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Letters from Joan
Letters from Joan Liffring-Zug Bourret
Publisher, Penfield Press / Penfield Books |
Praise for Slovak American Touches by Toni Brendel
Slovak American Touches by Toni Brendel
$18.95 6x9" 192 pages including 24 in full color
Our newest release ISBN: 1-932043-49-7
I thumbed through Slovak Touches. Congratulations, you did a fine job and my compliments to Toni Brendel. It is so nice to see something like this for the Slovaks - it was so needed. You have such a nice way of combining all kinds of information and homey touches and factual information into an appealing book. Bravo!
Best regards, Gail
Gail Naughton
President/CEO
National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library
30 16th Avenue SW
Cedar Rapids, IA 52404
319-362-8500
fax 319-363-2209
www.NCSML.org
Slovak American Touches
Toni Brendel, author, will feature her new title Slovak American Touches at the Phillips, Wisconsin Czech Slovak Community Festival June 2th to June 22, 2008. The Lipa Slovak Dancers of Minneapolis featured in the book will be there.Other attractions include the state kolacky contest, queen pageants, arts and crafts fair and more.
Toni notes that the Miss Czech Slovak Queen Pageant is held in August in Wilbur, Nebraska with contestants from 25 states. Two pages feature this event in Slovak American Touches.
In September, Toni, will speak about her book at the 24th World Congress of the Czech Slovak Society of Arts and Sciences in Ruzomberok, Slovakia. She will tell at Catholic University how both Slovaks in America and in Slovakia are preserving heritage.
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New for Norwegians and their fans
Norma Wangness, left, artist, and Jeanne Wright, editor, are shown with our new Nowegian Centennial Cookbook released spring 2008.
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Spring News 2008
We are pleased to offer a new book by Toni Brendel; Slovak American Touches which will be available after May 1. This 192 page book has history, recipes, folk arts. A goodly number of Slovak folk dancers in kroj authentic to the Slovak Republic are shown in full color in the 24 page color section of the 6x9" book. The recipes are those of Brendel family favorites. We offer a prepublication price of $16.95 and $18.95 after May 1. Please call our 1-800-9998 number to order toll free. We take all the major credit cards.
Our other new titles include the following Stocking Stuffers available by late spring. $7.95 each.
French Recipes $7.95 compiled by Mary Lou Hattery. Photographs for the covers are ones taken by me while on a barge trip on the river Seine north to Normandy. May Lou and other friends and their husbands were on this fabulous trip with us. The cover view of the Eiffel tower at midnight was exciting and best taken from the middle of the river. We have the Eiffel tower with the Statue of Liberty replica inside the book. France gave the Liberty Statue to America.
License to Cook Missouri Style $7.95 plus shipping by Julie Broski of Kansas City will be available in May. The book features the best of the recipes of the Show Me state including the St. Louis Arch and the Kansas City skyline and a nice quote and scene from the Truman Library in Independence.
Norwegian Centennial Recipes 1825-1925 is an edited reprint of a book released at the time of the Minnesota State Fair celebrating 100 years of Norwegian immigration to America. Norma Wangness, a gold medal winner of rosemaling competition, designed the front cover.
Her beautiful painting of a plate is on the back cover.
Barns Around: The Round Barns of Iowa $14.95 Especially for Iowa is this spring release photographed by Luella Hazeltime, edited by Deb Schense. Luella when she retired as a worker at Quaker Oats about 15 years ago, took a copy of the State Historical Society of Iowa book Without Right Angels by Lowell Soike to see the listings of round barns in Iowa. Camera in hand, Luella set out for a decade finding the barns and photographing them in color. This 6x9" book of 128 pages is in color county by county.
ISBN 1-932043-44-6
Weird Tales of Northern Seas $12.95
(Second edition) by Jonas Lie is available with a newly designed cover. This book has the folk legends of the northern coast of Norway. It was first published in the 1900s.
ISBN1-932043-41-1
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Summer 2007
Summer 2007
CATS, cats, cats! VIVIAN BUCHANS ORIGINAL CAT ASTROLOGY is the newest title from Penfield Books ($12.95). For over thirty years, Vivian Buchan has been one of the worlds leading authorities on cat astrology. The author of over 900 articles, essays, and poems, Vivian was named Poet of the Year in 2003 by the Famous Poets Society.
We first met Vivian when she was only 93 years old, busy writing amusing poems extolling the virtues of the many cats in her life. To honor Vivian, founder of the Iowa chapter of the National League of American Pen Women, Penfield has reprinted her popular 1979 volume about cat astrology. This ground-breaking work is now available in a handsomely-designed edition, featuring all-new illustrations and selected poems, along with Vivian?s beloved musings on the cat signs of the zodiac. What great fun it is for any cat lover!
The new edition is greatly enhanced by the many charming illustrations by DIANE HEUSINKVELD. Bringing her sensitive eye and her skill in observing natural subjects, Diane has produced a series of fine illustrations showing cats at work and at play, as well as beautiful zodiacal full-page drawings. Diane has illustrated Penfield Books for over fifteen years, and we think this is her best work yet. (And we are mighty proud that she is our daughter-in-law!)
