What is Bar\Heart?

Welcome to Bar\Heart. I’m Amy Haimerl, and I'm glad you’re here!

What is a Bar\Heart, you ask? It was my family’s livestock brand — literally the symbols \♡ branded onto the flanks of our sheep — and now it’s my weekly(ish) newsletter where I tell stories from the bars and hearts of the Midwest.

I can tell you, “middle aged woman living in the middle of the country” was never on my life’s bingo card. And yet, here I am, an avowed daughter of the American West, complete with multiple pairs of cowboy boots and a rural pedigree, calling Detroit home.

Work brought me and my husband, Lovey, to Michigan from New York, but we stayed for a house (you can read about that here) and the people. At first I only found connection with Detroit, but the longer we stay the more I find myself falling for the charms of Michigan and the broader Midwest. So join me for essays, reportage and intimate conversations from the bars and hearts of this place I now call home.

Plus, on Fridays, join me for Cocktail Hour, featuring drink recipes, book suggestions and whatever detritus I find on the Internet.

So why did I name my newsletter after my family’s livestock brand? Because I’m thinking a lot about community, identity, belonging and the places that define us or, if you will, brand us.

The family ranch is gone, but the last \♡ branding iron sits on my mantle as a reminder of who I am and where I come from. My dad, Dick, always signed his love letters to my mom with that telltale mark:

\ ♡, D.

And, now I use it to sign off on my love letters to you from the Midwest.

What Do You Get If You Subscribe (And I Hope You Do!)?

💌 Weekly(ish) love letter from the Midwest, usually on Tuesdays.

🥃 Cocktail Hour issue each Friday, featuring what I’m drinking, reading and thinking.

📚 Monthly Bar\Heart Book List featuring the 10 new titles I can’t wait to read.

📡 Community, dialogue and discussion! Comments on Bar\Heart are restricted to subscribers so that we can chat without fear of trolls.

🎧 Audio interviews, podcast episodes and so much more as this community of subscribers grows.

How Much Does It Cost?

Just $5 per month or $50 per year. The previous iteration of this newsletter was supported by a large tech company, which allowed me to offer it for free. But now that I’m independent, I am asking this community to support the work that I do. Your subscription allows me to have time to read, think, interview, critique, drink and find all the great Internet detritus you love — and still pay my bills. So thanks for that!

As this community grows, so too will my ability to be more ambitious with the content. I would like to bring us together for book clubs, author interviews, site visits and more.

If you cannot afford the subscription, don’t worry! I will gift you one, no questions asked. It is important to me that this space be accessible. Just email me at amy@barheart.us and I’ll upgrade you.

Subscribe below and take the journey with me.

Who is Amy Haimerl?

I’m a journalist, author, professor, entrepreneur, home renovator, amateur bartender and voracious reader who calls Detroit home. I got to Michigan by way of New York by way of Mississippi by way of Colorado, where it all began.

I learned to read in the cab of an 18-wheeler, sounding out sentences from the pages of community newspapers my Dad and I picked up in truck stops. I used to push stray cats around in a baby buggy and have tea parties with them. Animals are still very much a central part of my life, and I share my bed with a Detroit street dog turned #bougiebull, my cats, The Overlord and June Carter Cat, and my husband, Lovey. Yes, he’s used to coming in last on that list.

Lovey and I moved from Brooklyn to Michigan in 2012 so I could participate in the Knight Wallace journalism fellowship at the University of Michigan. We always intended to go back, but he fell in love with Detroit and I fell in love with a 100-year-old house that was, essentially, just three walls and a dream. We stayed and rebuilt the house just as the city was rebuilding from bankruptcy. You can read all about it in my book, Detroit Hustle: A Memoir of Love, Life and Home.

I regularly cover small business for the New York Times, occasionally write about museum finance, and previously covered personal finance for military families. I’ve worked for CNN Business; Fortune Small Business; Denver’s alt weekly, Westword; Crain’s Detroit Business and USAA Magazine. I love a good spreadsheet and hours spent talking to people (but I hate picking up the phone).

In the before pandemic times, I founded the Shady Ladies Literary Society, which brought emerging women+ authors to Detroit for literary dinner parties in unforgettable locations. We had Tara Westover, Tomi Adayemi, Zinzi Clemmons and so many more wonderful writers join us in cemetaries, whiskey distilleries, iconic stages, etc. Maybe 2023 will be the year we emerge?