April's Books

Rose Wilder Lane was the only child of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her husband Almanzo. Wilder, of course, is the hugely successful author of the “Little House” books, which spawned a long running television series.  Born in DeSmet, South Dakota, Rose grew up in Missouri and had a successful career as a writer. Although Rose had a rocky relationship with her mother, she wanted to write a book based on her mother’s stories—“Pioneer Girl”—but never published it, although she used bits and pieces in other stories and books.

Rose never talked about her role in rewriting and editing the manuscript that would become the “Little House” series..Was Rose resentful of her mother’s success? Rose was divorced and  had no heirs, although she supported several boys and paid for their schooling, and referred to them as her “adopted” sons. She befriended young Roger Lea MacBride, who became the  1976 Libertarian Party presidential candidate. Rose w as a  supporter Libertarian ideas, such as no taxes and eliminating social welfare programs.

Laura had left the royalties to Rose for her lifetime, and then  royalties were to go to a small Missouri library. The library had to sue MacBride for a share of the estate.

The book used much primary source material from the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library. A fascinating look into the story of how the “Little House” books came to be.

 

Libertarians on the Prairie: Laura Ingalls Wilder, Rose Wilder Lake and the making of the Little House books by Christine Woodside
Give the Devil His Due by Steve Hockensmith with Lisa Falco
Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly by Adrian McKinty
The Gone Dead Train by Lisa Turner
Seized by Elizabeth Heiter
Pioneer Girl: the annotated autobiography by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Pamela Smith Hill (editor)
The Makerspace Librarian's Handbook by Ellyssa Kroski (editor)