Order your copy of this instant classic today by calling Penfield Books at 1-800-728-9998. We know you will enjoy this feline feast for the eyes!
Speaking of pride, we are also delighted to announce that Penfields 2006 title SWEDISH TOUCHES: RECIPES AND TRADITIONS ($14.95) has been awarded first place recognition by the Midwest Independent Publishers Association. We enjoyed traveling to St. Paul to accept the award in May, and are thrilled to have SWEDISH TOUCHES listed as an award-winning book in the 17th annual MIPA Midwest Book Awards. For a full description and ordering information, see www.penfieldbooks.com under "recent releases."
Watch for our news this fall. We will have two new titles and much more Penfield news. Enjoy a terrific summer, and remember: consult our web catalogue for gift ideas and all your summer reading interests.
Joan Liffring-Zug Bourret, publisher
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Spring 2007
The Penfield reprinting of NORWEGIAN TROLL TALES by Joanne Asala is now available. These trolls certainly found homes in quick order on American bookshelves. This title is ideal for older children and adults. One of its most popular features is a wonderful series of illustrations by Theodor Kittelsen (1857-1914), the Norwegian artist who was a master of drawing trolls. Among the first artists to depict these fanciful creatures, Kittelsen created images that are now classic of fairytale illustration, beloved by readers of all ages.
Order your copy from this reprinting of NORWEGIAN TROLL TALES today at $12.95.
Popular demand has also led Penfield to reprint PROVERBS FROM THE NORTH: WORDS OF WISDOM FROM THE VIKINGS. Translated from the Icelandic by Joanne Asala, this handsome volume contains bold illustrations of Viking artifacts that first appeared in the 1889 book called "The Viking Age."
At $10.95 retail, WORDS OF WISDOM FROM THE VIKINGS contains some surprisingly contemporary advice!
For those of you who avoid trolls and prefer to cook, Penfield has created a new stocking stuffer, TEXAS COOKOFF. Available at $6.95 retail ($10.95 postpaid), this handy book features recipes from Carol Blakely, one of America's foremost experts on southwestern cuisine. Some great classic recipes are included, drawn from Carol's Jalape?o Caf?, the hottest little recipe website on the net. TEXAS COOKOFF also contains great recipes from Penfield's 2006 title, STEWING IN TEXAS. If you haven't had a chance to read STEWING IN TEXAS ($18.95 retail), you will enjoy this hilarious tale of a cookbook copyright lawsuit in which Carol Blakely rides to the rescue!
See Penfield's home page and take a look at the new photographic web store of publisher-photographer Joan Liffring-Zug Bourret. These pages now contain "shopping carts" for easy ordering. Color prints, black-and-white and digital prints, and limited edition prints are all available. Each photograph is mounted in an archival mat and signed by the photographer. Recent work includes a series of photogram prints, all done in loving memory of Jordan Heusinkveld (1985?2003).
Thank you for your interest in Penfield Books. We welcome spring and the coming seasons with renewed enthusiasm.
Joan Liffring-Zug Bourret, publisher
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NEWS FROM PENFIELD
In Memoriam
We are saddened by the recent deaths of an author and a photographer who both created books for Penfield. Neither of these talented men is replaceable; their passing leaves a void in our hearts. We are blessed for having known them and having worked with them for many years.
BERNARD HILLILA (1918-2006) died last November. We received the following letter from his widow, Esther Hillila:
"Bernie's death leaves a huge emptiness in our lives. Nothing will fill that void, but knowing that others share our loss comforts us who grieve. Both Bernie and I enjoyed our contacts with you over the years. The 'projects' that you worked on together were fun, as in 'F!nnFun'! Bernie is at holy rest with his Saviour. Do remember us pilgrams who are yet on the journey in your prayers. With love, Esther and family."
Bernie wrote three hilarious books that are still available from Penfield.
F!NNFUN ($12.95)
written with gentle humor, and featuring an author cover photo
THE F!NN!SH LINE, MORE F!NNFUN ($12.95)
vigorous dashes of humor
THE SAUNA IS (reheated & revised; $10.95)
Bernie and Esther Hilllila's granddaughter, Maija Nelson, contributed an article for this book entitled A BRIDGE BETWEEN TWO CULTURES. With illustrations by Nancy Hillila. David Fitzsimmons, the spouse of Esther's niece, is a Tucson cartoonist who drew the clever front cover of this volume.
LOREN PAULSON (1957?2006) of Paulstad Communications, creator of beautiful Swedish and Norwegian calendars, died in January. Loren was unable to produce a 2007 Swedish calendar, but he earlier enhanced the following Penfield title with his photographs.
SWEDEN'S REGIONAL RECIPES ($14.95)
by Diane Johnson Kia, and illustrated throughout with the handsome black-and-white photographs by Loren Paulson and his father, Robert.
What's Cooking? Projects "in the oven."
Penfield is compiling LICENSE TO COOK MISSOURI STYLE, $6.95 (in the popular stocking-stuffer format) with Julie Broski of Kansas City. Julie is also working on UKRAINIAN TOUCHES, which Penfield hopes to release in 2008. Please send along any Ukrainian-American recipes, family traditions, or immigrant stories for inclusion in what we know will be a very popular title.
