Once upon a time, sixty years ago (now nearly 150 years ago), a little girl lived in the Big Woods of Wisconsin, in a little gray house made of logs. With that opening scene, Laura Ingalls Wilder launched the Little House book series that eventually became a key piece of American culture. But, did you know, that despite her stories of little houses on the prairies of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Kansas, and the Dakota Territory, Laura Ingalls Wilder actually spent a majority of her life in the tiny town of Mansfield, Missouri? This episode features Pulitzer Prize-winning author Caroline Fraser talking to us about her recent book, Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder. In her award-winning book, Fraser provides a stunning account of the events that not only shaped Laura Ingalls Wilder's life but also inspired her later literary masterpieces.
About the Guest: Caroline Fraser holds a PhD in English and American Literature from Harvard University. She is the author of God's Perfect Child: Living and Dying in the Christian Science Church and Rewilding the World: Dispatches from the Conservation Revolution. Additionally, she served as editor of the Library of America edition of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books. Her work has also appeared in the New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, and Outside Magazine, among others. Her most recent book, Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder, won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography, Plutarch Award, and the Pulitzer Prize in Biography.
Episode 29: Hamburg, St. Louis, & Missouri's German Heritage Corridor – Caitlin Yager (Meet Me in St. Louis, Part 5)
Episode 28: Battle Lines & the Golden Lane – Joan Stack (Meet Me in St. Louis, Part 4)
Episode 27: "The Gateway Arch" – Tracy Campbell (Meet Me in St. Louis, Part 3)
Episode 26: Mr. Mac & The Race to The Moon (Meet Me in St. Louis, Part 2)
Episode 25: SHSMO St. Louis Research Center – A.J. Medlock (Meet Me in St. Louis, Part 1)
Episode 24: William Monks & "A History of Southern Missouri and Northern Arkansas" – John Bradbury
Episode 23: Ozark National Scenic Riverways – Dena Matteson
Episode 22: Passport to the Ozarks – Kaitlyn McConnell
Episode 21: "Father of Route 66" — Susan Croce Kelly
Episode 20: Kate Franklin Newton and the Memorial to Missouri's Great Heart
Episode 19: "Rube Tube" – Sara K. Eskridge
Episode 18: "A History of the Ozarks" – Brooks Blevins
Summer Series, Part 4: One Year Later
Summer Series, Part 3: Moon Memories
Summer Series, Part 2: Mr. Mac & the Race to the Moon
Summer Series 2019, Part 1: Calculations
Episode 17: "A River in the City of Fountains" – Amahia Mallea
Episode 16: Rolla, Rotoscope, & Route 66 – Katie Seale
Episode 15: The African American Press in Missouri – Debra Foster Greene
Episode 14: A Conversation with Missouri’s First Lady – Teresa Parson
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