We previously announced a birthday party for Mary Ingalls hosted by the Museum of the American Printing House for the Blind in Louisville, Kentucky, for this coming Saturday morning, January 9, from 10 am to noon. Response has been so great that a second party will be held at the museum from 2 to 4 pm, to accommodate all those who wish to come and celebrate Mary’s 145th birthday! There is no cost for the party, but you must call the museum by Thursday, January 7, to register: (502) 899-2365
Founding the Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy and Research Association
I’ve been working behind the scenes for several weeks, now, to create the organization that makes LauraPalooza possible. It began with discussions last summer, as the group behind Beyond Little House, and several of our online friends, met in De Smet to work out plans for the conference. It became evident that, even with the support of Minnesota State University, Mankato, we were going to need financial help to plan and pull off what we have in mind for this summer.
It emerged that what we really needed was a singular new, nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and encouragement of research surrounding Laura Ingalls Wilder, Rose Wilder Lane, the Little House sites, and their legacies. This organization could act as the major sponsor for the conference and any future conferences, as well as act to support the work of the sites and researchers. We want to act as a clearinghouse, a gathering space for scholars and fans, academics and educators, and all who have something to contribute or who are simply interested in learning more about these remarkable women and the heritage they’ve left behind.
A great deal of effort goes into the actual founding of an organization, however. To be official and legal, we’ve had to establish a name, bylaws, and financial accounts. I’m still working on the paperwork to make us a non-profit organization with the IRS. But if our new Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy and Research Association were a house, I would say all the support beams are in place. The logs have been rolled, and the latch-string is out.
If you’re interested in supporting this work, you can help by buying a t-shirt or becoming a member. Members get membership cards and a 10 percent discount on any merchandise we can dream up to help us support the organization. Every dime goes to support the work of the conference and provide you the opportunities to share in the wonderful LIW/RWL research being conducted around the globe.
Just go to the LIWLRA T-Shirts post, download the form, and send it to me with your check. If you’d rather, you can email me your information, and I can send you an invoice via PayPal. T-shirts will be printed this month, and if you’ve already sent in your order form, you’ll get yours as soon as they come off the press.
We appreciate all you do.
Miss Kirkus and Her Discoveries (Laura’s Editors, Part 1)
Kirkus Reviews has been in the news recently, following the December announcement that the book review service would be closing down after 76 years. Unless you work in a library or bookstore you’ve probably never even seen a print copy of Kirkus Reviews, but chances are you’ve read a review from Kirkus on a book jacket or an Amazon.com page.
The reviews are anonymous, but the name “Kirkus” is well known. And no doubt it rings a bell for Laura fans, because Virginia Kirkus, who founded Kirkus Reviews, edited Laura’s first books. She was the head of the children’s book division at Harper & Brothers.
I’d been planning on writing about the four children’s book editors involved with the Little House books in chronological order, but given the recent news I’ll start with Virginia Kirkus. She was really the second editor Laura and Rose worked with: the children’s editor at Knopf, Marion Fiery, had accepted the manuscript for Little House in the Big Woods. But just two months later, Knopf decided to close its children’s division.
It was 1931, after all, and hard times tend to be even harder for publishers, as perhaps you’ve noticed lately. As Virginia Kirkus herself said in a 1953 essay in The Horn Book Magazine: “The ‘depression’ was making its impress on our sales; people were thinking that new books for children were unnecessary, while the old ones could serve.” But the children’s editors who still had jobs—like Kirkus at Harper—were nonetheless looking for new books, and her friend Marion Fiery told her about Laura’s manuscript.
Kirkus wasn’t excited at first: “What I was told on the phone about the book failed to impress my interest. ‘An elderly lady was writing a true story—in fictional form—about her pioneer childhood.’ Well, I’d heard that tale before…” (As a children’s book editor I can attest that prospective books NEVER sound good over the phone. Don’t call; just send!)
Despite her lack of enthusiasm, Kirkus met Marion Fiery for tea at the Biltmore Hotel before catching the train home from Grand Central Station. She was convinced to take the manuscript home and make a decision by the following Monday. Apparently she started reading the manuscript right after her meeting.
You might already know what happens next, since it’s kind of a legend by now: Kirkus missed her train because she was so caught up in the story. And then when she got on a later train, she missed her regular stop.
(The current train schedules show it’s about an hour from Grand Central to Westport, Connecticut. Who wants to bet the sugaring dance chapter is to blame?)