We are hoping to release a new stocking stuffer soon: TEXAS COOKOFF ($6.95), a collection of recipes from Carol Blakely, the author of Penfield's TALES OF TEXAS TABLES ($6.95), and one of countries leading authorities on southwestern cuisine. The recipes in this new volume will include selections from the previously published 6 x 9-inch volume entitled STEWING IN TEXAS ($18.95), as well as more discoveries from Carol, who is also working on a new compilation of Mexican recipes. These new titles should be a great hit with the fans of increasingly-popular Tex-Mex cooking.
Gifted translator Jennifer B?verstam will have a second volume of the novels by Per Anders Fogelstr?m ready for printing this year. The first volume in this series, STOCKHOLM: CITY OF MY DREAMS ($12.95), is one of the most widely read titles in Sweden, and we are proud to bring these important works by Fogelstr?m to our American readers. We hope to release the new title in the fall.
Things are simmering at Penfield!
Joan Liffring-Zug Bourret, publisher
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GREETINGS FOR THE HOLIDAYS - 2006
Dear Friends,
"Lycka till i k?ket!" This Swedish phrase (meaning "Good Luck in the Kitchen!") was provided to us by our friends at the American Swedish Institute during Penfield's recent special book signing event at the Institute in Minneapolis for our new book called "Swedish Touches". ($14.95 retail. This book is available in our Swedish "bookstore" on the web and also from Amazon.com.) Many of the purchasers of "Swedish Touches" requested an inscription in the books they purchased during the book signing, and this wish for good cooking seemed perfectly appropriate! "Swedish Touches" features the classic tried-and-true recipes that are treasured by all Swedish Americans. This new book also contains history and beautiful color images illustrating the customs, festivities, foodways, and institutions that carry on the best of Sweden's old world traditions in America.
"Swedish Touches" could not have been completed without the wonderful assistance provided by the American Swedish Institute and its fine staff. The book signing was an enjoyable way to bring the new title to the attention of visitors at the Institute. Many old friends of Penfield attended, and the afternoon was a great success. After the book signing, my husband, Dwayne Bourret, and I presented two framed works of art to the Institute for its permanent collection. One was the Dala painting sampler that was created by the late Helen Blanck, a teacher at the Institute and writer. We also presented a print by Lindsborg, Kansas, artist Birger Sandz?n. This is the first lithograph by Sandz?n to enter the Institute's collection. The Institute's Director, Bruce Karstadt, was particularly pleased by this donation. Growing up in Lindsborg, Bruce feels a special affinity for Sandz?n's work. "Swedish Touches" includes Sandz?n's work in fine color reproductions.
"Swedish Touches" makes a great gift for the Holidays! The book contains some impressive color images of Christmas at the American Swedish Institute, as well as an entire section describing the Lucia Pageant as it is celebrated around the world each year on December 13th. An essay on "Christmas Memories" by Helen Blanck is featured alongside the other holiday stories and photos. We thank Jim Richardson, Lindsborg, who is a photographer contributing to "National Geographic", for sharing his beautiful photographs of Lindsborg. And don't miss the color section dedicated to the stunning Dala painted interiors by Karen Jenson, Milan, Minnesota, one of America's most talented folk artists. Swedish Touches also contains an essay on Swedes in Canada by Mika Roinila, a professor at Bethel College in Indiana, as well as clever contributions by Anders Neumueller, editor of "Swedish Press", Vancouver, North America's only monthly Swedish magazine.
For Swedish Americans, Penfield also offers a charming book called "How to Make a Swedish Christmas" and a popular video in VHS entitled "Christmas in Sweden."
A note for the future: we will not be reprinting our "Proverb" series. The books are almost sold out, except for "Proverbs from the North: Words of Wisdom from the Vikings". We are almost out of "Scandinavian Proverbs" and "Czech Proverbs." We still have ample stock of "Swedish", "Dutch," and "German Proverbs," but we urge you to send in your orders now.
Penfield can be your secret weapon for holiday shopping. In addition to "Swedish Touches", don't forget our series of small cookbooks called "Stocking Stuffers." These popular small-format cookbooks lay flat in the kitchen, and Penfield is sure to have a stocking stuffer cookbook for your interest ? there are Danish, Dutch, German, Polish, Ukrainian, Czech, Slavic, Finnish, Norwegian, Scottish, Irish, Swedish, and Amish Mennonite titles. Penfield also offers its series of cooking from the various states, in the same stocking stuffer format, as our "License to Cook" series. You can give these popular cookbooks as "License to Cook from Arizona, Alaska, New Mexico, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Oregon, Texas" and the "California Wineries." Stock up on these little books, and your Christmas shopping will be almost finished!
For the important children in your life, order your Jan Brett titles from Penfield. This amazing storyteller and illustrator's work continues to be among the most popular in the world, and Penfield has several Jan Brett titles of the season, including "Who's That Knocking on Christmas Eve?" "Wild Christmas Reindeer," "The Night Before Christmas," "The Twelve Days of Christmas," "Christmas Trolls" and "Jan Brett's Christmas Treasury." Penfield also stocks the popular Jan Brett's "board" books ? those wonderful beginning story books for readers under age 5. "Gingerbread Baby" is one of the best! This year, let Penfield be your Jan Brett shopping center.
