(upbeat music) - Hello and welcome to Prairie Pulse.

Coming up a little bit later in the show, we'll meet a Western leather artist, Rex Cook, but first joining me now is Jeff Kolpack, sports writer for WDAY the Forum, but also an author of a new book, "COVID KIDS: Life During A Global Pandemic."

Jeff, thanks for joining this us today.

- John, thanks for having me again, good to be back.

- Well, you are back again, because this is your third book, right?

- Correct.

- Well, before we get started, tell the folks a little bit about yourself and your background, maybe where you are from.

- I'm a Fargo kid, born and raised, graduated in Fargo South.

It's unbelievable 40th year in union coming next summer, but just love the area, love being back here, love covering division on football.

NDSU football has been, it's been just a great journey to cover and really document it, and it's really been historic in a lot of ways.

- We're not here to talk about your other two books, let's talk about this one.

What is this book about and why did you write?

- I never set off to write my first two books, as of, I need to write something right now, just like the other two, this one came to me.

I kept a journal during the pandemic and writers like to write, right John?

We just liked to write, and especially when downtime and maybe it's more of a stress reliever than anything, and certainly the pandemic, was a stressful situation for all involved.

I just started keeping a journal periodically and over several months I looked back and went, huh, maybe I got something here.

And then I just started working with it and looking back and went back on some stories.

You do books a little bit at a time, you just can't set off and go, okay, here's page one, and page 240 is gonna come here in a little bit.

You can't think that way.

It's just, you've got to peck away and peck away, and if you have something great, if you don't then move on to the next thing.

- You said you started writing journal, because I was gonna ask you what gave you the idea to write the book.

You you said you thought it came together, but when you started writing the journals, did you have it in your head that maybe this could be a book or did that come later?

- Not really, no, I had no idea.

How that happened was on March 13th, 2020, Friday, the 13th, I'll never forget, a group of parents got on a flight and Allegiant.

We are on our way to Tucson, to watch our sons play junior college baseball and a tournament down there.

And when we left Fargo, everything was on.

We're happy, we're just pumped up to go South in the winter and get out of the cold weather, and by the time we landed, the tournament was off.

And this was during the week when things shut down at a rather alarming rate, but we thought we were gonna play.

And so we land also the tournament is off, and it's like, what do we do for a week?

Some of us went up to Sedona and again, the gripping nature of the fear was just lightning fast.

And within three, four days, we were in the Phoenix area just trying to, make a vacation of it somewhat(laughs).

I remember going into the hotel, you're afraid to touch a door handle.

I remember reaching for a disinfecting wipe, going into a restaurant, those that were open by then just trying to open the door with a disinfecting wipe.

And really the nature of the fear, when you remember that, you look back at it and go, wow, this is nuts.

We left Mesa came back to Fargo.

I remember sitting in the airport and Ken Faircloth, who is the father of one of the kids on the team was sitting in the terminal, and he goes, what are you doing here out Jeff, what are you gonna cover?

And I just thought, I don't know, everything's shut down.

I'm a sports writer, right, I cover events.

And on the plane ride back, I just thought, what is going on here?

And I just took out, my laptop started writing and that's the start of it.

- You started the book with a reminiscence of Woodstock, (Jeff laughs) - 69, why?

- Why, where did that come from?

looking back at pandemics and you have the Spanish flu and how that gripped Americans in 1920.

And I looked at the Hong Kong flu, and that came during Woodstock of all things.

So there was a little law during Woodstock, but I went back and I went, wow, we had a music festival during a pandemic, and that would never happen today, I mean, we shut down restaurants and everything.

And I thought, I wonder if people knew there was a pandemic.

So actually I talked to Jackson Zaleski, former Forum page, editorial editor.

And I talked to him about Woodstock and I go, "Do you know what it was during a pandemic?"

And he goes, "It was?"

I go, "Yeah, it was right in the middle "of the Hong Kong flu."

Which statistically is not the COVID-19, but it's close.

I mean, they had their issues certainly in 68, 69.

I think those interesting comparison in that nobody really cared.

Maybe it's because of the instant information, because of the phone, get home right now.

The kids in Woodstock, the 23 year olds, didn't have their parents saying, get home right now, there's a pandemic going on, I don't want you sick.

They didn't have that, it was a different era.

So I just found the contrast incredibly interesting.

- Can you tell us maybe about some of the individual people you talk to and how disruptive COVID was to athletics, I guess mainly during the 1920 season.

- I'll just go to a couple of my stories and Moorhead High football was I think, one of the real gripping stories.

They had the best team they'll ever have, in 2020 the best football team, the school ever seen divisional prospects, and they didn't get a chance to prove it.