At the time Kirkus was living what she called a “fairly rugged life,” in Connecticut, in a house lit by kerosene lamps and with only a pump in the kitchen; it was one reason why she found “Little House in the Woods” (as it was called at the time) so compelling. “But the real magic was in the telling,” she wrote in her Horn Book essay. “Here was the book no depression could stop.”
Except, well, Harper & Brothers didn’t see it that way at first. Kirkus worked on Big Woods and Farmer Boy, and though the first book did well, the second one had needed work. In 1932, the books had yet to become a successful series, and Harper decided to cut back on its children’s books division. (Notice a recurring theme here? Ugh.) Kirkus was offered a job in another department until business improved, but she refused, and left the company. She didn’t have another job lined up. Instead, she started the Virginia Kirkus Bookshop Service.
Kirkus claimed the idea came to her in the middle of the night: to provide book reviews not for newspapers or magazines, but for booksellers who were trying to decide which new books to order. Bookselling is a tricky business in any economy, and Kirkus thought that an unbiased review bulletin would help both publishers and bookstores sell books.
For the plan to work, Kirkus had to read the books before they were published, while they were still in proofs. It’s now standard practice for publishers to send out galley proofs to reviewers in advance, but it wasn’t in 1933; Kirkus helped innovate the system and convinced publishers to participate. She had a knack at predicting which books would become successful—she was reportedly about 85% accurate. Eventually she was reading more than 700 books a year. Wonder how many more trains she missed.
Along with Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus Reviews was one of the two major prepublication review sources in the industry, so the loss to the book world is a significant one. If its influence hasn’t been as great in recent years, its range was still diverse, reviewing small press books that might otherwise be overlooked, and, of course, children’s books. As Horn Book editor Roger Sutton points out, Kirkus was the rare publication that gave equal consideration (and criticism) to books for adults and children.
There are rumors that Kirkus Reviews may yet find a new home; I would love to see them continue. Virigina Kirkus must have known that she’d been in the right place at the right time to give Little House in the Big Woods a chance, and she started her review bulletin because she felt there were other books that deserved to be discovered as well—books that needed to find the readers, booksellers and librarians who would champion them. Even in hard times, she understood, new books are necessary. Let’s hope that never changes.
UPDATE: As Sandra points out in the comments, there is now word that Kirkus Reviews will continue under new ownership. Wonderful news!
Links for further reading: A former owner of Kirkus Reviews reminisces at the Horn Book blog; more on Virginia Kirkus at Trundle Bed Tales; the Big Woods image comes from from an eBay listing for a gorgeous early edition currently for sale.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged with: Book Lore, Children's Books, Cultural Impact, Editors, Little House in the Big Woods, Virginia Kirkus, Wendy, Writings and Works
Do You Like Us? Do You Really Like Us?
The folks behind Beyond Little House want to know what you think of what we’re doing here. Do you find the site useful? Why do you like it? What does it offer you? We’re compiling testimonials to display on the site, and we’d love to include yours.
Tell us why you love Beyond Little House and send it to beyondlittlehouse at gmail dot com. (And heck, while you’re at it, be sure to include what you don’t like. We want to know what we’re doing wrong, too!) We’re choosing the best ones to display on the site, to help new visitors to know what we’re all about.
Fixing Links and More Conference Details
Happy New Year, everyone! Have you all had your oyster soup?
We’re still working on spiffing up the site. Lots of you have written in reporting on broken links and other problems. Thanks so much, and please keep them coming. We’re fixing everything as we go.
One link we’ve fixed is the order form for T-shirts for the Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy and Research Association. Here’s the post that describes them.
Several of you have also asked more about the conference. Here’s some more information we have available that should clarify some things.
The schedule of events will be available by February 7, Laura’s birthday. Registration for the conference will also open that day. Registration will be set at $75 for all three days; the $110 dorm price is for all three days and includes all meals, including the banquet luncheon and final “tin-pail” lunch (both of these would be add-ons if you choose to stay in a hotel). As for nearby hotels, the AmericInn is about two blocks from campus, and three from the union, where most events will be held. The Microtel is about five miles from the site; it’s cheaper, though. Both hotels come with breakfast. The Microtel rates are $50, $55, and $60 for singles, doubles, and suites respectively.
If you fly into the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport, you’ll either want to rent a car to drive the hour to Mankato, or work with Land-to-Air Express to get transportation to Mankato.