We also offer a nostalgic video, "Christmas in Norway," in both DVD and VHS formats. For these and all Penfield titles now available, please take a look at our web store and consult our website at www.penfieldbooks.com. We appreciate your purchases throughout the year, and offer you special best wishes for happy holidays!
Joan Liffring-Zug Bourret, publisher
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September 2006
Dear Friends,
A new season brings an exciting new book to the Penfield list!? All summer long, we have been hard at work on the revised edition of our 1983 title, "Superbly Swedish: Recipes and Traditions."? What began as a revision has become a totally new view of Swedes in America, with new text, many new illustrations, and 32 pages of handsome new color photographs.
We know this book, called "Swedish Touches: Recipes and Traditions," will be popular all around the country.? Unique to this new volume are color reproductions by famous Swedish artists, and popular American artists of Swedish descent.? Revisit your favorites like Carl Larsson, Anders Zorn, and Carl Milles; and learn more about the beauty of works by John F. Carlson, Birger Sandz?n, Paul Granlund, and others.? Famous Swedes, prominent Swedish Americans, sites of historic interest in America, and important Swedish-American institutions are also featured.
?A special section covers the Swedish folk arts, especially Dala painting, as revived in America.?New color images feature Dala painted domestic interiors by Karen Elizabeth Jenson, noted folk artist from Milan, Minnesota.? Delightful festivals at Lindsborg, Kansas; Bishop Hill, Illinois; and The American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis are also highlighted.
"Swedish Touches" includes the classic Swedish-American recipes from the 1983 edition, a collection of recipes that is just too good (and too popular!) to abandon.?The volume is at the printers now, and will be available for $14.95 in mid-October.? Please order now; we want you to have your book(s) in time for the holidays. "Swedish Touches" includes a wonderful section on Swedish Christmas, with Lucia pageants and Christmas memoirs, all highlighted in an expanded color photo section.?This is a volume that will make a fine Christmas (or Lucia Day) gift!
Penfield goes on the road in late October to bring this book to you with book signings and special presentations. See us on Saturday, October 28th, from 2 to 4 p.m., at Vanberia Gifts in downtown Decorah, Iowa; and on Sunday, October 29th, from 2 to 4 p.m., at The American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis.? We w?ll be delighted to visit with you about Swedes, Swedish-Americans, independent book publishing, and about all our Penfield titles.?"Swedish Touches" is just the latest in Penfield?s ?Touches? series, joining previously published titles for Czech & Slovak, Finnish, and Norwegian Touches.? We are also planning a new volume on "Danish Touches." Penfield is proud that, for over 27 years, we have offered titles on ethnic America, ranging from Dutch and Norwegian to Polish and Ukrainian, and with many other ethnic titles of interest.? For a full list, see www.penfieldbooks.com and visit our online webstore.
?"Dutch Syle Recipes", issued earlier this year, has been very well received, with orders coming to us from California to Texas to Maine.?This small format book contains all the best Dutch-American recipes on record, bound between beautiful color covers with new photos from Oregon, Washington state, and Iowa.?It makes a great stocking-stuffer for Christmas at $6.95 each.
Always remember, Penfield gives generous discounts for wholesale purchases. All Penfield books are available for retail, museum, and other stores. Thank you again for your orders, both direct to our Penfield companies, or through amazon.com.?Your interest in our titles continues to maintain this independent publisher, no small accomplishment in these days of mega-merchandisers.? We always love to hear from you,?and we try our best to be responsive to your suggestions and ideas.
Thanks again, and please include Penfield in your holiday planning!
Joan Liffring-Zug Bourret, publisher
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March 2006
Dear Friends,
Thank you for your orders, both direct to our Penfield companies, or through Amazon.com. Penfield is proud to be entering its 27th year, continuing our commitment to publishing the best of ethnic titles. We pride ourselves on originating new materials, and on keeping our titles in print for as long as they are being sought. We are pleased at the popularity of many of our titles, and we try to be responsive to your suggestions, contributions, and ideas.
Stewing in Texas
Exciting Penfield news for 2006 includes the release of a new title, Stewing in Texas: Recipes Sizzling in Texas History, a Cookbook War, and More. This 128-page volume tells the fascinating and often hilarious account of what happens when we were sued in Texas on the copyrightability of recipes. Follow the story of the pending lawsuit through the eyes of this publisher and the words of one extraordinary Texas district court judge for both dramatic reading and hearty laughter.
This is not only the suspenseful tale of a cookbook caper, but a great source for the best historic recipes for classic Texas cooking. Read how Texas cookbook expert Carol Blakely rode to the rescue with decades of knowledge of Texas recipes, and how this publisher was aided by a cast of friends, lawyers, and lawyers who are friends! This unusual book is now available at $18.95, and is of interest to anyone who ever entered a courtroom or consumed a bowl of chili.
