taught her about her relationship to her mother and her own family.

Fiction/poetry

“Enter” by Jim Moore (Graywolf Press): On the cusp of his 80s, one of Minnesota’s best-known poets, who divides his time between Minnesota and Italy, navigates public spaces of his neighborhood, acknowledging suffering while making room for joy and moments of peace.

“Lucky Tomorrow” by Deborah Jiang-Stein (University of Minnesota Press): Stories in this collection from the author of “Prison Baby” move through settings drawn from the writer’s life, from Seattle where she grew up after being born in an Appalachian prison, to Tokyo where she once lived, and the Twin Cities, where she founded the unPrison Project, working with and mentoring people in prisons to build life skills.

June

Fiction

(Courtesy of Simon & Schuster)
Christopher Tradowsky (Courtesy of Simon & Schuster)

“Midnight at the Cinema Palace” by Christopher Tradowsky (Simon & Schuster): Debut novel from a St. Paul author set in San Francisco in 1993 at the height of the AIDS epidemic and beginning of the tech boom. A young man, out of college and out of the closet who is struggling to find his footing in the city, is captivated by a young queer couple living beyond the boundaries of gender and sexuality.

Nonfiction

“Wolf Island: Discovering the Secrets of a Mythic Animal by David Mech, contributions by Greg Breining (University of Minnesota Press): The world’s leading wolf expert describes the first years of a major study that transformed our understanding of one of nature’s most iconic creatures

“At the Corner of Past and Present” by Pamela Carter Joern (University of Nebraska Press): Author of four works of fiction, including “The Floor of the Sky” turns to personal essays to explore the intersections of time and place, memory and truth, life and art.

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President Donald Trump has for now delivered smashingly on his campaign promise to gain control of our southern border. The numbers tell the story.

The Border Patrol made 29,000 arrests in January, the Wall Street Journal reported last week. That’s down 38 percent from December.

The New York Times reveals that shelters in south Texas now have plenty of available beds after being overwhelmed last year. “In San Antonio, a shelter run by Catholic Charities plans to shut its doors entirely because of a lack of new arrivals.” In Tucson, Arizona, “once the busiest section of the entire border, apprehensions and other encounters with immigrants have fallen to about 450 per week from 1,200 per week in late January,” officials told the Times.

Notably, the Journal and the Times can’t resist pointing out that illegal crossings were falling during the waning days of the Biden administration — and that’s true. But attempts at whitewashing ignore the fact that, as president, Joe Biden allowed an estimated 8 million illegal migrants into the country in an attempt to appease the open-border wing of his party.

One of Biden’s first acts in the Oval Office was to rescind Trump executive orders intended to deter illegal immigration. He also liberally expanded the definition of asylum-seeker, encouraging more migrant crossings. Those who were apprehended were typically released into the country and told to appear in court years down the road. Many big cities became overwhelmed by the influx, moving even Democratic mayors of “sanctuary cities” to beg Washington for relief.

Even the president of Mexico at the time, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, recognized Biden’s culpability. “Expectations were created that with the government of President Biden there would be a better treatment of migrants,” he said at a March 2021 news conference. “And this has caused Central American migrants, and also from our country, wanting to cross the border thinking that it is easier to do so.”

Only when it became obvious that the issue would be lead weight around the ankle of Democratic candidates in a tight political campaign — three years into his presidency — did Biden take a more aggressive stance, leading to a reduction in border arrests. But it was too little, too late.

Biden’s refusal to enforce immigration law had predictable consequences.  Trump’s high-profile crackdown has also led to predictable consequences. “The certainty of arrest and return is a huge changing point,” Sean McGoffin, the chief Border Patrol agent in Tucson, told the Times.

Now, let’s hope Congress and the president can reach a deal on commonsense reforms that recognize the need for the country to protect its sovereignty while recognizing the value of legal immigrants who seek a piece of the American dream.

— The Las Vegas Review-Journal

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