Controversial Author in Bismarck

His article created quite a controversy here in North Dakota Charles Bowden s article The Emptied Prairie gave what many people think is a wrong image of our state Today Bowden returns to North Dakota for the first time since the article was published Brad Feldman sits down with the author to get his take on the article and controversy that followed The auditorium at Bismarck State College is ready for a showdown A crowd of North Dakotan s many who were offended by what Charles Bowden wrote about North Dakota in this January article are here hear what Bowden has to say today Charles Bowden Emptied Prairie I think it is the natural resentment of the outsider coming in saying anything But there was nothing Instead Bowden had these people laughing about his article The Emptied Prairie and the comparison to his hometown of Tucson Arizona Charles Bowden The Emptied Prairie I have people that are not committed to where they live They think that I will be here two or three years and move onto somewhere else and that doesn t build healthy communities Although I must say it does build a very good crime rate North Dakota has people that are totally committed to this state I have never met a person here and doing the story I spent months here that disliked the state not one Bowden spent about three months in North Dakota getting to know some people before writing the article One of the couples he met Melvin and Morrene Wisdahl of Corinth a small town of six people The Wisdahl s former pastor sat in on the talk and admits he was a little troubled by the article but not in the way you might think Verle Reinicke North Dakotan Our inability sometimes to look at ourselves in different perspectives and to become defensive about it rather than seeing there is some truth in the article Bowden says from the outside people still consider North Dakota to be a cold fly over state with little to no good paying jobs He says this is why a state with the highest high school graduation rates still struggles with the out migration of people But despite the outside perception Bowden says the state has a lot to offer Charles Bowden The Emptied Prairie It baffles me why more people dont come to North Dakota because one of the things it has to sell besides peace and quiet is space No matter where you go it is just huge rolling land It is like being on an ocean only you dont need a sail boat Many people hearing these positive comments are left wondering why these comments were also not included in the article Brad Feldman KX News Bowden is in Bismarck today for the 2008 Alliance Summer Geography Institute where he is the keynote speaker He says he was some what surprised with some of the negative feedback he got from the article