justin lesieur dot com slash blog slash in the news

April 3, 2026

Every once in a while, life hands you a moment that feels both completely unexpected and strangely full-circle. Last week, that moment was opening Our Hometown and seeing a full feature on Where's Ronald? written by Amy Peterson.

There's something special about your hometown noticing what you're doing out in the world. I've had many home cities since leaving Estherville; Seattle, WA, Fort Collins, CO, Honolulu, HI, Phoenix, AZ, and Laguna Beach, CA. 

 Minneapolis, MN is home now, but Estherville, IA is the place that shaped me, bored me, inspired me, and gave me enough material to write a novella about a missing clown. Seeing that story land back where it all started is honestly pretty incredible.

So thank you, Amy, for taking the time. And thank you, Estherville, for still being the kind of place where a decades-old mystery about a fiberglass Ronald McDonald can get its moment in the spotlight. 

It means more than you'd think.