A Flurry of LauraPalooza Activity

Whew. I’ve a lot of good news to report on planning for next summer’s conference. Have you submitted your presentation proposal yet?

First, we’ve secured the ballroom on the Centennial Student Union on the MSU campus for all three days of the event, meaning we can accommodate everyone who’d like to attend.

Second, we’ve partnered with the Betsy-Tacy Society in Mankato to open up the Betsy and Tacy houses to our conference attendees! They’re normally only open on Saturdays in the summer, but they will be open all three days of our event. Plus, we’re planning some exciting activities exclusive to that location, which is just down the hill from the campus.

Third, we’ve decided to end our event after lunch on Saturday so all of you can go to Walnut Grove for the afternoon and evening! I suggest, if you want a room Saturday night near Walnut Grove, contacting the Wilder Inn in Tracy NOW for a reservation. They fill up fast.

Finally, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy and Research Association has officially been recognized by the IRS as an organization. If you’d like to join us, watch this space for membership forms and details. Dues will be inexpensive, and will go toward supporting the work of the organization in its planning and execution of this conference.

I hope you’re getting excited, because I am!

Now, a few questions to aid me in planning:

  • Do you plan to come? Are your plans firm?
  • Will you be bringing your families? And if so, would you like to see activities for children planned?

We’re trying to keep our registration costs low, and we think, at this point, that the fee for attending (to cover our costs) should be about $75 per person for all three days. To add on accommodations at the Julia A. Sears Residence Hall, you’ll add $110 per person, which includes all meals for three days.

(For those not interested in sharing a dorm room, we have reserved rooms at the Microtel Inn and Suites and at the AmericInn near campus. Meals would then be on your own.)

Let me know if you think we’re on the right track!

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Interview With Steve Blanchard

Here’s a radio interview with Steve “Pa Ingalls” Blanchard, who’s traveling with the musical right now, courtesy of the musical’s Twitter feed.

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Ask the Experts: Source for Hardback Books?

On the heels of the last post, and with Christmas right around the bend, I thought this would be a great time to post the following question:

Do you know of any source(s) where I can purchase the entire 9-book Little House Series in HARDBACK? (I love the feel of a hardback book in my hands and want to have hardback copies of all of these books for when my husband and I have children). I found a website that sells the entire 9-book series plus The Little House Traveler I believe all in hardback for $160.00. I’m wondering if you know of a source that has the entire hardback series at a lower price.

Jacqui

The museum at Walnut Grove sells the hardcover set for $137.62. This does not include Little House Traveler, which they sell separately for 16.99.    http://walnutgrove.org/store/page1.html

The museum at De Smet sells the set with a couple of souvenirs included for 134.95.  http://www.discoverlaura.org/giftshop/lauraingallswilder.html

Both sites come out a little bit cheaper than the price you found, and you have the added benefit of supporting one of Laura’s homesites with your purchase.

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What Books Do YOU Have?

I’m bringing Jeanine’s comment up to the top because I think she asks a great question.

I’m wondering what editions other readers of this blog have? I have the yellow paperbacks; I found a blue set (neat to know the origin of those now) at a used bookstore for my older daughter; and about 10 years ago (before she was even old enough to read!) I ordered the coloured gingham set from Scholastic for my younger daughter. We love that we all have our own sets (mine are rather tattered!).

I’ll answer for my part. My experience matches Jeanine’s almost exactly. My paperbacks from childhood were yellow. When I bought them for my daughter, I had no idea how she’d treat them (or whether she’d really like them) so I bought a used blue set in a cardboard holder on eBay. This is also the set that I use for research and my own reading, much to the consternation of my daughter. (I tried to bring one of the yellow books on vacation one time and the thing started shedding pages on the plane. I haven’t tried to read from that set since!)

What say you all? Do you have separate sets for reading and research? Do you have any Sewell books? (I do not.) Which are your favorites?

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Ask the Experts: When were the Little House Books Published in Paperback?

Do you know when the first paperbacks were printed on the series of Little House books?  I found a set that says 1953 newly illustrated uniform edition printed 1953 by Harper and Row.

I can’t find anything to verify that the first ones in 1953 were paperback…. just wondering as I would love to buy them if they are from 1953 as I don’t need another set as I have one from the seventies.

Thanks for your help.

Linda

This set isn’t any (or much) older than your set from the 70s (nor do paperbacks hold much value anyway, even if they were the first paperbacks printed).

Even currently printed paperback Little House books will have the statement “newly illustrated, uniform edition printed 1953″ on them. This does not mean that the book you hold was printed in 1953, but that 1953 is when the newly illustrated uniform edition was first printed. 1953 is the year that all of the books came out in a set with new illustrations by Garth Williams. Prior to that, the books were illustrated by Helen Sewell, with Mildred Boyle for some books, and of course each book was printed in a different year.

