Rebecca Moon Ruark

Posted on July 6, 2017January 4, 2018 by Rebecca Moon Ruark · 9 Comments

RUST BELT BOY & holy pierogi

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Cleveland and Pittsburgh have always enjoyed something like a sibling rivalry. Unlike the relationship between Cleveland and Akron, or Cleveland and Chicago, Cleveland and the ’Burgh are too close in size for one to take the other under its wing like a little sister city, or to aspire to big-brother city coolness. So, rivalry it is—or always seemed to be, to this Northeastern Ohio native.

Later this summer, I will travel through (or around) both cities on my way to visit my dad in Port Clinton, Ohio—home of the annual Perch, Peach, Pierogi and Polka Festival. Along my way on the Pennsylvania and Ohio turnpikes, I will cross a lot of pierogi territory.

Posted on June 23, 2017June 26, 2017 by Rebecca Moon Ruark

America’s Great Lake, or the Greatest Lake? — Longreads

In my last post I wrote about my Great Lake, Lake Erie. I’m re-blogging this interesting article on Lake Superior–a Great Lake I’ve never visited but want to…

At Outside, Stephanie Pearson explores Lake Superior’s extreme history, expanse, diversity, and dangers.

via America’s Great Lake, or the Greatest Lake? — Longreads

Posted on June 11, 2017January 4, 2018 by Rebecca Moon Ruark · 7 Comments

A hick reads HILLBILLY ELEGY, the underdog lake & and a story excerpt

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We were “hicks.” That was the insult of choice directed at us Chardon High School Hilltoppers. Rival school children would call us that or sometimes “farmers,” which said more about the insulters than the insulted.

We were not “hillbillies” (our Hilltopper mascot being something of a misnomer). And so, while reading Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance, I had the feeling that not only was his family not my family but his culture was not my culture. (Not to say my culture is crisis-free.) Was his Ohio my Ohio?

Posted on May 19, 2017July 6, 2017 by Rebecca Moon Ruark · 14 Comments

A blog is born

Welcome to Rust Belt Girl, an exploration of writing the Rust Belt, from a female perspective. Using this blog, we could discuss which states and cities should be considered part of the Rust Belt, what’s “Rust Belt” and what’s “Great Lakes Region,” where the Rust Belt ends and Appalachia begins. We could talk about whether “Rust Belt” refers more to economics than geography. But let’s not. Politics? Nope.

Here’s why I began this blog: my creative writing keeps bringing me back to my native Ohio. It’s more than setting; more than shared industry and landmarks, natural and man-made. It’s more than regional dialect or terms like “pop.” It’s even more than shared faith, ethnicity, and lineages with their feast days and foods. It’s an ethos, I think, but I need to learn more.