A dozen authors from across the U.S. will come to Waupaca to participate in the first Waupaca Book Festival Friday and Saturday, Oct. 1-2.
Several of the authors will have shorter journeys because they are from Wisconsin.
Justin Isherwood’s family has been farming in Wisconsin for generations. His love of the farm is evident in his many books, short stories and articles. Among his works are Book of Plough: Essays on the Virtue of Farm, Family and the Rural Life; Farm Kid: Tales of Growing Up in Rural America; and Ring Them Bells: A Mid-State Poetry Towers Collection. His first novel, The Farm West of Mars, won the Robert E. Gard Wisconsin Idea Foundation award for literature.
Isherwood lives in Plover, with his family. He will speak at 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 2, at Chez Marchè Cafè.
Tim Lencki is a certified strength and conditioning specialist with a master’s degree in exercise physiology. He wrote Exercise One Day at a Time, which provides insight in how to personally tailor an exercise program. He also wrote a set of short books for active lifestyles that teach techniques for managing various chronic health conditions.
Lencki also runs workshops on fitness and motivation. He lives in Waupaca with his wife and sons. He will discuss fitness at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 2, at the Waupaca Rec Center.
Janet Mohr is active in a number of environmental organizations, including Audubon and the National Wildlife Federation, and enjoys participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count. She has combined her passion for nature and her love of writing – she has a master’s degree in literature – in her two books for children: Flight of Change, and Bird Feeder Book for Kids.
Mohr lives in Appleton with her husband and dog. She will be running a bird feeder workshop at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 2, at the Waupaca Rec Center.
Arthur and Ursula Rathburn’s books bring alive the experiences of those who lived through World War II, often from the perspective of German-Americans. One of their books, No More Tears Left Behind, tells the story of a Jewish couple escaping the Nazis in war-torn Berlin.
They live in Dane and will describe how they select and interview the people who have outstanding lifetime stories at 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 2, at the Holly History and Genealogy Center.
Jim Zitzelsberger was an English teacher, library and media specialist, as well as a swimming, diving and track coach before retiring to farm and write. His first novel, Cry for the Water Buffalo, chronicles the story of a traditional Vietnamese family during the war and its aftermath. Zitzelsberger’s two tours of duty in Vietnam were the impetus for this arresting novel. He will speak at 1 p.m. Friday, Oct. 1 at the Wisconsin Veterans Home.