iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Not selling books (yet!), but meeting people and having fun.

Banner advertising the Ithaca Is Books Festival

My half of our book table in the author's tent of the Ithaca Is Books festival. Copies of my poetry book (To Leave for Our Own Country) and my edition of The Holy Earth by Liberty Hyde Bailey are on display.

John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Will be at the Ithaca Is Books festival on the Commons tomorrow from 12-2, with these bad boys (including Wendell's great foreword!) and a stack of my own poetry book.

Two stacks of the centennial edition of The Holy Earth by Liberty Hyde Bailey, foreword by Wendell Berry, edited by John Linstrom, in a cardboard box

A square of text surrounded by hand-drawn-looking artwork, saying: "Ithaca is Books Festival. Find me at the Book Fair Author Tent! Sunday, September 13th, 12-2 pm."

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

I know I don't have a ton of Ithaca-based connections yet, but if this does reach anyone in that slice, please consider stopping by to say hello between 12 and 2 this Sunday in the "Bank Alley" on the Commons, in front of the History Center in Tompkins County!

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Love you, Wendell. Rest now. Your life has prepared our lives.

Wendell Berry's poem, "A Vision," as framed and hanging on my wall

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

"I once asked an old gardener how much land he had & he said with pride that he had one acre; & he added, 'It is a wonderful acre; it reaches to the center of the earth in one direction and it takes in the stars in the other.'" –Liberty Hyde Bailey, The Harvest of the Year to the Tiller of the Soil

White piles of cloud mountains drift below a field of blue criss-crossed by telephone and electrical wires, rimmed along the bottom and sides by tree foliage

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Updates! Given our progress, Cornell has given us more time to raise funds; a $675,000 grant application has been submitted; and I am officially Director of the Liberty Hyde Bailey Center Project. All this and more in our latest newsletter (consider subscribing!): eepurl.com/QoTwnLpW_7

A picture of me holding my poetry book at its launch at the Climate Museum in New York City, April 2024. A colorful mural is in the background, and I'm talking into a microphone on a stand.

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Sell that robot! With thanks to Shel Silverstein (in Falling Up)

The text of Shel Silverstein's poem "My Robot," from the book Falling Up, with an illustration of a robot lounging in an easy chair with a drink while a crouching human approaches with a tray of refreshments

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Follow-up to yesterday's post about David Williston, first professionally-trained Black landscape architect whose work shaped the campuses of many HBCUs. This photo shows Williston, fourth standing from left, with the Horticultural Lazy Club in 1896. Williston was the first Black member of the club.

A grayscale photograph of a group of young men standing in front of what appears to be a barn. To the far right is a man in his 40s.

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Late in life, accomplished Black landscape architect David Williston wrote that his professor Liberty Hyde Bailey “inspired me to study plant life, and I am happy to state that I was a student of his for more than 60 years.” Williston's remarkable story should be better known in its own right.

Grayscale head shot of the dapper David A. Williston, as described in the post

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Big news time: I'm moving cross country to Ithaca, NY, with my family to try to save the historic home and herbarium/greenhouse complex of Liberty Hyde Bailey and leverage it for the public good, doing work at the intersections of climate and democracy. More here: open.substack.com/pub/johnlins...

An image of a bird on the edge of a rooftop singing toward the rising sun. This is a Substack ad tile, featuring the post title, "Moving to Ithaca in Search of Deep Gladness, Deep Hunger," and the explanatory tag, "On leaving the tenure track and learning to follow my own vocational advice."

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

One of my biggest academic publications appeared early this year while off social media: an edition, with my introduction and endnotes, of the "Corrected Edition" of the long poem Outlook by Liberty Hyde Bailey. A long-time dream (since 2012 or so), submitted over 2 years ago, finally in the world.

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

The theme of today’s freezer load is John’s publications, Hurston books, and some randos. Remediation from the Jackson Hall Mold Outbreak of 2025 continues.

A bunch of books and issues of journals and magazines are spread across a concrete patio. Plastic ziplock bags that recently held them in a freezer are pinned to a chain-link fence, along with a couple dust jackets and like items.

