Hibbing struggles with how it should honour Bob Dylan
HIBBING, Minn. — The city of Hibbing has long struggled with how it should honour its most famous son, Bob Dylan. There is a street sign, a small exhibit in the public library, but little more.
As Dylan is awarded the Nobel Prize in literature Saturday — proclaimed Bob Dylan Day in the state — some residents think that should change.
“A prophet in his own land is not always noticed,” said Mary Palcich Keyes, who is part of an effort to honour the singer-songwriter-poet. “For many years, I think people just took it for granted and it didn’t seem that big of a deal. Now the Nobel prize seems to have, it’s like it shook something loose finally.”
Dylan was born in Duluth in 1941, raised in the Iron Range town of Hibbing and graduated from the city’s high school in 1959. Earlier this year, he became the first musician in the Nobel’s 115-year history to win the prize in literature.