"Heartland Portrait" writers to read their works at libraries

by B.J. Tomlinson

They all agree it was a great experience, but most aren’t writing much any more. “They” are the contributors to editor Robert Wolf’s newest edition of “Heartland Portrait: Stories from the Rural Midwest”. This new edition, a collection of 68 short stories and six essays, contains stories from earlier editions, plus new stories from previously unpublished authors.
Thursday December 10 at 6:30 p.m., several of the writers will read their stories at the Robey Memorial Library in Waukon. Then, Tuesday, December 15, other writers will read at the Meehan Memorial Lansing Public Library at 7 p.m. The public is invited to each of these free events.
Area residents who contributed stories include Barb Leppert, Frances Cole, Ken Krambeer, John Prestemon, Dan Byrnes, Mary Klauke, John Verdon, Karen Galema, Bruce Carlson, Bill and Esther Welsh, Robert Teff, Norman Delphey, Jack Libbey, Emily Libbey, Shirley Darling, David and Barbara Mitchell, Norbert and Loretta Strong, Richard and Dorothy Sandry,  and former residents Lyle Ernst, Greg Welsh, Kyle Fitzgerald, and Laura Siitari.
“This book is filled with stories about people and places most of us barely know and about ways of life that seem to be vanishing before our eyes,” says Wolf. The authors have written about farm families, small town life, commercial fishing, wildlife and more.
Eighteen years ago, the writers started meeting with Wolf as a group to read their stories aloud and give and receive comments and ideas from each other. They continued to meet for nearly two years to write, edit and revise their stories. They wrote in longhand - nobody had computers then. Wolf typed them up and then collated the printed pages by hand. The result was “Voices from the Land”, the first edition of the collection written by the group.
Esther Welsh said the idea of writing was “frightening” at first because she’d never written before. When she was first invited to the group, Barb Leppert thought Wolf was crazy. Bruce Carlson said he learned a lot about himself.
All of the writers agreed being involved in the project was an enjoyable learning experience. They were forced to meet deadlines, express emotions and think and get the stories out. John Verdon has written some other stories, but “mot as many as I thought I would. Seems like I’m always short on time,”  a sentiment echoed by others in the group.
Wolf started conducting writing workshops in Nashville, TN in the 1990s with a goal of “recording the transformation of rural America with personal stories that document not only loss in rapidly changing times but success in adapting and preserving a way of life.”
Wolf continues to facilitate workshops in the Midwest and has expanded his areas of interest to include New Jersey, New York, New Mexico, Texas and Arizona. He encourages whole communities to write their histories via local residents.
Wolf’s publishing company, Free River Press, is a non-profit publishing house “whose primary mission is to develop a mosaic of America written by people from all walks of life.” For more information go to his web site: www.freeriverpress.org.