Ridge Stories: Herding Hens, Powdering Pigs, and Other Recollections from a Boyhood in the Driftless - Softcover

Jones, Gary

Softcover

ISBN 10: 087020923X ISBN 13: 9780870209239

Publisher: Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2019

Synopsis

Straight talk from up on the farm

Raised on a small dairy farm in the Driftless Area in the mid-twentieth century, Gary Jones gets real about his rural roots. In this collection of interrelated stories, Jones writes with plainspoken warmth and irreverence about farm, family, and folks on the ridge. Readers will meet Gramp Jones, whose oversized overalls saved him from losing a chunk of flesh to an irate sow; the young one-room-school teacher who helped the kids make sled jumps at recess; Charlotte, the lawn-mowing sheep who once ended up in the living room; Victor the pig-cutter, who learned his trade from folk tradition rather than vet school; and other colorful characters of the ridge. Often humorous and occasionally touching, Jones’s essays paint a vivid picture that will entertain city and country folk alike. 

About this title

About the Author

Gary Jones has written professionally as a freelancer since the 1970s, publishing in the Milwaukee Journal, Milwaukee Sentinel, Milwaukee Magazine, and several Door County publications. He taught high school English for many years and in retirement has taught college composition courses at University of Wisconsin–Platteville. 

Gary Jones earned a bachelor of science degree from UW-Platteville, a master's from UW- Madison, and a PhD from UW-Milwaukee. 

Edition details

• Publisher: Wisconsin Historical Society Press
• Publication date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 087020923X
• ISBN 13: 9780870209239
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 208