‘Euroman’ visits Kansas
Cheryl Unruh
Originally published 01:29 p.m., January 22, 2008
Updated 01:29 p.m., January 22, 2008
“So the finger of my editor pointed at … Kansas. And I said: ‘I want to go! I’ve never been to the Midwest.’”
That’s how Danish journalist Jonas Langvad Nilsson, 33, wound up in Kansas.
Last June, Nilsson and photographer Lotte Hansen flew from Copenhagen to write about Kansas for “Euroman,” an upscale Danish magazine for men.
My contact with Nilsson began in November when he called to ask my thoughts about life in Kansas.
Nilsson has sent me a copy of this month’s “Euroman” magazine — their U.S. issue — which includes stories about Sen. Barack Obama, technology, and profiles on fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger and writer Jonathan Lethem. And then there’s Nilsson and Hansen’s 8-page spread on Kansas.
“Why Kansas?” I asked.
“Probably because Kansas, more than any other state, symbolizes the Midwest,” Nilsson told me. “We wanted to portray the American way of life as it is lived right in the middle of the country.”
“Excuse me, Where do I find Kansas?” is the title of his article. The magazine is written in Danish, but I had the story translated by Niels Rytter, a Dane who lives in Garnett.
Nilsson begins his article by telling how people, primarily those on the U.S. coasts, tend to view Kansas in an unfavorable way. He suggests that a defendant, upon being sentenced to death, reacts with less drama than a military man who is told he is being assigned to a base in Kansas.
“In the first section I’m setting up the stereotypical image of the Midwest,” Nilsson told me, “and from then on I’m trying to deconstruct that image and explain that there is more to it.”
With interviews of local residents, Nilsson shows his readers what life is like in Kansas.
In Susie’s, an El Dorado café, he visits with three young cowboys who talked about rodeos and ranching. Ryan Locke, 21, told Nilsson that what he likes about his job is that he can ride a horse in the hills where there’s not a single house in sight.
Nilsson interviewed Butler County Sheriff Craig Murphy, who discussed drugs and terrorism and explained that the one-time laid-back life in Kansas has changed.
“(Murphy) seemed to miss the days when people could leave their keys in the car and the front door open,” Nilsson told me.
At a baseball game in Wichita, Nilsson and Hansen met Todd Allam, a friendly oil driller who drove them to the Medicine Lodge area, talked about business, and showed them the view from atop an oil tank.
“The scenery was stunning — the sky all gray and heavy with rain, the fields green and full of moisture and the narrow dirt tracks glowing in a form of burned orange,” Nilsson said.
“In Greensburg, I met the sheriff, Galen Marble,” Nilsson said. “What a wonderful character. A slim, elegant man. Blue jeans, shirt and gazing blue eyes under his white Stetson.”
“I’m sure Sheriff Marble had met his share of hungry journalists who had shown a sudden interest in the small, formerly almost-unknown town (to people outside Kansas), but he smiled and took me into his office, a trailer, leaned back and told me about the night when the storm hit,” Nilsson said.
“Never would he consider moving on to a new town and live a peaceful life there. No, he stayed to rebuild Greensburg. ‘It’s my duty,’ he said. That’s character. When life gets tough and the storm lingers in the horizon, you stay. And you fight.”
Nilsson returned to Denmark with much respect for Kansas and its residents.
“There is a lot of pride and stamina among people in Kansas,” he said. “(It’s) a special way of life that has been carried on by generations.”
“Flyover People” is online at www.flyoverpeople.net. • Cheryl Unruh can be reached at cheryl@flyoverpeople.net.