Keeping it short works best for Bluhm

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness —” So starts Warren Bluhm’s description of “Echoes of Freedom Past: Reopening, Reclaiming and Restoring Liberty,” his most recent book.

Bluhm is a writer of blogs and books. He’s also the editor-in-chief of the Shawano Leader, Oconto County Times Herald and Wittenberg Enterprise and Birnamwood News. Bluhm just published his 11th book on June 21.

Bluhm writes in the book’s introduction, “This is a little book about what used to be, what is, and what could be if we wish to reclaim it.”

The book is a compilation of his essays, blog posts and a short story about freedom and tyranny. Bluhm separated it into three parts: Freedom and the Bill of Rights; what has been happening in the last several years; and, hope for the future.

“I’ve always been a kind of live and let live kind of person,” Bluhm said. “That’s probably an outgrowth of my work as a journalist. I guess I trained myself to accept all points of view, walks of life, lifestyles, whatever, and I feel comfortable with that attitude. I think people need to be thinking in terms of the ‘other person’ and accepting diverse opinions. I am a big fan of the Bill of Rights.”

About a year ago, Bluhm wrote “Full,” also written with three sections.

“There’s a section called ‘The creative process.’ One is called ‘Live free or die,’ and the third one is more of encouraging things,” he said.

The concepts from “Full” lead directly into his new book.

“I put ‘Full’ out about a year ago, and I continued writing on those themes,” Bluhm said.

Explaining the “likes” he gets for his writing, Bluhm said: “You can’t really go by ‘likes,’ but when I write on those three themes, I get a lot of ‘likes’ for the creativity. I get a lot of ‘likes’ for the encouragement, and the freedom ones I put out there, sometimes no one likes it at all.

“If you don’t have freedom to express yourself or write what you want, or even gather to be with friends, the encouragement and the creative process is going to be limited anyway. So that’s why I put out ‘Echoes of Freedom.’”

Bluhm explained that he likes talking about freedom because it’s his favorite thing. As a Libertarian, the man likes to write about liberty.

Bluhm’s long writing career started out in radio news, which he did for 22 years.

“I had to write 30 seconds to a minute, I had to encapsulate a story that quickly,” Bluhm said. “And then when I got to newspapers, it’s still hard for me to write more than 15 column inches. I was a columnist, and one of my proudest achievements is I was twice named the Wisconsin Newspaper Association Local Columnist of the Year.”

He was a reporter and editor of community newspapers, becoming editor-in-chief for NEW Media about a year ago after the departure of Carol Ryczek. He started creative writing and book publishing a few years back, squeezing that in between his day job.

Keeping it short and sweet, the mantra of radio news, is ingrained in Bluhm.

“I seem to flourish in things that are 500 words, and that’s why I have three novels. I have novels that I never have finished,” Bluhm said. “Of my 11 books, only four of them are fiction. The fourth one is called “24 Flashes.” It’s 24 flash fictions. It’s got 24 stories, yet the paperback is 96 pages. Most of the books are collections from my blog.”

Bluhm noted that the book he’s known for best, “in my small audience,” is “Refuse to Be Afraid,” which saw a 10th anniversary edition published in 2020.

“When I started blogging, I came across this theme of everybody from drug companies to pesticide companies, to politicians, the whole concept of advertising is to get people afraid and produce a solution,” Bluhm said. “So, I just kept writing a series of blog posts about these people and what’s in it for them, who benefits if I’m afraid. The thing about politicians is part of the solution is always taking away a little of your liberty, which actually led to the new book. Refuse to be afraid, free yourself and then go ahead and pursue your dreams. That’s the gist of that book.”

Bluhm’s books can be found on Amazon. His website is WarrenBluhm.com.