PRESS

Nathan Gonzales, Archivist and head of Special Collections at A.K. Smiley Public Library in Redlands, CA, recently named Deborah and James Fallows’s Our Towns book and documentary to his “Editor’s Picks: 3 Great Local History Reads” for its insightful discussion of Redlands, Riverside and San Bernardino.

Read the article here.

Lindsay Lloyd, Christopher Walsh, and William McKenzie featured Deborah and James Fallows in their September 7, 2021 opinion piece in The Atlanta Journal Constitution. They write, “community leaders must identify city assets and be honest about improving them. . . . Deborah Fallows, who co-wrote ‘Our Towns’ with husband James Fallows, reports that libraries are now social and civic centers as well as educational and technology centers.”

Read the column here.

In their recent Inside Sources opinion piece, authors by Lindsay Lloyd, Christopher Walsh, and William McKenzie, moderators of the George W. Bush Institute’s Democracy Talks series, discuss the barriers to greater civic engagement, community renewal, and civil dialogue. Deborah Fallows is featured for her reporting on the role of libraries as places people gather to, “not only read books, but to attend pre-K classes, participate in community forums, gain access to the internet, and learn how to get green cards and become citizens.”

James Fallows is featured for his work on the contributions of immigrants, and how towns including Erie, PA, Dodge City, KS, and Sioux Falls, SD, see their immigrant residents as critical to rejuvenation.

Read the article here.

David Allen reported on the Redlands version of the city “icebreaker question” as reported by Deborah Fallows in Our Towns. It’s “what high school did you go to?” in St. Louis; “where do you go to church?” in Greenville, South Carolina; and “what’s your parish?” in Chicago. In Los Angeles it’s “How did you get here?”, answered by a list of freeway numbers. In Redlands, Deb reports, it’s “Do you have a citrus tree?”

Read the article here.

In his recent story on the Williams College Warrior-Scholar Project, Stephen Dravis discusses the contribution made to a recent Humanities Academic Bootcamp by guest speaker James Fallows. Fallows told the participant that the current decade, like the 1860s, the 1930s and the 1960s, will be a pivotal point in American history and that their generation of veterans will play a crucial role.

Read the article here.

In his recent column “American Renewal After the Pandemic,” Derek Shearer features Deb and Jim Fallows and their reporting in the Our Towns book and expansion of their work with the establishment of the Our Towns Civic Foundation. He’s giving copies of Our Towns to new ambassadors appointed to Biden’s America, and encouraging them to use the book and the Foundation’s monthly e-newsletter as guides for getting out of DC and seeing areas of the country that CNN and Fox News ignore.

Read the article here.

James and Deborah Fallows discuss the role of libraries in expanding community engagement, the impact of immigrants in revitalizing communities, and how some communities are rebounding from the decline in local journalism.

Deborah and James Fallows join Tamron Hall to discuss their expansive perspective on America.

Watch the interview here.