The high school league shut down after the section finals and said, that's it Moorhead High didn't get a chance to go down to Minneapolis, US Bank.

And they were destroying people all year, just killing people.

Talking to Kevin Feeney, the head coach and what he had to go through and the gripping nature of trying to get these kids to play a season.

And you gotta remember, Kevin's son was the quarterback, so he grew up with these kids and they always had it in their minds that when they're seniors, nobody's gonna beat them.

And sure enough, by the time they got to be seniors, nobody was beating them, but they never had a chance to prove that they were the greatest team.

And I'll fast forward to Devils Lake Girls' basketball, and again, one of the best teams Devils lake, they are never really that good over the years, once in a while, they'll play, they'll be all right.

This was their best team in 30 years, these kids grew up together thinking, man, by the time we're seniors, we're gonna be really good.

John, we're gonna be really good.

And they got to the class A tournament, won the opening round, won their semi-final and that was on a Friday, and I try to dictate and document and talk to as many people and report on dang near every minute of that Semi-final, because they win their semi-final, the girls are just all happy and giddy, we're going to the title, we'll probably win it, our town is all behind us, this is all we've dreamed about.

And 10 minutes later, Rick FlexBar through the high school league, reads an announcement and says, "Ladies and gentlemen, "the tournament is canceled."

And talking to Rick, he goes, I remember reading out that, and he goes, "I'm about to read something, "that's just gonna crush these girls' hearts."

And just like that, these girls went from going to the finals to disbelief.

I talked to a couple of them later, several months later, and it was still emotional.

I don't know if they'll ever really get over that, because again, like Moorhead high, they never got a chance to prove that they were worthy of a State title.

- Let's play Monday morning quarterback for a moment.

Looking back, could things have been handled differently?

- I don't think, because fear is such a crazy thing, Yes, they could have played, right?.

They could have had no fans or in what we know now, but what we didn't know then about the virus, you just didn't know.

So when the NCA shuts down, when the NBA shuts down, it's pretty hard for the levels, it's just a domino effect.

looking back at Monday morning quarterback, they should have played, they should played that state football tournament for Moorhead High, they should've played this girls basketball tournament for Devils Lake, but they didn't because it was just a wave, a tidal wave of emotion and fear that just gripped us and killed us, it just did.

- What impact do you think that all this will have on kids?

You've talked a little bit about short-term, just the disappointment things, but in the short term and then the long-term effect.

- I don't know, that's the question.

Here's the thing about high school, John, is those kids will never get another chance.

Whereas the college kids got another year of eligibility, and so maybe the college kids lost out on it on a year, and my son being one of them, lost out on a sophomore year of junior college baseball.

They played two games season done.

He still could play another year if he wants to, but high school you can't.

So they're gonna have to go on living and wandering, Moorhead was named mythical high school champions, They have a 2020 on their stadium now, as mythical high school State champs, but you know, deep down, they wanted to prove it on the field, that's the nature of athletics.

So I think it's gonna have a lasting impact, the what if factor, I don't know what you wanna call it, but they're always going to wander, they're never gonna know.

Were we the best team in the state?

We don't know.

- As you said, everybody wants to prove it on the quarter and on the field.

By enlarge, what kind of reaction did you get from parents about what all happened?

- I still don't know if they're... You just gotta roll with the punches, I guess.

I'm a parent, I'll answer that myself because I'm a parent of a college athlete and it's an empty feeling.

It's an empty feeling because I think they were gonna have a pretty good baseball team, Bismarck State that year.

And they had a really tight-knit group, and the parents, we missed out on just a good time.

The kids missed out on being together and being part of this team.

Again, I don't think you can say, just this close after the fact and we're still on the pandemic, right?

We're still in it.

I think it's gonna come down the line at some point that it's almost like reality hasn't hit yet.

I don't think it has, I don't think reality has hit these kids yet.

- What do you think about the FCS football season being moved to the spring and what impact that had on the 2021 season that wrapping up now, maybe.

- There's a lot in the book from, NSU football and some insight I got there.

And if you talk to Matt Amos, he's worried about East Tennessee and the playoffs right now, or whoever comes their way.

That's all he's worried about now.

But I think when he looks back, he was more worried about the pandemic, his kids, he did everything, but coach.

(John laughs) - Really He did everything about coach that team in the spring.

He's worried about room assignments, these kids had COVID, they have the antibodies, these kids don't, we can't have four kids in a room that don't.I mean that's what they were worried about.

I don't think he gained planned at all, I think it was more about just getting through it somehow, they had kids missing practice left and right.

The testing anxiety was off the charts, even at these college kids, they'd go in on a Wednesday and take the COVID test.