The conference will start at 8 a.m. Thursday and run through noon on Saturday; an add-on, optional field trip to Walnut Grove is scheduled for Saturday afternoon. Lodging at Walnut Grove is sparse; your best bet is The Wilder Inn in Tracy, Minn. Their number is 507.629.3350. One of Dr. Lauters’ senior Public Relations students in Mankato is compiling a list of other options within a 45-mile radius of Walnut Grove.
All of this information and more will be available in a downloadable handout, coming soon.
Pondering Snowdrifts …
I remember thinking, when I read that Pa survived a blizzard by tunneling under a bank into a snowdrift–many, many years ago–that the drift must have been mighty big.
I grew up in Wisconsin, and I’ve seen my share of big snows. But in an age where fleets of snowplows and salt-and-sand trucks strike out in the middle of big storms to keep roadways clear, and snow drifts are removed from corners after the snow has passed, I’d come to think that, perhaps, Laura’s generation simply saw more snow than ours.
Boy, howdy, was I wrong.
In Minnesota and Wisconsin, we had a Christmas storm last week. It began Wednesday afternoon with snow in Minnesota. The MoTP and I snuck out of Mankato ahead of the snow, heading to Wisconsin to stay with my family over the holiday. It snowed, and it snowed, and it snowed.
Then it rained.
Then it snowed.
By the time the sun came out, three days later, the ground in central Wisconsin glittered with a good four inches of frozen slush, topped by three inches of fresh snow. The MoTP and I carefully set out for home, assured that the highways, at any rate, were clear.
As we approached Mankato, we began to get an inkling that conditions were worse in Minnesota as we drove down Hwy 169 from the Twin Cities. Heaps of snow on both sides of the freeway were augmented by blowing and drifting over the roadway between pasture lands, where no trees could break the wind. We crept further south, and the roads began to show signs of significant snowfall, significant enough that snow plow drivers couldn’t get ahead of it. We had to slow down considerably as we angled off the main highway to come into Mankato from the “back,” where we could stop for a new, second shovel and a jug of pet-friendly ice melt. We had a hunch we’d need it.
As we turned down our street, we could see that the plows had hit our roads at least once, because they’d used the end of our driveway to pile a good four-to-five-foot drift of ice and dirty snow. We couldn’t even get into our driveway.
I measured the fresh fallen snow. Fourteen inches, not counting the frozen middle layer of ice from the rain.
We dug out the garage with the new shovel, grabbed the second one and went to work on the driveway and sidewalk. It took three hours to clear enough of that drift so we could get into the driveway. I went to work with my metal garden hoe and rake to cut up enough of that drift so the MoTP could shovel it out.
That, friends, is a drift that Pa could have tunneled into.
As we’re still digging out today–we got fresh snow yesterday–I was reminded to be grateful for a number of things I have that Laura didn’t, things like four-wheel drive, stainless steel shovels, city snow plows and salt trucks.
And a grocery store less than a mile away.
It’s not that we get less snow. It’s that we’ve got the modern technology and tools to deal with it.
Stay safe this winter, folks. And Happy New Year to all!
A Little House Christmas Tree
There’s something about Christmas that makes people think “Little House.” Something about those Christmases of long ago that people connect with. The simplicity… the joy… it’s what people want their Christmas to be like.
And yet so often it’s not, is it?
I’m having a stress-free Christmas this year. I’m not traveling. Not cooking. Not baking. I didn’t send Christmas cards. I only bought a handful of presents, and took care of that before Thanksgiving so as not to have to face the madness of Christmas crowds at the stores, or have that anxiety of not being able to find the right gift in time.
So really, the only “chore” I’ve had this entire Christmas season was that of decorating the tree.
And decorating my Christmas tree is for me a very Little Housey experience. Because nearly every ornament on my tree contains a Little House memory.
First, there are the ornaments purchased from the Little House sites themselves. Mansfield has a whole set, one representing each b
ook, and there have been several others sold by various sites at different points in time that I’ve been able to pick up.
And then the classic iconic ornaments. A log cabin. A covered wagon. A fiddle. A lantern. A corncob doll.
And of course, we mustn’t forget the Little House Christmas gifts themselves. Peppermint sticks. Tin cups. A button string. And little red mittens.
And then there are those that require a little more thought to understand their Little House association.
The little brown bear, representative of “Two Big Bears” from the Big Woods.
Or how about this light shining in the kitchen window, reminding me of the Christmas Pa was lost in the blizzard on Plum Creek, when Ma set the lamp in the window but the blizzard was so fierce that Pa could not see it shining his way home.
Or the Currier & Ives sleigh ride ornament, not only reminding me of the winter courtship of Laura and Almanzo, but a print they themselves hung in Rocky Ridge.