The clue that tells me this set of paperbacks was not printed in 1953 is that they call themselves Harper & Row. I have several first edition 1953 hardback books with the Garth Williams illustrations, and these books say Harper & Brothers Company for the publisher. It was not until 1962 that Harper & Brothers became Harper & Row following a merger with another company. Since around 1990, it has been known as HarperCollins.

According to Sarah Sue:  The paperback set came out in 1971. They were published simultaneously by Harpers (Yellow set) and Readers Digest (Blue set).  Full color, full image covers were Scholastic.

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Laura or Mary? Jo or Meg?

Boston’s Rebecca Steinitz, contributor to Literary Mama, gives us a lovely essay about young readers, literary heroines, Little Women, and Laura.

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Ask the Experts: What sickness did Ma have?

Folks, we’ve been remiss in posting the questions received by our readers lately, having a tendency to respond by email and never put them up on the site for others to read. We’ll try to rectify that, so don’t be surprised if you see a number of questions put up in the next couple of weeks. :)

I was wondering if you have any idea what sickness Ma suffered, during the time they were at Burr Oak, I think it was? It is written about in the book “Old Town in the Green Groves” (which I know wasn’t written by Laura, but I know that it did include factual events). I think I also read about it somewhere else, maybe in some book which was describing the events from that time. It had been raining quite a bit, and the creek was quite high. Laura went out to call to the neighbors to get a doctor for Ma, at Pa’s request, (who forgot about the water),and was nearly washed away by the water. I can’t remember the exact details, but that is the time I am talking about. I don’t know if there’s enough information on it to know what sickness she had, or not…

~Cadie Purdy

Cadie, the situation you describe above actually occurred in Walnut Grove, before the family moved to Burr Oak. Laura writes of it in her unpublished manuscript, Pioneer Girl, and in the manuscript for On the Banks of Plum Creek, and sets the time period as being the spring of 1876. “Ma was taken desperately sick,” Laura writes, having terrible pains in her side. One morning the pains were so severe that forgetting that the creek was high, Pa told Laura to run and tell Mr. Nelson to go to town and telegraph for the nearest doctor, who was forty miles away.

Laura did as Pa said, but when she came to the creek, she was afraid to go in because the water was so high that the footbridge was out in the middle of the creek. “…But Pa had told me to go and Ma was awfully sick, so in I waded,” writes Laura. Fortunately, Mr. Nelson saw her while in only to her knees and yelled at her to go back. Laura called out her message to him, and the doctor came the next day. Pa had to bring him (and some women from town who came to help) across the creek in his boat!

The doctor diagnosed Ma with liver problems and gave her some medicine. He returned a second time, and “after awhile Ma got well” and her skin lost its yellow color.

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Trick or Treat

Be on the lookout tonight and you just might spot a little Laura Ingalls running about in your neighborhood.  Watch for the braids… the prairie dress… the sunbonnet hanging down the back… and perhaps, just perhaps, they might hold out a tin pail instead of a pumpkin for you to fill with candy.

Check in here with any Laura sightings — let’s see how many little Lauras are out there this Halloween.

lillaura

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Kara and Kate: The New Laura and Nellie

Do you ever feel like your phone lines are tapped?

The other day, Sandra and I were discussing the upcoming interview of Kara Lindsay and Kevin Massey for The Homesteader, and I commented that in all of the stories I’ve seen in the media on Little House on the Prairie: The Musical, only Melissa Gilbert gets any attention. The other actors are mentioned in passing, and the stories revolve around Melissa.

The folks at the Nashville Entertainment Examiner must have heard my lament, for today up went a great interview with Kate Loprest (Nellie) and Kara Lindsay (Laura). Read it here!

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Kevin and Kara Again In the Homesteader

Are you a Homesteader subscriber? I sure hope so! We just got confirmation that the next issue will contain a joint interview with Kevin Massey and Kara Lindsay, current stars of the Little House on the Prairie musical that’s making the rounds across the country. (Right now it’s in Nashville. Here’s where it’ll be for the rest of the run.)

Here’s how they looked opening night:

Photo by gilbertboxleitner.com

They’re in the middle, flanked by Melissa on the right and the actresses playing Carrie and Mary on the left.

The Homesteader talked to Kevin and Kara a year ago at the close of the Minneapolis run, where the musical premiered and spent several weeks. One reader said–I’ll never forget this–that reading how Kevin fell in love with “Laura” onstage every night just as he was falling in love with the real Laura as he read the books brought tears to her eyes.

In the past year, the play has been augmented and changed in ways that significantly affect Kevin and Kara’s performances. I’m excited to hear their take on it. Make sure your subscription is up to date–you don’t want to miss this.

PS: The musical’s web site now plays a medley of instrumental songs on the opening page, instead of just one. As one who likes the music a little more than the lyrics, I love this change.

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