MORE MAPLE HILL STORIES

When Roderick Turnbull began writing his "Maple Hill Stories," for The Kansas City Star, he thought he'd have enough material for three or four feature stories, but no more.

But Turnbull underestimated the wealth of memories he had stored away in his boyhood days in the country town of Maple Hill, Kansas. With a rare memory for the uncanny and telling little details that pull living scenes out of the past, Turnbull created a particularly appealing bit of nostalgic writing that led to scores of stories appearing the the newspaper.

This is a book with special meaning for those who have shared similar experiences in small towns everywhere. But it's also of significance to a younger generation that remembers nothing before the hard-surface highways. For anyone, it's a means of visiting Home Town, USA, as it existed near the end of one of the most secure eras in American history. With artist Joseph Bohler capturing on canvas, what Turnbull so vividly depicts in words, MORE MAPLE HILL STORIES becomes an old friend of days gone by.

The late Roderick Turnbull, the son of a blacksmith, was born in Maple Hill, Kansas in 1904. Turnbull grew up in the small town, located about 20 miles west of the state capitol Topeka, and left at the age of 18 to take a job as a reporter on The Kansas City Star. He eventually became agricultural editor of The Star. After more than 48 years with The Star, Turnbull retired from the newspaper and began a new career as director of public affairs for the Kansas City Board of Trade.

Well-known to agriculturists and stockmen, Turnbull served two terms as president of The American Royal Livestock and Horse Show, held annually in Kansas City, and was a past president of the American Agricultural Editors Association.