Several weeks ago, I asked for ways that each of you give your families a Little House Christmas. For me, it’s the tree. It’s the reminder when I see that little light shining that Christmas is a time to give thanks for the health and safety of your family. It’s the reminder when I see that tin cup or those little red mittens that simple gifts really are sufficient, for it’s the love behind the gift that really matters. It’s the warmth I feel from seeing Pa’s fiddle and remembering how it brought joy to the Ingalls family even in the darkest of times. It’s an ever-present reminder that the happiest Christmases come through the simplest things.
Have a very merry Little House Christmas!
Yes, Mary and Laura, There Is a Santa Claus
“Ma!” Laura cried. “There IS a Santa Claus, isn’t there?”
“Of course there’s a Santa Claus,” said Ma. She set the iron on the stove to heat again.
“The older you are, the more you know about Santa Claus,” she said. “You are so big now, you know he can’t be just one man, don’t you? You know he is everywhere on Christmas Eve. He is in the Big Woods, and in Indian Territory, and far away in York State, and here. He comes down all the chimneys at the same time. You know that, don’t you?”
“Yes, Ma,” said Mary and Laura.
“Well,” said Ma. “Then you see–”
“I guess he is like angels,” Mary said, slowly. And Laura could see that, just as well as Mary could.
Then Ma told them something else about Santa Claus. He was everywhere, and besides that, he was all the time.
Whenever anyone was unselfish, that was Santa Claus.
Christmas Eve was the one time when everybody was unselfish. On that one night, Santa Claus was everywhere, because everybody, all together, stopped being selfish and wanted other people to be happy. And in the morning you saw what that had done.
“If everybody wanted everybody else to be happy, all the time, then would it be Christmas all the time?” Laura asked, and Ma said, “Yes, Laura.”
~ On the Banks of Plum Creek, “The Christmas Horses”
My very astute, very curious seven-year-old has decided, this year, to believe in Santa Claus. She’s using the sound reasoning that if he’s not real, he can’t bring her anything. Should she entertain more doubts next holiday season, I’m just going to refer her to Ma.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged with: Holidays, Laura's Legacy, On the Banks of Plum Creek, Writings and Works
New Photo Group, and A New Contributor, Too!
Wendy McClure here, your newest contributor at Beyond Little House! I’m a writer from Chicago currently finishing a book about my year revisiting the world of Laura Ingalls Wilder. When I’m not agonizing over my rough draft (I know the plural of “Ingalls” is “Ingallses,” but I keep forgetting to type it that way) I’ll be posting here periodically about my own fields of Laura obsession, which include stories about the making of the Little House books (I’m a children’s book editor) and Laura in pop culture.
I’m also here to introduce the Beyond Little House group at Flickr. There’s a photo group for the Little House TV show on Flickr and even a group about little houses, but until now, there hasn’t been a group for photos of the homesites, festivals and other Little House- and Laura-related stuff. And there’s a LOT of those to be found.
I’ve added some of my photos from my homesite trips this summer, and I’ve been searching Flickr for other photos and inviting folks to put them in the group. Some images are of places you may have seen before—like the dugout and Almanzo’s home—and some are a bit more unusual, like Pa’s homestead permit, a modern-art piece based on an Ingalls family photo, and a self-portrait of a Little House fan geeking out. And that’s just for starters.
If you’re already on Flickr, you can simply join the group and add your photos, and if you have Little House photos that you’d like to share, consider becoming a Flickr member! (It’s free, unless you want a “pro” account.) We’d also love to be able to use some of these images here on Beyond Little House, so if you’d like your pictures to be considered, just drop us a line on this discussion page to give permission (we won’t use your photos unless you say it’s OK). And keep visiting the group to see what kind of new photos show up…
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged with: Administrivia, Flickr, Homesites, Museums and Attractions, Random Little House Sightings, Wendy McClure
Pardon Our Prairie Dust
Welcome to the brand-new Beyond Little House! This online sanctuary for all things Laura Ingalls Wilder is back and better than ever. Watch in the coming weeks for more info about our upcoming conference in Minnesota, LauraPalooza, including the opportunity to register and delicious information on the panels and presentations. (We’re so excited about them that we know even Ma would dance with glee.)
The site isn’t fully complete yet, and we know there are still design and content errors. We’re working hard to fine-tune the site and will continue to do so over the next few weeks. But pull up a rocking chair and stick around, because we’ve got plenty to share with you.