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Sweet Spot: Como & Carter Avenues, St. Paul
The Rake, April 2005

At Como and Carter, next to the St. Anthony Park
neighborhood’s library, the remains of an old tree trunk have
been carved into a statue of a boy reading a book, an owl
perched on his back...

I am a freelance writer. My work has appeared in City Pages,
Family Times, Grandparent Times, Konundrum Engine
Literary Review, Minnesota Palate, The Rake, Star Tribune,
Water~Stone Literary Review and other publications. I have a
Bachelor of Arts degree from Macalester College and a
Master of Fine Arts degree from Sarah Lawrence College.

Click on the links below for samples of my writing or contact
me: julie@juliehessler.com.

A Belonging of Looks: An Adoptee Returns to Vietnam
Heart to Home, Children's Home Society of Minnesota,
July/August 2000. (Reprinted by Comeunity)

When Holly Wells saw the ad for the 25th anniversary tour to
Vietnam for children adopted in the orphan airlifts, she knew
she was finally going: "I knew I was going to do everything to
go on that trip, even though it was just two months away."

Creating a Legacy of Stories
Grandparent Times, August-September 2005

(Excerpt)

When the tsunami struck Simeulue Island, Indonesia last
December, only seven of the island's 75,000 residents
perished. According to an Associated Press report,
storytelling accounts for the islanders' miraculous escape:
stories passed down from grandparents had warned of giant
waves that followed an earthquake, and the islanders fled to
higher ground before the tsunami destroyed their homes.

Family stories shared between grandparents and
grandchildren can serve as homemade maps--a source of
instinctual, even lifesaving, messages. Perhaps your own
grandparents told you stories. Minnesotans may have heard
cautionary tales about what to do in a tornado, how to drive on
black ice or how to identify and avoid poison ivy in a state park.

Taking Tea in the Twin Cities
Edible Twin Cities, Winter 2005-2006

(Excerpt)

Three years ago, my mother and I attended afternoon tea on
my birthday at Brown's Hotel in London. As raucous May Day
protesters decried capitalism and marched one block away,
we sat in deep chairs, sipping tea and eating treats from a
silver platter, while a pianist played "Witchcraft" and other
classics on a grand piano. Our waiter commented that it was
very British of us to attend tea "whilst the revolution rages
outside."

You don't need to travel abroad to take tea. A growing number
of local establishments serve formal and everyday teas. Best
of all, they offer a variety of experiences. If gloves and doilies
aren't appealing, there's still a place for you. The pleasures of
taking tea--the scones and jam, the slow pace that
encourages intimate conversation--are available wherever
you go. So, go to tea. Bring a friend. Ignore the revolution or
plan it.

Here are five places to explore in the Twin Cities.

Sweet Spot: Victoria's Hot Spell
The Rake, February 2006

Just around the corner from Como Zoo's polar bears, snow
leopards, and other winter-loving creatures is a Victorian-era
tropical oasis. The Marjorie McNeely Conservatory in Como
Park floats on the horizon like a series of great, glass beads.
Up close, the building's steel and aluminum frame and solid
Ionic columns are less ethereal, but the dominating
impression is of glass and light...

Exploring Culture Camps
Family Times, February-April 2006

(Excerpt)

When Kristin Vonnegut asked her 10-year-old daughter,
Nora, what her favorite Camp Masala activity had been, Nora
told her playing pool and riding on scooters--typical camp
experiences for many children in Minnesota. But the
reverberations from Camp Masala, a summer camp in
Minnesota for families with children adopted from India, were
wide and deep.

Sweet Spot: Before and After, St. Peter, Minnesota
The Rake, May 2006

Tornadoes don't have names, they have dates and times.
The inky spiral that drops from the sky is memorialized
according to the moment it touches down and stays, cuts the
power, and skitters any which way it pleases across a field or
farm or town...

Getting Started on Adoption
Family Times, June 2006

(Excerpt)

Adoption is in the news these days more than ever before.
Magazines from People to O, The Oprah Magazine, have
featured stories about celebrities. On television, both
"Friends" and "Desperate Housewives" have featured
adoption story lines.

But learning about adoption through such media can be
misleading, says Richard Smith, director of adoption and
birth parent services as Lutheran Social Services of
Minnesota (www.lssmn.org). You don't know any of the
details, any of the ups-and-downs, the soul-searching, the
decisions," he said. "The things that really concern
prospective adoptive parents are never really talked about."

If you are interested in adopting a child, here are 10 tips for
learning about and getting started on an adoption of your own.

Object Lust: Like Petting a Packaged Ham--
The Pug: the Anti-toy-dog Toy Dog
The Rake, December 2006

I'm standing at the Dairy Queen on Snelling Avenue, waiting
to order a chocolate cone. Ahead of me is the new American
nuclear family: two boys, a father, and a mother cooing to a
Chihuahua clutched to her chest in a front-loading doggy
knapsack. A few weeks later, Us Weekly runs a photograph
of Susan Sarandon with a suede bag dangling from the crook
of her elbow, a frothy little white dog peering out of it...

Milwaukee & Franklin Avenues
The Rake, April 2008

The antithesis of Milwaukee Avenue—the Seward
neighborhood's secret boulevard of late 19th century homes—
is the Cedars 94 apartment complex, located just across from
Milwaukee on Franklin's north side...

The Best of Times, Winter 2008

For most of us, dying is not a topic we dwell on. While we
may dutifully prepare for the future in other ways--contributing
money to an IRA, getting regular check-ups--it seems we're
often far too busy to think about dying. And yet, dying is the
one certainty that all of us can count on...