They still didn't know if they're playing Saturday, but they take the test on Wednesday, then they start looking at their phone because the results had come through on their phone.

And they also like, okay, I haven't heard anything.

It's Thursday, I haven't gotten my results back, I'm I gonna play?

I don't know.

They're not worried about Northern Iowa, they're not worried about Western Illinois or they're not worried about UND, they are worried about if they're tested positive and they can play, and that's how out of whack the season was.

It really wasn't till Friday before I think Amos and the coaching staff knew exactly who they had to play on Saturday, can you imagine that now?

How do you coach, when you don't even know who's gonna be on the field.

- Exactly, but Jeff, we're going to ask you, maybe read a passage from your book if you would.

- Sure.

I dedicated this book to Jim Peterson, who was my college baseball coach and a really good mentor to my family and I through the baseball years.

I've known Pete for years and he unfortunately succumbed to COVID-19, and so I dedicated the book to him.

This is the journal portion of the book, "April 15th, 2020 Pete died," Period, that's it.

It's the shortest sentence I've ever written dang near, because I wrote it, and what else do you say, when you lose a good friend like that?

And I think it's still emotional for a lot of people, and for me, as you can probably tell, just reading that, "April 16th, 2020 .

"The morning was full of conflicting emotions "from reflection to frustration.

"Wasn't he getting better?

"Because we thought he was getting better.

"Wasn't he about to get off the ventilator?

"How can a virus just reverse course on a path to health "and squeeze the life out of somebody?

"Questions, so many questions.

"We're not gonna bring Pete back."

- It's a pretty emotional, it can be, just thinking about that, because it's probably affected a lot of people in similar ways.

- We're not alone.

It affected so many families, it effect to everybody.

It just affected everybody.

- Jeff, what did you learn while writing the book that maybe surprised you or that you maybe didn't know?

- I learned that this was probably more emotional than I thought, with the people involved.

I'll go back to Kevin Feeney.

I got with him after the season.

And we sat down and talked for about an hour and a half.

And by the end of that, it was so hard for him to talk about it and review it, that it brought him tears, it really did.

And that surprised me, the Devils Lake Girls, I talked to them on zoom.

You could tell they were emotional about it.

You are talking after the fact a pretty good time, usually after a loss or when the season's over, you get over it in a few days and they obviously weren't over it.

I don't know if they'll ever be over it.

I think the emotional toll of it all took it surprised when I went back and talked to the people who were affected.

- Jeff, I know some people might think, well, these are just sports, not important in the grand scheme of things with the pandemic, but maybe can you put into words how important it is for kids, parents and coaches?

- I don't think this journal is so much sports as history.

I think when I was writing it, I felt like, wow, you know what, I'm documenting history almost in real time.

I'm not gonna wait 10 years and look back and research and I'm gonna write it right now as it's happening.

And essentially that's what I did with this.

I think it's more historical in nature.

One of my thoughts it's like, okay, in 10 years or 15 years, John Harris is hanging out and somebody goes, you know John, what was COVID-19 like back in 2020?

You'll say, well, you know what, read Kolpack's book, it was kinda like this.

And I look back at the Spanish flu and Hong Kong flu, I was kinda looking for that book, did somebody write what it was like going through it?

I'm not gonna say this is gonna be a national story.

I just like doing a project for myself.

But in a way, I just wanna think, well, you know what, maybe this will stand the test of time for close-knit family, friends around here.

I just like doing a project, I enjoy doing the project, and we'll see.

- It's a new book it's out, but has there been any reaction though, though far?

- No, it's too new.

I think, in the newspaper business, when you write a story of something happening and the reaction is immediate, I found in reactions to projects, I've done, it takes a little bit, and I don't know what the reactions can be.

You put yourself out there as a writer on a daily basis and in the newspaper business, same thing here, maybe people like it, maybe they don't, but I enjoy doing the project, so we'll see.

Throw yourself out there and let the readers judge for themselves.

- Well, we're just really, almost out of time, but third book, but do you see a fourth or did you ever thought you would write three?

- No, I didn't think I'd write a one.

Those are the things that sort of happened in front of my eyes.

Never say never, but right now(laughs) I'm not gonna start one tomorrow.

- Okay.

So if people would like a copy of this book, where can they go?

I got locally Zandbroz, India's Makers and Takers, Ferguson books.

The local artists, it's a local artist kind of thing, and I appreciate those places really supporting the community and not only writers, but artists and craft makers and everybody that puts a hand in those stores.

And it's on amazon.com for everybody across the country.

I know you have a lot of viewers across the country and thanks to the internet and where things are today.

