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JennGM
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Victoria in AZ wrote:
| I think I'm confusing the issue. One is a literary distinction. I'm speaking to my own ability, as an adult now, to view the LH stories quite so dreamily. |
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You're not confusing the issue. I think that's the hardest part of LH stories...so many of us identified with Laura. The stories were integral part of growing up. I argued with my Catholic school librarian in 4th grade that the books should be in non-fiction. I was adamant.
And there's just a large part of me that still WANTS LH to be all true, just because the books evoke so many feelings that I come away convinced I'm that Laura....
In a way, the LH books are similar to how I remember my life. The happy times are emphasized, remembered the best. I don't like to think about the sad, hard, times, except to look back and see the lessons learned and how God worked his grace and sustained us through those times. Otherwise, it's painful to go back. And over time, my memories soften, and I can't remember so sharply the bad times.
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Victoria in AZ
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JennGM wrote:
| I think that's the hardest part of LH stories...so many of us identified with Laura...And there's just a large part of me that still WANTS LH to be all true |
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Yes, thanks Jenn, you got it. After turning the issue around in my mind, I do think one can say the LH stories are the truth as seen through the eyes of a young girl. It's just not the whole truth.
You were able to put words to my feelings, Jenn. As a young girl, I identified with Laura. Now as an adult, I identify with Ma.
Funny how you argued with the librarian 
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Cay Gibson
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| Posted: May 22 2006 at 9:45am | IP Logged
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The first book I read that brought into black and white the *reality* of Laura's world was Laura by Donald Zochert. I read this book as a teenager and there were times I felt I couldn't breathe. The reality was too raw. But it was part of my preparation for the real world. I've been called an idealist and I guess I am one. Still, people that see the idealist on the outside do not see the thinker on the inside and all the truths that I twist and turnover in my brain on a daily process. I am always trying to make the reality more ideal, more beautiful, more acceptable.
Here is a excellent article from someone who has been down this same road of research and discovery, gulped down the pill of reality, and still embraces the beauty that Laura's famiy and the Little House books offer us; This Little House of Mine.
Like the author, "Now, having researched "the truth" about the Little House books, I find I can live with my new knowledge. In fact, the process of learning about the stories has been quite bittersweet, in a way akin to growing up. I have had to let go of my fond, naïve trust in the narrator and learn to accept new realities, including the impossibility of knowing certain things for sure. My relationship to Laura Ingalls Wilder has been changed, but not destroyed.
Disclaimer: Only read if you're a grown woman in her 20's-30's-40's and older. If your heart is still aged 6-12, read with caution.
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Cay Gibson
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Cay Gibson
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| Posted: May 22 2006 at 10:08am | IP Logged
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Here is the section (that I promised) where Rose defended her mother's writing:
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"...even in the early years of these memorials the problematical relationship between history and fiction would emerge in some vexing inquiries, as curious readers began ferreting out the truths behind the LH books.
"Mortenson wrote, 'Mrs. Wilder knew she could achieve a more artistic effect by altering the true facts occasionally.'
"On seeing this article in print, Rose rushed to put her finger in the dike...She insisted that her mother did remember events from age three---which may well have been the case. Her mother may have omitted some periods, Rose conceded, but she wrote the literal truth. 'This is important only because it has been charged that my mother's books are fiction. They are truth, and only the truth; every detail is written as my mother remembered it...she added nothing and 'fictionized' nothing that she wrote.'
"Mortenson was apparantly satisfied with this explanation; but a similar problem arose in the next year when a junior high school student who had become fascinated by the LH books began preparing a booklet on the Ingalls family. William T. Anderson would become the most diligent of inquirers into the background of the LH books; and when copy for his booklet suggested that the Ingalls had had neighbors in their first winter in DeSmet, Rose insisted on their absolute solitude. 'This is a formal protest against your proposal to publish a statement that my mother was a liar,' she wrote. 'You will please correct your proposed publication to accord with my mother's published statement in her books. As he adjusted his copy to her wishes, she grew conciliatory, reading him a lecture on weighing probabillity and assessing the credibility of witnesses.
" 'If my mother's books are not absolutely accurate, she will be discredited as a person and as a writer, since a great part of the value of her books is that the are true stories .' "
Take from William Holtz The Ghost in the LH , pages 352-353.
*****
So there we have it in Rose's own words in her mother's defense. Laura wrote the LH books and they are true ! 
Opa is here for coffee so I have to go. I apologize for any typos. I'll have to edit later.
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Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
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Cay Gibson
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| Posted: May 22 2006 at 11:13am | IP Logged
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These are Victoria's note that she sent to me and gave me permission to post here. These are notes taken from William Holtz's book Ghost in the Little House ~ A Life of Rose Wilder Lane so it would be better for readers to find a copy of Holtz's book at the library to follow the notes with. You might not want to spring money on the book unless you are a serious researcher of Laura and Rose.
Victoria writes:
Reread the prologue and find the first paragraph grand.
"For we think back through our mothers if we are women." ~ Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own
Virginia Woolf, who furnishes me the introductory epigraph, offers also my initial justification for a biography of a woman whose name few readers will recognize. "Is not anyone," Woolf wrote of the genre, "Is not anyone who has lived a life, and left a record of that life, worthy of biography---the failures as well as the successes, the humble as well as the illustrious?" Her answer, clearly, is yes. And perhaps even more apropos, she continues, "And what is greatness? And what smallness?"
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p. 314 Surprised Rose ever goes to church. Her faith appeared to be politics. See p. 327 "I am not a Christian but atheist."
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Laura's foresight to end LH royalties at Rose's death points to her distrust of Rose. Imagine where Rose might have left royalties (MacBride?). To Rose's credit, she did fully cooperate with the idea of a LH museum.
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p. 348 I applaud Rose's support for art. