Jay Walljasper

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Jay Walljasper at Minneapolis street cafe with local newspaper

Jay Walljasper (died 22 December 2020)

R.T. Rybak, mayor of Minneapolis (2002-14), wrote: "I've read scores of books and articles on cities, heard by now most of the very best urban minds . . . much of what I said that mattered as mayor was deeply influenced by Jay."[2][3][4]

Career

Walljasper graduated from the

Daily Iowan.[5] At the University of Minnesota's School of Journalism and Mass Communication in 1981 he published "Age, a Minnesota perspective."[6] He was urban-writer-in-residence at Augsburg University, director of strategic communications and senior fellow at Project for Public Spaces, and director of communications and collaboration for the Social Life Project.[7] He worked with organizations such as the National Geographic Society, Kresge Foundation, AARP, Kaiser Permanente, Blue Zones, Minneapolis Foundation, McKnight Foundation and many others. According to the non-profit America Walks, he "helped walking and walkable communities gain broader appeal" through research, networking, advocacy, and journalism.[8]

For 15 years, he was editor of Utne Reader magazine. During these years Utne Reader was transformed "from a tiny New Age newsletter to a thick, ad-rich magazine with more than 300,000 subscribers."[9] It was nominated three times for the National Magazine Award for general excellence. He was also contributing editor at National Geographic Traveler, executive editor at Netherlands-based Ode magazine, and a travel editor at Better Homes and Gardens.[10][11] He was inspired by the train stations, parks, and vibrant sidewalks in diverse European cities.[12]

His articles appeared in Washington Monthly, City Lab, Notre Dame magazine,

L.A. Weekly, Yes! magazine,[13] E magazine, Le Courrier (Paris), The Idler, Rock N Rap Confidential, Planeta Humano (Madrid), and New Woman (Australia).[14][15]

In 2013 Walljasper was commissioned by the McKnight Foundation to contribute to their Food for Thought series addressing future challenges and opportunities in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul region. A River Runs Through Us: Why the Mississippi is Crucial to MSP's Future was published in 2014.[16][17]

Walljasper published four dozen articles in the independent MinnPost during 2012-19 on such themes as urban strategies for the Twin Cities; walking, lakes, biking, brewpubs, urban transit, and the tech scene as local-development resources; profiles of larger and smaller towns across Minnesota; urban lessons from Toronto, Seattle, Denver; and various grassroots efforts to counter inequality.[18] On a wider canvas, he wrote ten articles for Huffington Post on biking, walking, and urban issues, profiling Philadelphia, Indianapolis, Quebec, and Pine Ridge, South Dakota.[19]

Works

  • Visionaries, People and Ideas to Change Your Life, with Jon Spayde and Utne Reader staff (New Society, 2001)
    ISBN 978-0-86571-445-8
  • The Great Neighborhood Book: A Do-it-Yourself Guide to Placemaking (New Society, 2007)
    ISBN 978-0-86571-581-3 publisher website
  • All That We Share: A Field Guide to the Commons, with
    ISBN 978-1-59558-499-1 publisher website
  • How to Design Our World for Happiness: The commons guide to placemaking, public space, and enjoying a convivial life (OnTheCommons, 2013) archived here
  • A River Runs Through Us: Why the Mississippi is Crucial to MSP's Future (Minneapolis: McKnight Foundation, 2014) archived here
  • America's Walking Renaissance, co-authored with Kate Kraft and Heidi Simon (Bethesda MD: America Walks, 2016) download here.
  • "Treasure Hunt (During which a world traveler discovers what he loves about his hometown)" Notre Dame Magazine (Autumn 2020) archived here

References

  1. ^ "Jay". CaringBridge. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  2. ^ "Obituary: Jay Walljasper, urban studies authority and former Utne Reader editor, dies at 65". twincities.com. Archived from the original on 2020-12-30. Retrieved 2020-12-31.
  3. ^ Rybak, R. t. "OPINION EXCHANGE | R.T. Rybak: Remembering Jay Walljasper, a lover — and understander — of cities". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  4. ^ "Former Minneapolis Mayor Rybak remembers influential urban thinker Jay Walljasper". MPR News. 2021-01-05. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  5. ^ Gentry, Samantha (November 7, 2011). "Writer Walljasper visits Iowa City this week". The Daily Iowan.
  6. ^ "Age, a Minnesota perspective". primo.lib.umn.edu. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  7. ^ Tribune, Jim Buchta Star. "'Quiet message-maker' Jay Walljasper, former Utne Reader editor, dies at 65". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  8. ^ Card, Kelsey (2021-01-05). "America Walks Honors Jay Walljasper - Prolific Storyteller and Champion for Unsung Walkable Communities". America Walks. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  9. ^ "An 'Activist Agenda' For New Utne Reader | The Seattle Times". 2021-01-09. Archived from the original on 2021-01-09. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  10. ^ Spayde, Jon (January 12, 2011). "The Commons: Minneapolis author Jay Walljasper on seeking the common good beyond left and right". The Line.
  11. ^ Mitchard, Jacquelyn (September 1, 1991). "Utne on the Rise". The Milwaukee Journal.
  12. ISSN 0160-791X
    .
  13. ^ "Jay Walljasper". YES! Magazine. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  14. ^ Gruson, Lindsey (March 27, 1988). "Bimonthly is Distant Early Warning of the Far-Out". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2017-01-04. Retrieved May 6, 2010.
  15. ^ Lander, Rachael (June 12, 2009). "Public spaces author to lecture on libraries' importance". The Daily Iowan. Archived from the original on 2013-02-05.
  16. ^ Walljasper, Jay (July 2013). "Mary Tyler Moore Doesn't Live Here Anymore" (PDF). The McKnight Foundation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-03-07.
  17. ^ "Food for Thought: Mary Tyler Moore Doesn't Live Here Anymore". McKnight Foundation. July 24, 2013.
  18. ^ Walljasper, Jay (2019-04-18). "Jay Walljasper". MinnPost. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  19. ^ "Jay Walljasper | HuffPost". www.huffpost.com. Retrieved 2023-06-21.

External links

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