Ukrainians
Because so many people want Ukrainian recipes, we have decided to compile a larger format book, titled Ukrainian Touches. We hope this will be available for release in late 2007, or earlier if possible. We need Ukrainian recipes, and we need to correspond with Ukrainian institutions in America. If you have contributions or suggestions, please call or write us anytime at penfield@penfieldbooks.com.
 David and Jeanne Wright
We are blessed to have the new freelance services of Jeanne and David Wright of Decorah, Iowa, as associate editors at Penfield. Both Jeannie and David are Iowans, but they spent over 25 years in New York City, where they were associated with the Morgan Library. They bring us experience in marketing, editing, and writing -- and they will be helping with the Ukrainian book and many other projects. We also hope to compile new small books (in our stocking-stuffer format) for Icelandic and Hungarian recipes. Please contact us if you have information or recipes for those cultures.
Out of my deep grief for the loss of our grandson and researcher, Jordan Heusinkveld (read my last letter, 2003, just below this one), I have not written a new letter for three years for our website. Jordan was killed in a car accident at age 19. Always our sadness will remain. Jordan would want us to continue and not be burdened with overwhelming grief; we are carrying on to the best of our abilities.
In the last three years, we have released new versions of Time-Honored Norwegian Recipes ($6.95), Sweden's Regional Recipes ($14.95), and Norwegian Troll Tales ($12.95). These have been well received, and continue to be very popular.
A brand new stocking stuffer, Dutch Style Recipes, is now available. This little volume incorporates some of the best contents of earlier Penfield Dutch-American books, and includes some of our favorite Dutch recipes of all time. The new title is enhanced by its beautiful new covers, showing tulips in Oregon and Washington State, as well as a fine picture of a costumed girl named Kaeleigh DeWaard of Pella, Iowa. For a glimpse of these spectacular cover photographs, see the "new books" section of our web page. You can order it today for $6.95, plus shipping and handling. And remember, there are always discounts when you order extra copies for family or friends. A great gift for tulip time or Dutch-American Heritage Day!
Watch for these and other new titles throughout 2006 and 2007. And thank you again for helping make Penfield one of the best resources for the books that connect you to your history and heritage.
Joan Liffring-Zug Bourret, publisher
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* Remembering Our Jordan *
My 18-year-old grandson died at 4:30 p.m., Friday, August 29, 2003, two hours after leaving the Penfield office. Jordan Hans Heusinkveld was driving his new car one mile from his home in the Amana Colonies of Iowa. A young woman driving a pick-up truck passing another car swerved into Jordan's car, which he aimed at the shoulder to get out of her way.
Jordan died on impact. His passenger, his father, my son, David Heusinkveld, was saved by a passer-by who applied a tourniquet to David's severed artery to his left wrist. David was taken by helicopter to emergency at the University of Iowa Hospitals. His shattered arm should recover after additional surgeries.
Jordan took several graphic design classes at Kirkwood Community College so he could scan photographs for our publications. He beautifully handled nearly all the black and white photographs for the new book The Amana People: The History of a Religious Community by Peter Hoehnle, released last spring. Jordan assisted with many other books and projects, including this catalog.
Without protest, he always did whatever was asked of him with grace during his entire life. He was admired and loved by his co-editors for his diligence, wonderful manners, and sense of humor.
Without complaint Jordan dealt with Type I Diabetes, which he had from age 12. Memorials are to First Responders and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
Hundreds of people attended the visitation and his funeral in the historic Amana Church of the Community of True Inspiration, a 17th-century off-shoot of the Lutheran Church. His German-speaking ancestors first came to America for religious freedom in 1844 to near Buffalo, New York, moving to Iowa in 1854. In 2004 this religious sect celebrates its 300th anniversary.
Buried on his 19th birthday, Jordan rests in the simple Amana cemetery ringed by pine trees where members of this religious community are buried in their order of death, designated with simple white markers.
Joan Liffring-Zug Bourret
Postscript
David B. Heusinkveld, Amana, March 2006, "The Des Moines Register," letters to the editor:
"When Amana's sexton, Brian Hollrah, mentioned how it's harder to make some tombstones than others, he was alluding to the death of my son, Jordan Hans Heusinkveld. Besides dying in a car crash on his mother's birthday, Jordan was buried in the Amana cemetery on what would have been his 19th birthday. The 19-year-old girl who hit us head-on was fined $37 for unsafe passing, plus court costs."
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Happy New Year 2001!
Dear Friends and Family,
This is a long delayed letter to many of you. The year 2000 entered and fled. During this year, I finally published a book of the best of my Amana photographs plus produced an exhibition of 54 of the images, some very large. The photography show, The Amanas: A Photographic Journey 1959-1999, which after a summer showing at the Amana Museum and at the Arts Guild in the Colonies, will be at the University of Iowa Hospital's Project Art this spring and later at the Senior Center in Iowa City from August to October 2001. Another photography exhibition is A Walk in the Woods, images of Pike's Peak State Park behind our second home in McGregor, Iowa on the Mississippi River, 110 miles from Iowa City.
There are also other country scenes from my past work now printed in large digital format so, at age 72, I am displaying color images from decades ago due to the new archival quality of color printing which will last 75 years non-fade.
