Carpenter’s columns knew no limits to their topics, their approaches, or their point of view. He is interested in out-of-the-way places, city life, interesting individuals from the famous to the ordinary, in the angularity and meaning of events, in the dust and scent of his native state. His writing on sports, especially baseball, is as good as anything that has ever been produced. Taken together, his vignettes and essays offer a fascinating interpretation of Indiana.

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