Paul Tosto

By Maureen Mudi Artist Candy Chang put up the first “Before I die….” wall on an abandoned building in her New Orleans neighborhood to help her refocus on life as she mourned a loved one’s death. That simple idea – people publicly expressing their hopes and dreams — caught fire. Driven by social media, the chalkboard walls can be found now in more than 60 countries and many states, including this one I saw at one of the skyways at St. Paul downtown. I found it very fascinating.

The Starlite Drive-In Theater’s neon marquee sits alongside Highway 22 in Litchfield, Minn. on June 29, 2018. As editor of NewsCut for about seven years, I’ve read many NewsCuts. Many, many NewsCuts. Some were brilliant. A few had the feel of a get-me-over fastball on a 3-0 count: kind of a grace-under-pressure circumstance. But the thing is, you couldn’t scroll past Bob Collins. He came in every day and made stuff that people wanted – really wanted – to read.