We have collected many of John's unpublished works, most of which are descriptions of his life.  We have included both his vitae and an excellent summary of his growth as a geographer, Journey of Discovery, as well as chapters in an autobiography he was writing.  For this work, he carefully selected specific photographs and placed them into three of the booklets:  Jane Willson, The War Years, and The Madison Years.  We have scanned in the original photos and imported the actual text, so they may not be formatted exactly as they were printed, but both the photos and text will be higher resolution.  A number of shorter autobiographical writings are included as Early Recollections.

We hope to include many of John's writings on the website.  As we scan the older documents and convert them to text, they will be added to the list of writings.  We have completed the first of these documents, The Belt Line Commercial Industrial Development Study, and included it in John's web library.  This 1960 study was an important event in John's career and marked an increased involvement by the University and the Geography Department in Minnesota regional planning.  This study was part of a long, productive, and enjoyable collaboration with his friend and colleague in the Agricultural Economics Department, Phil Raup.

John had a strong interest in the history and future of the St. Croix River Valley, his home for the last 30 years.  John's speech to the Lower St. Croix Management Committee on Oct. 28, 1997 is available on their website and we have linked to it: Perspective on the Lower Riverway After the First Quarter-Century

After 40 years of researching the economic and historical geography of the Upper Midwest, teaching about the region, and informing public policy, John distilled his knowledge of the region into the book, America's Northern Heartland.  In 2002, The University of Minnesota Press, returned the copyright for America's Northern Heartland to the Borchert family.  We are pleased to present a web-publication of this book as a gift from John to the community.