In Iowa: Another year on the way

I confess I've had a thing for Jean Seberg since the first time I saw 'Bonjour Tristesse.” It was on television, I was very young and she, like the movie itself - with its French Riviera setting, some scenes filmed in moody black-and-white and others in lush CinemaScopic color - seemed glamorous, sophisticated and just so gosh-darned cute, all at the same time.

Imagine my surprise when, not long after moving to Cedar Rapids, I learned my elegant Jean had been born in Marshalltown. In Iowa.

No disrespect to the fine citizenry of Marshalltown or to native Iowans as a whole, but I would have guessed, I don't know, Manhattan or Chicago, maybe the Left Bank of Paris. Somewhere more bright lights, big city-ish.

But that's the deal with Iowa, right - it's filled with contradictions and surprises.

When The Gazette launched Iowa Today Sunday, the section you're holding in your hands or reading online right now, in January of this year, its charge was to talk about those fascinating people, places and issues that set Iowa apart. To look at the good stuff we brag about - and frankly we should do more boasting than we do about this state - as well as also examine the challenges we face - whether that means all 3 million of us or 'only” some of the less-fortunate residents of Iowa.

So each Sunday over the past 11 months, we've brought you stories, photos and videos mostly set in the Corridor, but sometimes farther afield, too. We've looked at an incredibly broad expanse of topics, from home schooling to dating in small towns, from the dangers of melanoma to parents who grieve for their lost children. We took a stroll through farmers markets and talked to caregivers - those who aid the ill and struggling - about what keeps them going.

Also in the mix we've highlighted alternating 'In Iowa” columns by staffers Todd Dorman, Alison Gowans, Orlan Love and Lynda Waddington. In addition, Iowa Today Sunday has featured profiles, capital goings-on (when the Legislature is in session, of course), travel around the state and a catch-up on previously reported news stories. And Time Machine.

All Iowa, all the time.

We're about to move into Year Two. What do you think?

Let me know your thoughts - more of some things, less of others? New ideas? You know where to find me.

I'll be right here, watching my DVD copy of 'Bonjour Tristesse,” starring one of my favorite Iowans.

l Michael Chevy Castranova is Sunday editor of The Gazette. (319) 398-5873; michaelchevy.castranova@thegazette.com