Roger Welsch is a fierce fan of Nebraska—not just the football team, or the state’s famous beef, or its endless sky, or its ferocious and ferociously unpredictable weather, but the whole thing. His license plate says CAPT NEB, and he means it.

 

Welsch loves Nebraska as the heart of America’s Great Plains. His perception of the state is not always conventional—occasionally it’s even abrasive—but he’s thought a lot about this place some call “Fly-Over Country” or “The Middle of Nowhere” or even “The End of the Earth.” And what he has to say about it makes interesting reading not just for natives but certainly also for outsiders, for those who love the place and those who would rather travel through hell than make another drive across Nebraska's endless miles.

Roger Welsch was a professor of English and anthropology at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln until 1988, when he moved to Dannebrog, Nebraska, to write full time. He is the author of more than thirty books, including It’s Not the End of the Earth, but You Can See It from Here and Touching the Fire: Buffalo Dancers, the Sky Bundle, and Other Tales, both available in Bison Books editions.

“Read this book and no one gets hurt.”—Bob Kerrey, former Nebraska governor and senator

“This new book by Roger Welsch is one that every red-blooded Nebraskan should own—and, if time and blood pressure permit, should read. It is vintage Welsch—at times funny, at times sad, at times endearingly pathetic. It covers an impressive range of subjects—politics, religion, education, canines, geology, fashion, tractors, s-e-x (read between the lines). Welsch is indeed Captain Nebraska, with or without a cape. He is the state’s consummate storyteller. He is larger than life, larger even than the overalls that strive to contain him, and My Nebraska, which chronicles the perceptions and attitudes and subtle biases of an irascible but lovable geezer, is no doubt his penultimate achievement.”—William Kloefkorn, Nebraska State Poet

“While Roger and I may not have the same perspective on ‘some things,’ we are totally in agreement when it comes to the beauty of the state and its people. His view is unique and refreshing.”—Kay Orr, former governor of Nebraska