Years ago, Steve Hannah's chance detour through the Midwest cut short a planned cross-country trip. He found himself in Wisconsin, a distinctly different place from the east coast where he was born and raised. Charmingly beautiful and full of welcoming people, America's dairyland would soon become his home. Dairylandia recounts Steve Hannah's burgeoning love for his adopted state through the writings of his long-lived column, "State of Mind." He profiles the lives of the seemingly ordinary, yet quite (and quietly) extraordinary folks he met and befriended on his travels. From Norwegian farmers to rattlesnake hunters to a woman who kept her favorite dead bird in the freezer, Hannah was charmed and fascinated by practically everyone he met. These captivating vignettes are by turns humorous, tragic, and remarkable-and remind us of our shared humanity.
Steve Hannah is a former managing editor of the Milwaukee Journal and was a longtime CEO of The Onion.
Foreword by Michael Perry xi Preface xiii Introduction: From the Garden State to the Garden of Eden 3 Part 1: The Accidental Agriculturalist 16 Of Poetry and Planting: Farmers in Springtime 19 The Farm That Love Built: Helen and Paul Lute 23 I'd Know That Face Anywhere: Cliff and Shelly Keepers 29 I've Always Been Lucky: The Ballad of Herman Tronrud 35 My Apologies, Mr. President: Wherein Our Hero Fails to Outsmart Jerry Ford 41 The World by the Tail with a Downhill Pull: Katie and Erhardt Schultz 47 Part 2: Ageless 62 Try Not to Be Boring: Emma Washa 65 Love Is Still Love, Even When It's Frozen: Edna Koenig 73 Beautiful Ballerinas, Heavenly Holsteins: The Life and Loves of Schomer Lichtner 79 Larger Than Life, Suddenly Small: Eric Lloyd Wright 85 Part 3: The Dark Side of Paradise 92 Tragedy without Reason: The Eerie Calm of John Norton 97 The Pain of Never Knowing: Mary Wegner 105 Living with the "Enemy": Bill Fero 113 The Truth Will Out: The Short, Unhappy Life of Emmanuel Dannan 118 The Banality of Evil: Jerry Boyle and the Defense of Jeffrey Dahmer 124 Part 4: Not Quite Plumb 136 "I'm So Happy It's Just Terrible!": Woodrow Wilson Roberts 139 The Frogman Cometh: Art Gering and the Astounding Amphibian Invasion 145 Big Brats, Tiny Trophies: Dennis Leffin and the Wondrous White Sausage 150 Dignity in Motion: Jim Herther and the World's Greatest Car Wash 155 Nearly Naked, Seeking Snow: In Wisconsin, That's Amore 160 Farewell, My Doboy: Kissing Alex P. Dobish Good-Bye 164 Part 5: Animals? Yes!! People? Not So Much. 172 The Elephant in the Room 175 Bo Knows 180 Oh, Deer: The Anna Mae Bauer Story 183 Part 6: Your Lucky Day 190 Poems from the Edge: Ellen Kort 193 Short in Stature, Long on Courage: Joe Bee Xiong 199 Making Beautiful Music: Steve O'Donnell 205 A Naturalist's Journey: Ken Lange 210 Running for Help: Sue Birschbach and Barb Klinner 216 You Can' t Tattoo a Soap Bubble: Evelyn Ann Fefer 223 The Road to Redemption: Ed Thompson 229 A Million Miles to Go: Don and Cathryn Tredinnick 235 Postscript 243 Acknowledgments 245
"A marvelous book by a longtime Wisconsin journalist who writes with insight, humor, and compassion about the state and its residents."--Doug Moe "Hannah has woven together an honest and humorous self-portrait and a fascinating collection of stories about an array of Wisconsinites. It's clear that a deep love for Wisconsin's people and its landscapes runs through these stories."--Lynne Diebel, author of Crossing the Driftless "While his four decades of residence [in the Midwest] are manifested in his writing through veracity of voice, tone, and fact, it is [Steve Hannah's] status as perpetual 'newcomer' . . . that infuses these tales with a palpable sense of discovery, marvel, and wonder."--from the foreword by Michael Perry, author of Population 485