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 27/07/2025

In today’s edition of Back-Patio Mold Remediation, John encounters fire ants and later gets to rush home as church gets out during a freak five-minute shower on a zero-chance-of-precipitation day. (Photo taken before the drama; rain damage minimal)

Books are propped on a concrete patio in the sun, with their dust jackets affixed to a chain-link fence with clothes pins. A series of decorative postcards are also pinned in the breeze, and a framed portrait of the author’s wife and a couple other desktop odds and ends sit in the sun.

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 25/07/2025

The latest crop has been incorporated into the home shelving. More and more and more and… “The Hidden Kingdom of Fungi” is strategically placed, yes

Bunch of books on the shelves of an industrial storage unit

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

Another day, another book crop. Thanks again to Rachel at the Learning Commons for letting me borrow space in their chest freezer as I continue to slowly save my library from the Jackson Hall Mold Outbreak of 2025.

Many books on a back patio propped spines-up in the sun (with a section of softcovers lying flat) and many dust jackets clothes-pinned to a wire fence. The scene is that of a mad person’s patio

Graph showing UV levels currently “high” and projected well into the “very high” zone for several hours midday

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

Latest batch out of mold remediation. These are my South Haven history books (from way back when i was writing my MFA thesis), plus a book on Lake Superior that my grandparents feature in and a couple volumes of Country Life in America. If anyone knows any SH history books I don’t have, let me know!

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

It was good yesterday to organize the bit that I’ve managed to save from the campus mold office so far. By the time I’m through (probably sometime in the fall), this unit will be full and I’ll have to purchase a new bookcase.

Bunch of books on shelves of a storage unit intended for garage-type storage (but in our dining room)

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

This is a small fraction of the mold-infested library I’m slowly rescuing from my office.

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

The mold spot I found on the ceiling outside of my office on Fri, which thanks to me calling it in was finally addressed Mon. It was a condensation drip right in an area the HVAC’s intake vent was pulling from, blowing mold spores and moisture into our offices—probably for over a month now.

Pipes beyond where the ceiling tile had been, with a big arrow on a pipe pointing toward where the drip was with the word “CONDENSATE”

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

This is one of two wagonloads I brought across campus to the freezer in the library yesterday. About one wagonload fit; the other I was able to leave, and I still had enough bagged books left over to fill our fridge freezer at home. Did i mention it was above 90° and also the elevator was down?

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 13/07/2025

Got the rest of the Bailey books and a scattering of others bagged today. Hoping to take a load to the chest freezer at the library tomorrow, where they will need to spend at least 24 hours to halt mold growth before I start taking loads to the back patio of our place for UV treatment on sunny days.

Me in an N-95 mask in my moldy office, which is still over 80% humidity, with stacks of ziplock-bagged books behind me on the floor and a shelf and many many more books still on shelves across the entire wall behind them.

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 13/07/2025

The first batch of treated books arrives to the shelf at home. Progress. Now multiply this by thirty or something and that’s what I have ahead…

A signed cover page of The Harvest of the Year to the Tiller of the Soil (1927) by L. H. Bailey

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 12/07/2025

Finally, just for fun, a reading from my office today. Yes, that’s 87% humidity.

A small device propped on a shelf in front of books spines reads 87% humidity and 67.5° Fahrenheit.

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 12/07/2025

This message was written inside the old book. So long, friend. You’ve moved with me through four states. I do intend to remember you.

In a cursive child’s hand, in pencil:

When days are dark
And friends are few;
Remember me
And I will you.

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 12/07/2025

I’ll be throwing some that I don’t need away. Among them was this old nineteenth-century school reader in bad shape. I picked it up at a dingy old Ben Franklin store in Swedesburg, IA, out of a box of old used books, while there for family research related to my MFA thesis. Yesterday it felt damp.

Beat-up brown cover of Sheldon’s Modern School: Fifth Reader. The cloth is gone from the spine.

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 12/07/2025

I realized we had good space in the dining room, so the old storage shelving system (which was my double-stack answer to book storage in NYC) is up and waiting for the first set of treated books from the office. I no longer remember who at NYU recommended this to me, but it’s been perfect.

