BRANDON WISCONSIN R.R.-2 ZIP-53919
As I sit down to my trusty typewriter, rain is falling with
increasing impetus upon our waiting earth. One feels the promise in
it, for it is a living thing.
In our back yard, my husband’s big Minny, still awaits her
first surge of steam to set her steel-spoked wheels turning in
eager response to the pressure of steam in the boiler. Only then
can she come alive. The morning is dark and dreary, but I tell
myself, ‘This too will pass.’
On the Sunday past we had a visiting minister in our church who
preached quite convincingly on the signs of hope in our days of
turmoil. I knew as he spoke that he would, awaken in me some
thoughts to put on paper. He was a man who could say more in ten
minutes than some men say in an hour. And isn’t it the quality
of words rather than the quantity which we are seeking? Certainly
we all know some individual who talks, and talks, and talks, and
never says anything worthwhile.
And even more familiar to us, at this time, are the peddlers of
filth, through words, which fill our library shelves. I read one
such book recently, not because I wanted to, but because it was
being ‘raised to the skies’ through a slick job of
promotion, both as a book and a movie. As a writer, I felt I must
read it to talk about it with some intelligence. No lady ever
talked to her lover like that lady did. No one I would call a lady.
And yet she was the prominent character in the book.
I finished with that mess as I was comfortably curled up in my
bed. I laid it beside me, wondering if I was fit to pray. But I
couldn’t stand it there. I got to my feet, sleepily, and
shuffled it and myself out to the kitchen door, where I could
return it to my neighbor next morning, EARLY! Then I slept!
Now let me tell you about one lady (who is a lady) and what she
is planning to do about some of the material which isn’t spicy
enough for some of our readers. She contends people are not getting
what they would like to read. So she is starting her own publishing
house after years of being a literary agent. If all goes as planned
she will publish a volume of my poetry for the Christmas trade. She
is working on it now.
But her first two books will be coming out in July, and I would
be so happy if many orders for them would come from you faithful
readers. You know, we all have to fight this trend toward dirtier
and dirtier books. If you need a gift for someone you love, why not
make it a good book? Ask your local library to get books from this
publishing house. Take it up with your book store. We have every
right to promote something good to counteract all the ruination of
morals we see around us. Get them into your school libraries, your
church libraries. She can’t do this thing alone. Get that old
steam engine that is you, steamed up for summer. The public gets
what it wants, and you are a part of that public. As well as I know
there are over 8,000 readers of this magazine. THINK WHAT YOU COULD
DO!
Remember the Days by Kenneth Sollitt is one of the
books. It is a story of a family with pioneering courage and
perseverance, and unwavering faith in themselves and God. It is a
book to lift the reader’s spirits and make him glad to be an
American; to define for young readers the qualities of fortitude
and personal integrity and endeavor on which our country was
founded.
The author is a Protestant minister, now serving Christianity in
a church in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His feet are firmly planted in
grass roots American soil, having grown up in Iowa, and served for
twenty years in a small Michigan church, helping it to expand with
the town and the country.
Dr. Sollitt and I were good friends before we ever knew that our
work was going to be picked by the same publisher. How wonderfully
God works!
The other book which will come out in July, the first, to be
exact, will be The Hired Men of Laureldale and is written
by Hazel Andrews of the New England states. There she lectures, and
writes for some of the local and farm publications. She writes of
hired men of all ages and nationalities who came and went from
their New England Farm. Some of these men have left a heritage of
devotion to their work, and as they lived with the family have
often become treasured friends. I am looking forward to reading
both of these books.
Somehow, I feel these are books for our Steam Engine Family. I
also want to pass on to you this note the editor sent me. This is
what she has to say . . .
Douglas-West Publishers is a California-based company, dedicated
to the publication of books for readers with homes and families,
and high standards of decency and responsibility which make up the
solid mainstream of the country. Its founders grew up in
‘grass-roots’ America Indiana, Kansas, and Oregon. They
believe that these readers have been short-changed by too many
publishers for the past decade. They also believe that such readers
are fed up with sensationalism and pornography, and perhaps are now
angry enough to welcome a publishing company with ideals and
standards of quality, and the determination to do something about
them. (unquote.)
So here it is right in your lap. The address is:Douglas-West
Inc. Publishers 1775 N. Orange Drive Los Angeles, California
90028
Remember the Days $6.95
The Hired Man $5.95
Flyers are available for promoting these books. Write for
them.
Thank you for your concern for the state of my health. After two
days in the hospital, and plenty of rest, I am ‘fit as a
fiddle’ again, and so thankful.
