SNV Special Interview: La Penultima By Elaine Klaassen

Special Interview Recorded (9/11/2025) and Uploaded (9/25/25). In this special we speak with the local author Elaine Klaassen about her book La Penultima: With A Rose In Its Eye (https://www.amazon.com/PENULTIMA-ROSE-ITS-EYE/dp/B0D92NTR9C). Which is also available for $15 at Boneshaker Books ( 2002 23rd Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55404) and at Eat My Words Bookstore (201 6th St SE UNIT 220, Minneapolis, MN 55414). Klaassen has also written for the local newspaper SouthSide Pride (https://southsidepride.com/columnists/elaine-klaassen/) for many years. The author wished for the following words about socialism from Ricardo Levins Morales and Ed Felien to also be shared: I felt like Ricardo and Ed sounded very similar in their views about socialism. In my article about RLM (https://southsidepride.com/2025/09/03/the-land-knows-the-way-eco-social-insights-for-liberation/), here's the paragraph: The words socialism and capitalism, often hot-button words, appear sparingly. In our interview he said that by socialism he means “what’s good for people—every species needs safety, and real safety means safety for everyone, that is, equality … Socialism can encompass a range of social and economic arrangements. When a socialist system hurts people and the environment, it is betraying its mission.” - AND - Ed wrote these two paragraphs in his second article about the DFL convention, "State DFL declares war on Minneapolis." (https://southsidepride.com/2025/09/03/state-dfl-declares-war-on-minneapolis/): "Frey’s people want you to believe socialists are somehow scary and different. Socialists want a world based on love for your neighbor and hope for your community. Paul Wellstone used to say, “We all do better when we all do better.” And that means taking care of the least of us first. We must care for the homeless and the hungry because they are our brothers and our sisters. Somehow, at some point, believing in loving thy neighbor as thyself became un-American. And, somehow, the people who fight mightily for the rich and powerful came to call themselves Christians."