Your Letters: Michigan's Upper Peninsula

JACKI LYDEN, host:

Time now for your letters.

Most of them this week are about last Sunday's series of reports on Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Last week, Liane Hansen profiled the culture and economy of the state's remote northern section.

Beth Smallago(ph) of Greensburg, Pennsylvania writes: As a blind listener, radio is the perfect way to experience someone's trip. You used the sounds and voices captured during your stay in Michigan to perfect effect.

Peggy O'Neal(ph) of Naples, Florida says she's a born and bred Yooper - that's what some residents there call themselves. She writes: your stories have made me long for pasties, so I'm heading out to the grocery for the ingredients. Thanks for shining the NPR light on the wonderful U.P.

And several of you left comments on our Web site, NPR.org. Tom Warren(ph) writes: Liane Hansen reporting on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan equals National Public Radio at its very best - thorough, sensitive and unsentimental. Liane accurately presented the U.P. as a place of promise as well as challenge.

And Julie Nelson(ph) says: When Liane Hansen began the segment on Marquette, we pulled into a parking space and kept the car running to hear the whole story. When she described Getz's Department Store, tears filled my eyes. Getz's is a legend in my family. Thank you for a story that truly brought me home.

But amid the praise, there is this from Martha Robertson(ph) of Ithaca, New York. She writes: I could not believe how much time Liane Hansen wasted on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with so many important stories she could've chosen to cover.

And finally, last week, we introduced a new series on education. Over the next year, NPR's focusing on a crop of new teachers entering the profession. On our Web site, Frank West writes: As a community college instructor, this story struck me as disheartening and very incomplete. I know that this was just one in a series of planned reports on the subject, but the primary message I received is that teachers are failing. Yes, teachers can improve, but don't place all the blame on us.

And Rick Wagner(ph) of Fort Collins, Colorado says: As a teacher, I find it hard to swallow and believe statements that decry our failing schools when no serious mention is made of how parents are doing their jobs.

Tell us what's on your mind. Leave a comment by visiting the new NPR.org or you can find us on Twitter at NPRWeekend - all one word.

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