It's Not the End of the Earth, But You Can See It From Here: Tales of the Great Plains

by Roger L. Welsch

A few years ago, Roger Welsch did what millions of other city people talk about but seldom do: threw up a cushy career and moved to the country, the real country, Nebraska's Great Plains, where the nearest thing to a traffic jam happens when church lets out on Sunday morning.

What drew him inexorably to America's remote heartland was the people, and in his colorful modern-day folktales, ordinary folks are the stars. Lunchbox, Slick, CeCe, Carla, Uncle Vic, Worm, LaVerne, Royal Cupp, Cookie, Goose, Marv, Long John, Woodrow, and the Cherokee are characters drawn from life-and life, as every country person knows, is always much stranger than fiction. In fact, the author - nationally recognized for his "Postcards from Nebraska" segment on Sunday Morning with Charles Kuralt - confesses that he has toned down his adventures in rural living. He knows no one would believe the whole truth.

Genres: Essays, Nonfiction, Memoir

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Roger Lee Welsch (November 6, 1936 – September 30, 2022) was an American news reporter who was a senior correspondent on the CBS News Sunday Morning program, and was featured in a segment called "Postcards from Nebraska." An author, humorist and folklorist, Welsch was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, the only son of Christian Welsch, who worked in a Goodyear tire factory and Bertha (Flach) Welsch, a homemaker.[1] He lived outside of Dannebrog, Nebraska.

Welsch earned a bachelor's degree in 1958 and a master's degree in 1960, both in German and both at the University of Nebraska. He also studied folklore at the University of Colorado and Indiana University.[1]

Welsch was the 2005 winner of the Henry Fonda Award from the State of Nebraska Travel and Tourism Division.

Reviews

[Josiah Stukenberg]

A series of anecdotes. Some land very effectively, filled with character and soul, while others seem unneeded or perhaps, for this reader, merely misunderstood. A very real and honest story-telling of life from the perspective of one living in a small rural town. A very relaxing read, if not at times verging on the monotonous.

[Julie Reiter]

This book about small town life in Nebraska is humorous and enjoyable but is full of stereotypes. I can relate to almost every story he wrote. I also believe he probably took liberties in embellishing certain details—which can be typical of the stories told in coffee shops. This book should not be taken too seriously. It should be enjoyed for what it is—-a humorous glimpse at small town life where people have to get along no matter what culture, economic class, religion, or background they come from because there’s only one grocery store/coffee shop/gas station/restaurant/bar in town and we all have to use it.

[Corey Stroud]

A collection of short stories (if not truth, at least rooted in truth) about life in small town Nebraska in the latter half of the 20th Century. Some of the language and ideology can be at times distasteful to the modern reader, but the book was written in the early, middle America 1990's, so it's not surprising to a reader who existed in that time and space. Some of the stories read like a caricature of the truth, but laughs are part of the experience. Reading this book sorta felt like your Grandpa telling stories and jokes over a few beers on the back patio.

[Cynthia]

Good essays/short stories about small town life in the Midwest (specifically NE.) As someone who lives near the actual area.....most of it rings familiar & true! I happened upon this at a library book sale & it was a good find!

[Kayoc]

Fun read. Very midwest feel.

[David]

Always enjoyed his writing but never stayed interested enough to finish one of his books

[Deb]

A quick read. Some gems. Welsh did Nebraska proud.

[Valerie Wahlstrom]

A very entertaining collection of stories about living in a small town on the plains of Nebraska.

[Ron]

Writing from a narrative center somewhere between Mark Twain and Garrison Keillor, author Roger Welsch memorializes the town and inhabitants of Centralia (aka Dannebrog, pop. 356), Nebraska, in what he calls "Bleaker County." Centralia itself is either the center of this windswept prairie state or the center of the universe, depending on who you ask in this small town. It's located not far north of the Platte River and its farmlands, and not far south of the Sandhills, with its population of cattle and cowboys. Life in Centralia gravitates toward the Town Tavern, where many of these story-essays take place, and we meet Welsch's fictionalized friends and neighbors: Lunchbox, Goose, Slick, Woodrow, and Cece -- the regulars. There are also his wife Lily, daughter Jenny, an Indian friend Cal, a kind-hearted bachelor uncle named Grover Bass, a film crew from public television in Lincoln, a mean cuss named Royal Cupp, a rip-tearing adventurer, Luke Bigelow, and many others.

Welsch has an appreciation for the quirky, cock-eyed, and audacious. Like an endlessly curious anthropologist, he's equally fascinated by the everyday and the out-of-the-ordinary. He's a humanist, romanticizing his characters even while he's treating them with tongue-in-cheek irony. He's also willing to show that they can stoop to the unforgivable, or that they do not share his appreciation for people from other ethnic backgrounds. There is a range of tones and sentiments in the book, from comic farce to tenderness and awe. My favorite essay, "Racing Horses at the Centralia Fourth of July," ranges across all three, as his young teenage daughter teams up with a burly cowboy to take second place in a relay race. I laughed and had tears in my eyes by the end.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and happily recommend it to anyone with an interest in small town life on the Plains. As a companion volume, I'd suggest the short stories of life in a rural Minnesota community in Kent Meyers' "Light in the Crossing."

[Sandy]

How can you be from Nebraska and not love this guy??? His stories recall his life in rural Nebraska and the characters that he is neighbors with. The tales he recounts are hysterical and his easygoing narration make this a keeper to reread on my shelf.

[Marge]

A delightful collection of short stories set in a very small town in Nebraska.

[John Adams]

Consistently entertaining, and an insightful window into Great Plains culture. Comes across as reasonably respectful of Indians, but does next to nothing to confront the misogyny in the stories.

[Antonia]

This book is dedicated to me!