The State Historical Society of Iowa opened a new exhibition of Our Favorite Things from the 20th Century at their Museum in Des Moines using a great many of the photographs I donated to them when they accepted more than 500,000 negatives comprising my work, beginning in 1944. Additional photographs are in a catalog of the show. Due to weather, we missed the cancelled opening, and we have yet to see the exhibition which will last five to seven years at the State Historical Society Museum in Des Moines. Mary Bennett, archivist, said that about 80 percent of the photographs displayed are mine. The photographs include my own son Artie and friends, the John Huey children and their mother Margaret, and many others. The people are not identified. Mary Bennett and the SHSI exhibition staff selected the photographs. One photo is of my sons with Prof. Harry Oster at the Jones County Fair in 1965. The SHSI publications? editors repeatedly find images of use from my collection in their publications.
We continue to supply our books and those from other publishers for many ethnic musems including the National Czech and Slovak Museum and the planned African-American Museum in Cedar Rapids. We are pleased to release titles by the great Swedish writer, Selma Lagerlöf, who won a Nobel Price in 1908. Our Penfield Press web site has had over 275,000 hits in the past year, and our great challenge is to see how many of those people will buy books from us in 2001 using a credit card in our secure site. Type in our name, Penfield Press, and a search engine will land you in our web site. Dwayne?s daughter Melinda, one of our editors, typed in her last name, Bradnan, and came out at the top of all 2,000 entries under Bradnan in the Penfield Press site. Obviously if you prefer privacy, don't get listed as a Penfield Press editor.
Soon to be released is Joanne Asala?s Finnish-American Folklore: The Legend of St. Urho. Her Polish Folklore with Wycinanki by Alice
Wadowski-Bak, the distinguished crafts artist, will be released in
mid-year, 2001.
In July, we drove to Toronto for a Finnish celebration; took a cover photo for a book, and met a great many delightful Finnish-Americans and Finnish-Canadians. I was on a panel about publishing Finnish-American titles which we do for the love of the books involved and because we believe in the books we publish. Except for a couple titles which were commissioned, we publish only books we ourselves initiate.
One exception is A HOLE IN MY VISION: AN ARTIST'S VIEW OF HIS OWN MACULAR DEGENERATION by Lee Allen, former student of Grant Wood. We were commissioned by the University of Iowa Department of Ophthalmology to produce this meticulous 120 page title. We feel this book is a contribution to understanding of this affliction primarily among older people in industrial nations. We met some talented and dedicated doctors, including Tom Weingeist and H. Stanley Thompson. Another title, also commissioned is Stockholm Series 1: City of My Dreams, brilliantly translated by Jennifer Brown Böverstam, released summer 2000.
Dwayne and I flew to Norway in September with Vesterheim's
(Norwegian-American Museum) tour of architecture. We had a wonderful time for ten days but a terrible trip home taking over 25 hours, three of themon a runway in Amsterdam. Dwayne and I are both of Norwegian descent. Marilyn Skaugstad and her husband were on the trip too. Marilyn posed for the cover of Notably Norwegian: Recipes and Traditions, one of our first books by Louise Roalson published almost 19 years ago, We leave in February for Florida and a week of island hopping with Don and Mary Lou Hattery, our Cedar Rapids-McGregor friends. We depart as soon as we get off the press the book about grasshoppers and the Finnish Saint Urho who drove those hoppers out of old Finland to save the grape crop. Diane Heusinkveld, our daughter-in-law, has some great images of the hoppers. St. Urho's Day is March 16, one day before good ole' Saint Pat. And, there were no grapes and no hoppers in Finland.
We are working with Pat Martin on her book about Prague Saints of the Charles Bridge, using photos from our trip there with her in 1997. We still do a few cookbooks, now mainly with the Guild of the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library such as Quality Dumpling Recipes and the upcoming Quality Czech Kolache Recipes due out in fall. We published Quality Czech Mushroom Recipes a year ago. We are working on a revision of Intriguing Italian Recipes which becomes License To Cook Italian Style to cover the Sonoma County wineries. With Cousins Larry and Shelly Carroll of Alaska, we are producing License To Cook Alaska Style. All this is with the fine editing of Dorothy Crum, Melinda Bradnan, and Miriam Canter; office management from John Johnson and Connie Schnoebelen; art work by Diane Heusinkveld, graphic design by Molly Cook; shipping manager Maybelle Mays with assistants Annie Kloubec and Mary Helen Miller. Edna Yoder who helped us with our home and office for almost 20 years moved to Kentucky and Florida.
We are delighted with the progress of our grandchildren. Holly Flame Heusinkveld spends several nights a week with us. She is a sophomore at the University of Iowa and her brother, Ahren, attends Kirkwood Community College. Holly is the third generation to attend Iowa. Grandsons Jordan and Forrest, sons of Carol and David, live in the Amana Colonies where Joan and Dwayne are Opa and Oma, and they are all doing great.
