“My maternal grandparents, immigrants from the Netherlands and Germany, raised twelve children through the Great Depression. Much of who I am today was shaped by lessons my mother learned during those difficult years. Reading Leora’s Dexter Stories provided a heart-warming emotional reunion with my mother and grandmother as I recalled their related stories of dealing with disappointments, heartache and even joy in the face of adversity. 

     “From early in the book I was held captive by this loving and tenacious woman named Leora. The author has woven her grandmother’s story into a written tapestry that reveals Leora and her family for the reader to know and appreciate. Joy Neal Kidney’s grandmother and her letters are a testimony to the strength, devotion and creativity of Iowa’s rural women.”

–Arvid Huisman, former newspaper publisher, author of More Country Roads, an anthology selected from more than 900 of his delightful Country Road columns, which thankfully continue today in Iowa History Journal.

Retired as Director of Development, Community Relations and Media Relations for The Salvation Army in Des Moines, Arvid has had hundreds of speaking engagements, and still enjoys giving programs.

Arvid doesn’t have a website, but here’s an interesting interview with Aaron Putze from a while back.