Five shelves of sturdy storage, wide enough for two rows of books, newly reconstructed

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 12/07/2025

Phase 2. After 3 hours of intense natural UV rays, they were bagged, then left to come to room temp on the floor of the kitchen, and now they’re chilling in the freezer, where they’ll spend at least 24 hours. This is just the first of many batches. For future batches, the process will be reversed.

The books, previously depicted with spines up in the sun, now bagged in ziplocks.

The ziplocked bags packed into one half of the freezer on top of our fridge

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

When life gives you an 80%-humidity office at work, full of mold and mold on most of your most valuable books, you begin to do strange things on the back patio. This is what I’ll be doing the rest of the summer… (next they are bound for the freezer… or as many of them as we can fit)

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

Current state of the course planning shelf (L-R—ENGL 321: African American Literature, TREK 115: Credo, and ENGL 201: Literature and Environment)

A bunch of books on a shelf related to the three classes named

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 25/05/2025

Great to have a mom in town for a big birthday. Lots of warm fuzzies in this little corner of Shreveport tonight.

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

Post-semester return to the body: open.substack.com/pub/johnlins...

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

Hey! My hometown (South Haven, MI) made a cameo on the @colbertlateshow.bsky.social last night: youtu.be/-cu3E_WSc5o?...

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

Happy #EarthDay. My #poetry book is about a year old, which leads to some reflection on the joys of life, the intensity of a year, and balancing urgency with purposiveness. I’m also willing to mail signed copies of the book at a discount; details within. johnlinstrom.substack.com/p/it-has-bee...

A Substack link card with the title “It has been a year” and the image of a three-year-old child walking away from the viewer down a broken sidewalk toward the setting sun, which is viewed through a fretwork of tree branches

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

I’m sitting in a restaurant inside the San Jose airport, watching clouds tear themselves over the backs of low mountains. Travelers walk by, heads turned to the windows. Some of them, like me, are heading home. This will be my last post here until Easter, as I take my yearly Lenten fast from 1/

Clouds tear themselves over the backs of low mountains. An airplane slowly crosses the tarmac. Gray and blue

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

Bonus mountains (Rockies outside of Denver)

View of some of the Rocky Mountains from a plane, outside of Denver

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 01/03/2025

Welcome reminder from my porch this afternoon that David did slay Goliath

A large crane fly, mangled, in the web of a compact little spider, also present

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

(This is an example of the kind of graphic I’m talking about, if you haven’t seen it, showcasing an “Imperial Sheet Atlas” and shared in this case by my friend Brett on Facebook. I’ve seen a few like this and they just struck me as a flippant/odd response that seems to miss the point.)

An “Imperial Sheet Atlas” showing “Mexico en 1794,” in which a yellow region comprising Mexico, New Mexico, Louisiana, Florida, and other areas variously labeled are all shaded yellow and surround the Gulf of Mexico and extend far up the North American continent, with a smaller region to the east and north in orange with labels like United States and Canada, above which someone has placed a caption reading, “And, this is why it’s called the Gulf of Mexico.”

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

This one, from Carolyn Forché, always says a little more than I can grasp, and I come back to it again and again

“Because One Is Always Forgotten” by Carolyn Forché

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

As I ricochet back into the semester’s teaching: my gratitude to the incredible group of scholars who came together for a seminar devoted to projects in the “Climate Humanities” (and an interrogation of that term), plus gratitude for all the members of this organization who took stands against 1/

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 18/12/2024

Yay! But also, what gives, @bsky.app? Literary book covers are “adult content?”

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 16/12/2024

Phishing attempt with a sense of humor?

A text from an unknown number reads, “I want to go fishing tomorrow. Can you go with me?”

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

I know everyone’s got the sweetest students, but these ones are pretty darn sweet. 💛

My office door with a “Happy Birthday” banner hung in front of it

A card on a desk that reads “Thanks a bunch!” on the front

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John Linstrom (he/him) @johnlinstrom.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

SHRIMP MOUNTAIN. We do not get to celebrate ourselves enough. Seven years ago today we first met. On the one hand, seven years seems like kind of a long time—but also, the journey we’ve been on since then is wild! A career change and several new jobs for Mo; 1/?

The author and his beautiful bride sit behind a great mass of spicy-sauced fried shrimps

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