Meier, Peg/Wood, Dave "The Pie Lady of Winthrop"

Meier, Peg/Wood, Dave "The Pie Lady of Winthrop: And Other Minnesota Tales" - 1985

How did I come by this book, a collection of reports by two Minnesotan reporters about interesting and remarkable people in their area in the eighties? Well, a blog friend of mine talked about it, her great great grandmother was "The Pie Lady of Winthrop". The book sounded interesting and I ordered a used copy (it's out of print).

These stories take me back to the eighties, to a time when most situations were very different than they are today. I wouldn't say, people like Mina Peterson who work hard all their lives and still don't stop at a certain age don't exist anymore. Let's just agree that there are fewer of them.

So, we don't just get to know this lovely Swedish-born lady who, at the age of 94 gets up early in the morning so there are fresh pies in the café. And she's been doing it for forty years, beginning after the death of her husband.

There are lots of other tales about immigrants and other folks, former slaves who get together with a huge amount of family, Norwegian-born, Swedish-born, Jewish, any kind of person that doesn't just try to live a quiet life and think about their own family but people who are there for the community.

I decided, after reading a couple of stories, that I liked the ones written by Peg Meier best. They seem to come from the heart, Dave Wood's are also good but more the style of a reporter who will write about anything. You could tell before even turning to the index that lists all the stories with the respective author.

Nice book, even though I'm not very fond of short stories. But these talk about everyday people who make a difference.

From the back cover:

"As reporters for the Neighbors section of the Minneapolis Star and Tribune, Peg Meier and Dave Wood have written about fascinating people and places in all parts of Minnesota. In 'The Pie Lady of Winthrop' you'll meet some of their favorites, including the powder room attendant at Murray's restaurant in Minneapolis, Cedric Adams' old troupe, the sausage makers of New Prague and a 10-year-old kid in Rollingstone. You'll also visit such places as a funeral parlor in Kenyon, two saloons in Minneapolis and the old jail in Taylors Falls."