- Jeff, we are out of time, but thanks so much for joining .

- Thanks for having me John.

- Stay tuned for more.

(upbeat music) Rex Cook is the very definition of a real cowboy.

This 93 year old rancher, horse trainer and teacher also excels as a Western leather artist, designing and crafting saddles, belts and purses.

- I cut my decorative cuts like this, see, I push it away from me.

The right way to do it is like this, towards you, and I can't do it that way, because I never learned, so I push it away.

(upbeat music) - Rex is a good guy, he's a cowboy, he'd help anybody.

If I have some question, I'll run it by same deal, he'll run things by me.

What would you do in this steel?

He showed me how to carve, Rex is a excellent carver (soft music ) Rex and I have been in cow deals, horse deals, and he kind of guy old time cowboy did you get it done.

- Belts and purses, quite a number of them, in fact, that's what I made all the time, and I've made that most of the time.

And then saddled, I think our breast collars I've made several of those.

I always was interested in leather.

when I grew up, occasionally, you'd find a Carver would have what they called a hand carved saddle.

And I couldn't imagine how they could carve it.

I always had a kind of a passion for doing it, and I tried with all leather and tried to carve and it didn't turn out very well.

And so I got the address of a Montana leather Company in Butte, and I just wrote them a letter and said, I wanted a leather to carve belts and purses and a set of carving tools, and I had no idea what I was getting and they sent them to me and I looked them over and just kind of decided how they were supposed to work.

(upbeat music) The job is to cut all, all the parts, so they fit.

it's fit on a tree, the tree ordinarily was made out of ride, wood covered with rawhide.

And then you've got a form, the leather, which is wet informant to that tree.

And you do it by stretching the leather and pressing it into place.

Or in some cases you've got to put gussets in and sew it.

And so that part of the key is to make everything fit.

And one of the critical parts of the seat of the saddle, which is pretty hard and you can, some of the cuts, you can only make one time and they've got to fit the first time.

- No shortcuts.

A part of my deal that now with these brook saddles is the experience I have.

It's not rocket science, but riggins have to be square, have to have good trees, good leather, don't take shortcuts.

- Saddles, specialized for certain things, they sit a little different.

Cutting horse saddles is little bit different than the roping saddles.

It's hard to describe how a good seat is, It's kind of like sitting in a good chair.

It's hard to describe a poor chair from a good one, but there's a difference, and that's the way it is with the saddle.

(upbeat music) I was born 1928.

My family had always been horse ranchers and raised hundreds of horses.

Of course I was always interested in horses, always wanted to be a cowboy, like everybody who grows up wanting to be cowboy.

But I had the advantage because I was right there, if I wanted to ride I would go ahead and we've got this to do, so I had riding to do.

I bought my first horse to ride at 12 years old.

(upbeat music) And that's where my ranch was, It had been a ranch site, as long as anyone can remember.

There was a lion camp for some big ranch.

After I had the land, I never lived there, but I always had cattle and horses.

And then I was teaching school, I'd go work in the summertime, pasture cattle, work them out there and that was a lot of fun.

High school rodeos came along and they got involved in that, and so my son and daughter, both involved in that.

People knew about it and then they'd want their child to get some help, and they'd come to me.

From then on I had kids that I helped, every year, I'd help one or two.

From them, with the kids, they learned a little something about riding and whether it's roping or whether it's working cutting horses.

- I asked Rex, I said, how many kids have you helped rope?

How many kids have you helped in cutting?

He said, I don't know.

He didn't know, there's so many of them, he doesn't know.

I would say realistically, he's probably helped 50 kids cut.

And even today he helps those high school kids, he has a horse high school kids can ride.

- I just liked to ride, I always liked to ride, like doing horsing, something I like to do.

(soft music).

So I've got patterns and what I do with them, I cut them out here.

This is a technique, lot of them don't use, but I cut them out here and then what I do, I just tip this over.

And I got the bare leather wet and I pounded on that, put this pattern on here.

I guess, practice like anything else that says practice, and you've got to have a little artistic ability to lay out the patterns and make them work, or you can buy patterns, and then the secret is working this swivel cutter frugal knife.

- Rex for his age, has been a lot of places, done a lot of things and still going and still live in that lifestyle.

He gets up in the morning and he goes out, feeds his horses, or he goes to his place out, out in the Hills.

He don't sit down, he's always gone.

- I did pretty much what I wanted to do.

Like I said, everybody wants to be a cowboy and you do those things, and I think the Western way of life describes how this country was settled, informed.

- Well, that's all we have on Prairie Pulse this week, and as always, thanks for watching.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] Funded by the North Dakota Council on the Arts and by the members of Prairie public.