"A collection of essays, organized by the changing of the seasons, about the author's strong connection to his family, friends, and the northern outdoors"--Provided by publisher.

In 1975, Darlene M. Reierson, a self-proclaimed “city girl,” and her husband, Brien, embarked on what so many people dream of doing but rarely attempt: a completely off-the-grid lifestyle, eking a living in the unforgiving wilderness of northern British Columbia, Canada. They spent the next several decades moving back and forth between a series of cabins they built with their own hands while logging, prospecting, trapping, hunting, fishing, gathering, and growing their own food. Throughout their years in the wilderness, Darlene was a relentless journaler, recording the highs and lows of modern homesteading in the mountains as she and Brien raised their two daughters. This book contains the second volume of Darlene’s journals, picking up at the point where their daughters have left home, and she and Brien are making a go of it themselves. Living on the edge as they did, however, tragedy was forever lurking right around the corner, and it struck hard during this phase of their lives. Despite their struggles against nature and the darkness of loss and grief, one thing that shines through is the Reiersons’ faith in their God. This alone is that gives Darlene the strength to continue moving forward in the face of tragedy. Also included in this book are several family trees and other genealogical information plus dozens of photos highlighting the Reiersons adventures and depicting their ancestors.

“A richly observant memoir of a coast-to-coast journey along the US-Canada border . . . An armchair traveler’s delight” (Kirkus Reviews). “Part travelogue, part memoir, part meditation, part exploration,” North Country is an account of a trip along the northern border of the United States in search of the country’s last unspoiled frontiers (The Boston Sunday Globe). In this vast, sparsely settled territory, Howard Frank Mosher found both a harsh and beautiful landscape and some of the continent’s most independent men and women. Here, he brings this remote area to vivid life in a book “bright with anecdote and history and lore and most importantly with affection for his human subjects” (Richard Ford, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Independence Day). “A classic road book. You could, with confidence, place this book on the shelf next to such American classics as John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley and Jonathan Raban’s Old Glory.” —Detroit Free Press “What Mosher’s northern journey is really about is our society’s loss of Eden, the garden we were promised when we came here. The garden we’ve turned into pulp fiction and rocket ranges. The very fact that this brave book can stir up so many thoughts about the predicaments of civilization is surely an indication that it is well worth reading.” —Ottawa Citizen

If you are looking for sophisticated prose or poetry, poetry that you must ponder for days to find the meaning, this book is not for you. This book is simply the honest thoughts and feelings of a very ordinary woman. I hope the one reading this can say, Oh, Ive felt that way! Perhaps take comfort is some words and feel nostalgia at others. This book talks about country life, love, loss, and a look back on what used to be. A friend once told me I write poetry for those who dont like poetry. I take this as a great compliment. I would hope this book finds a secret spot in your heart where you can sit back and reflect.

Capturing actual dialogues of people discussing subjects as diverse as marriage, poverty, poetry, and the emotional lives of servants, 'The Pen and the People' will be enjoyed by everyone interested in history, literature, and the intimate experiences of ordinary people.

Travel north from the upper Midwest’s metropolises, and before long you’re “Up North”—a region that’s hard to define but unmistakable to any resident or tourist. Crops give way to forests, mines (or their remains) mark the landscape, and lakes multiply, becoming ever clearer until you reach the vastness of the Great Lakes. How to characterize this region, as distinct from the agrarian Midwest, is the question North Country seeks to answer, as a congenial group of scholars, journalists, and public intellectuals explores the distinctive landscape, culture, and history that define the northern margins of the American Midwest. From the glacial past to the present day, these essays range across the histories of the Dakota and Ojibwe people, colonial imperial rivalries and immigration, and conflicts between the economic imperatives of resource extraction and the stewardship of nature. The book also considers literary treatments of the area—and arguably makes its own contributions to that literature, as some of the authors search for the North Country through personal essays, while others highlight individuals who are identified with the area, like Sigurd Olson, John Barlow Martin, and Russell Kirk. From the fur trade to tourism, fisheries to supper clubs, Finnish settlers to Native treaty rights, the nature of the North Country emerges here in all its variety and particularity: as clearly distinct from the greater Midwest as it is part of the American heartland.

A classic anthology of Minnesota literature, with selections from novels, short stories, essays, and memoirs, that conveys the diversity of the Minnesota Experience.