Our love to you and your families and our best wishes for the coming year,
Joan and Dwayne
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June 1999
Dear Friends,
We have enjoyed messages from our site for orders, catalogs, queries from authors. We have been busy editing the new book German Regional Regional Recipes ($14.95) by Helga Hughes, which should go to press mid-July. Next is the release of Grant Wood and Little Sister Nan ($14.95), by Julie Jensen McDonald,about the artist who painted the world-famous American Gothic, and his model. When Nan said she would like to be an artist too, she was told to learn to type and that one artist per family was enough. Nan graduated from business college in the 1920s. Her life with her husband, Edward, is a tobacco road story of Midwesterners to California. When Grant died, she inherited enough money to live graciously from 1942 until her death in the early 1990s. Nan's face and that of the family dentist, Dr. Byron McKeeby, the man with the pitchfork, have been parodied thousands of times. Nan served as an archivist for Grant Wood for the decade before his death and for the rest of her life making 18 scrapbooks.
After these books go to press, I will concentrate on compiling the photographs I have taken for over 40 years of the Amana Colonies of Iowa for a book and an exhibition: Photo Journey to Amana. The exhibit will have both black and white and archival digital color prints.
I am also working on another book which will be a compilation of my nature and scenic shots of Iowa.
Best wishes from all of us at Penfield Press for a great summer in 1999.
Joan Liffring-Zug Bourret
Photographer and publisher
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Happy New Year, 1999! Goodbye 1998!
One more year celebrating the 20th anniversary of the founding of Penfield Press, and we will face the unknowns of the 21st century. Who would have thought we could reach the hundreds of people each month who find our web site world-wide? A friend of our daughter, Josie Bourret Heskje, suggested it would enhance Letters from Joan to see what in the world Joan looks like. Here is a sampler of recent images of Joan Liffring-Zug Bourret, publisher of Penfield Press, which was founded in 1979.
Joan and the Pink Elephant at Marquette, Iowa early 1990s, taken by her late husband John Zug, while Joan was collecting photographs and information for the book Joyful Nordic Humor, featuring Scandinavians ($12.95). Later this elephant was painted to look like a Holstein cow and Joan?s husband Dwayne Bourret photographed her with the "elephant cow." We will share that image next month. We thought the photograph hilarious, but none of the press picked up on using it. Please let us know what you think of Joan?s Land?s End suit to match the pink elephant. She purchased the outfit with three separate orders: blouse, jacket and then skirt before realizing she wanted to wear them for this photograph.
Joan holding a few books as she applies to attend a publisher?s seminar at Stanford University in 1995, after the death of her husband John, a writer and editor.
Joan and her husband Dwayne Bourret following their marriage June 26, 1996 at the campus Lutheran Chapel in Iowa City, Iowa. Since then Joan and Dwayne have visited the Czech and Slovak Republics, taking photographs for a 1999 spring release, Czech and Slovak Touches; Arizona for the new stocking stuffer License To Cook Arizona Style, compiled by Dianna Stevens; and Alaska for License To Cook Alaskan Style. They helped promote the Penfield Press release for Caribbean Innocents, by Patricia Fischer by visiting the island of Bequia in February 1998.
Look for information about ordering digitally printed photographs from our books, postcards, and notepaper with original prints of the Czech Republic and of the Grenadines soon on this web site. We hope everyone has a wonderful year closing down the 20th century.
Joan and Dwayne
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Fall 1998
Dear Friends,
With backpacks and one roll-on piece of luggage, my husband Dwayne and I flew to Juneau, Alaska, to explore America?s largest state. Others we know have taken the cruise tour, but we decided we could see more of Alaska in two weeks if we went by plane, train, rental car, and the Alaskan Maritime Highway System ferry.
We felt like we were in our 40s when we left last August. We came home knowing we were facing our 70s in 1999! Early morning train, plane and boat dates effected a delayed fatigue.
But it was all worth it to see the seals, the whales, Denali Park (where we hit a grand slam?seeing 2 kinds of bears, caribou, moose, and nursery strings of sheep high on mountain sides), glaciers, the historic Skagway site of the Yukon gold rush 100 years ago, and our cousin, originally from Minnesota, who raises and races sled dogs. Headquartered at Willow, Cousin Larry Carroll?s dogs are 28 of the 3,000 dogs living in the foothills above Palmer, where there is more snow. Dog sledding is the main sport of Alaska?s 600,000 residents.
Larry left Bigfork, Minnesota, my hometown, three years ago with a few dogs. The second year in Alaska he came in 12th in the Yukon Quest Race, which some authorities think is more difficult than the Iditarod. There were dogs everywhere in the yard of the log home, which he built himself. There were: dogs on top of doghouses, dogs lying on the ground, dogs twirling and tugging on chains, dogs in their houses, and 9 puppies yipping to get into the world of action.
Larry, wife Shelly and two-year-old Jimmy were joined by son Samuel six days before our arrival. Samuel is named after our grandfather, Samuel Louis Lang, who was named for his late Uncle Sven Gunderson, a Norwegian immigrant, who died at Andersonville during the Civil War. Sven, the oldest son, wrote to his Norwegian widower father and siblings in Norway urging them to come to America, noting that Decorah, Iowa was wonderful. It was after the Gundersons arrived that they found Sven had died in the war to free the slaves.
