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A Minnesota Author You May Not Have Heard Of

6/17/2024

By Carol Van Why, Library Co-Chair

My 2024 New Year’s resolution was to read the few unread books lingering on my bookshelves. Brenda Ueland’s autobiography, ME, chronicles her life from birth in 1891 to 1938.

Brenda’s father had emigrated from Norway around 1871. Manual labor and night school launched him into a law career within six years of setting foot in the U.S.

It wasn’t long before the Ueland family lived in a home on five acres of land on Lake Calhoun’s south shore. In addition to having eight children and managing a household, Brenda’s mother was active in the civic life of the Twin Cities.

Disenchanted after three years at an Ohio women’s college, Brenda was accepted at Barnard. In New York City she crossed paths with such luminaries as Willa Cather, Theodore Dreiser, and John Reed.

After graduating in 1913, Brenda remained in New York. Before returning to Minneapolis in 1930 she married, had a daughter, and divorced, all while pursuing a writing career.

ME and Ueland’s other book, If You Want to Write, are both in the Coffman Library collection.

Library Musings

6/2/2024

By Carol Van Why, originally published in the June 2024 issue of the 1666 Coffman Newsletter

Whether you’re new to the University Grove area or have lived here for years, it doesn’t take more than a meander around Coffman’s neighborhood to appreciate the area’s varied architectural styles. Several books on our library’s upper level reinforce just how architecturally interesting our locale is.

Of course, there’s 1666 itself. Three lavishly illustrated books on Palladian architecture show how our building is related to many in Italy. Books about architects Elizabeth Close (Hession), Edwin Lundie (O’Toole), and Ralph Rapson (Hession) contain illustrations of more than a dozen homes within easy strolls/drives of Coffman. You’ll also find a book by architect and former resident Joe Michels in our 1666 AUTHORS section.

Maybe you’re a published author yourself? If so, your book could join those by current and former residents,

including UMN notable scholars Clyde Christensen, Sara Evans, E. Adamson Hoebel, and Gretchen Kreuter. The Library Committee would welcome a copy of your book to add to the permanent 1666 AUTHORS collection. Contact Carol Van Why, Library Committee cochair, to learn how to make a donation.

If you browse 1666 AUTHORS long enough you may run into a series of slender, paperback mysteries by M.D. Lake and wonder why they’re shelved there. M.D. Lake is actually the pen name of Allen Simpson. Besides being a 1666 resident (#208, with his wife Jantje Visscher), Allen was a professor of Scandinavian literature and a humor columnist for the Minnesota Daily. A set of the M.D. Lake mysteries for borrowing is also located in the MYSTERY/SPY section.

In summary, all of the books mentioned are located on our library’s upper level. The architecture books are located in sections IX, XII, and XIII. The 1666 AUTHORS books are in section XIV. The M.D. Lake books for borrowing are in the MYSTERY/SPY section VI.

A Minnesota Author You May Not Have Heard Of

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A Minnesota Author You May Not Have Heard Of

Library Musings

Newsletter

Thank you!

Posts by Year

Posts by Month

1666 Coffman Condominium Association

Amenities

Activities

Sales info