Letter to the Editor: What Legacy Will We Leave?

Proceeding down the highway, south, of Door County, along the west side of the road and approaching Wequiock Falls, a darling, wee Brown County park, one passes in view of a statue of Jean Nicolet, coureur des bois, celebrated “discoverer” of Lake Michigan and Green Bay, as he stepped out of his canoe to say “bonjour” for the first time to the indigenous people he was going to meet. His right arm is tucked behind his back. That’s because he’s hiding a big fat gun. It’s how he was envisioned when the statue was created around 1950.

We may have mostly run out of earth to “discover” but what intangibles, what legacies might we be credited with in 2050 and onwards? People are now writing their own obituaries. At the end of “your day,” what will yours say?

Julie Stratton

Sturgeon Bay, Wis.