Grandfather Samuel, a first generation American, talked of the excitement of Alaska and the Yukon and the beauty of the stars. It has taken over a century for Samuel Lang?s descendants to reach Alaska. He would be pleased to know that they have enjoyed the spectacular beauty and displays of the northern lights, and that his great-grandson is now in Alaska hunting caribou, fishing for halibut and salmon, and racing the dogs.
Shelly and Larry are helping us compile a new stocking stuffer cookbook-travel book of sites entitled License to Cook Alaska Style, which we hope to release next spring. David Totten, wildlife artist and friend down the road from Shelly and Larry, is providing some of the illustrations.
We are interested in recipes using wild game and native foods of Alaska. If you have recipes or thoughts you would like to share, send them to us through this web site or by mail to Penfield Press, 215 Brown Street, Iowa City, Iowa 52245.
Another letter will tell more about how we explored Alaska on our own-off the beaten path.
We are working too on License to Cook Arizona Style, compiled by Dianna Stevens, Penfield Press author of a similar Texas title.
Release date: spring 1999.
Melinda Bradnan is compiling with the guild of the new Czech and Slovak National Museum and Library in Cedar Rapids, Iowa,a mushroom cookbook. We will release alsoin spring a beautiful book Czech & Slovak Touches: Recipes and Traditions, a revision of The Czech Book. This title will have travel essays by Pat Martin.
If you have suggestions for any of these titles, please let us hear from you.
My husband Dwayne joins me in wishing you happy holidays and great turkey.
Joan
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July 1998
Penfield Press will celebrate twenty years of publishing soon 1979-1999.
Each year nearer the millennium gives pause for reflection.
My late husband John Zug, a retired newspaper editor and publisher, and I, a photographer/journalist, named Penfield Press after my grandmother, Eva Adora Penfield Lang, whose legacy as a pioneer and teacher instilled a family love for recording events, reading books and building home libraries. In 1878, at the age of five, she journeyed by covered wagon from Wichita, Kansas to Bellingham, Washington. Her Civil War Veteran father had flipped a coin- heads to go, tails to stay-heads won out, and they went on virtually the last wagon train west. She told of being terrified all the way by stories of skirmishes and the news that Custer had recently suffered defeat in his last stand against Native Americans. Today, her great-grandchildren are variously descended from immigrant Swedes, Norwegians, Scots, Brits, and a trace of Black American and Native American ancestry.
In her 80s, Eva left California retirement to arrive by jet to my home in Iowa. From covered wagon to jet, ahead of her time, she graduated from San Jose College and taught school on Whidbey Island, Washington, where she had to walk on a big log to cross a creek and ravine to get to the school. Her devotion to teaching and learning has been a family tradition for over 100 years.
My great-great-grandfather was a printer for Harper & Row in New York City for a year. A Scotsman, he brought his family to America by ship in the 1850s. One of their children died during this voyage, so when they reached Ellis Island, heartsick, they could not make the trip to their farmland in Iowa. They stayed a year in New York. Some 150 years later, we, through Penfield Press, packaged two ethnic titles about Polish Americans and Italian Americans for HarperCollins in New York. Our Penfield Press titles Polish Touches: Recipes and traditions and Intriguing Italian Recipes are spin-offs of that assignment.
In these almost 20 years, we have found great pleasure in meeting people eager to share and celebrate their heritage. As we developed books about immigrant Americans who came from Poland, the Czech and Slovak Republics, Finland, Germany, Italy, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Iceland, our lives were enriched by learning more about the sacrifices and struggles many endured in building America, and how their descendants lovingly continue many traditions of their ethnic heritage.
My husband Dwayne and I share Norwegian heritage, and we have a little grandson who has a T-shirt that boasts "Made with Norwegian Parts." The Scandinavians seem to be able to laugh at themselves and share that humor, which we have reflected in our title Joyful Nordic Humor.
We are leaving July 31 for Seattle. From there we will visit Bellingham to see where Eva Penfield lived. Then on August 7, we fly to Alaska to photograph, see book customers, and tour by plane, train and boat. It has taken me fifty years to get there. I had planned to go with a friend in the summer of 1948, but got married, instead, to my first husband, Arthur Heusinkveld, and worked as a photographer for the Cedar Rapids Gazette. A child of the Depression, I was thrilled when I was offered a job for that summer.
Dwayne, age 68, and Joan, 69, are traveling with backpacks, camera bag, and one small roll-on suitcase. Talk about light! Dwayne has four changes of clothing and I have accused him of being "excessive" since I have only three. He tells me to add perfume!
We will produce some articles about the experience of seeing Alaska without the plan of a regular cruise or tour. An octogenarian friend took the pricey cruise last fall, and said that almost everyone he met was in a wheelchair, so he recommended this only if you're rich enough and can't walk.
WE ARE GOING WHILE WE CAN STILL MOVE IT!
In the meantime, please call our office: 1-800-728-9998, if you need books. John Johnson, Maybelle Mays, Connie Schnoebelen, or Dorothy Crum will be of help. Please, note the Sale Books page being developed at this site. Walt Meyer will keep you posted of bargains as they become available and new specials each month.
Have fun, we?ll be back August 21, dead tired after an all night flight from Anchorage to Chicago.
Joan
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