Little House Love

We all have those books that forever ring true in our lives. Steve has long loved the Little House on the Prairie series, as a child and still, perhaps more, as an adult.

Before visiting Tolkien's Middle-Earth and William Gibson's cyberspace, I traveled across the American frontier with Laura, Pa and the rest of the Ingalls family. Like the realms of fantasy and science fiction to come, reading about Laura's world was a completely different, fascinating and new experience of the imagination. Not only was I immersed in the lives of these pioneers but I felt like a cherished member of the Ingalls family as well. Every time I finish the final book, I feel as if I am saying good-bye to very dear friends, at least until the next time I read it. -Steve

This Thursday, Third Place welcomes one author whose love for Little House arguably rivals that of our very own Steve.  At 7:00PM, Wendy McClure will present her new book, The Wilder Life : My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie

For anyone who has ever wanted to step into the world of a favorite book, here is a pioneer pilgrimage, a tribute to Laura Ingalls Wilder, and a hilarious account of butter-churning obsession.

Wendy McClure is on a quest to find the world of beloved Little House on the Prairie author Laura Ingalls Wilder-a fantastic realm of fiction, history, and places she's never been to, yet somehow knows by heart. She retraces the pioneer journey of the Ingalls family- looking for the Big Woods among the medium trees in Wisconsin, wading in Plum Creek, and enduring a prairie hailstorm in South Dakota. She immerses herself in all things Little House, and explores the story from fact to fiction, and from the TV shows to the annual summer pageants in Laura's hometown.

Whether she's churning butter in her apartment or sitting in a replica log cabin, McClure is always in pursuit of "the Laura experience." Along the way she comes to understand how Wilder's life and work have shaped our ideas about childhood and the American West.

Join us tomorrow for what is sure to be a delightful evening. I know Steve will be there!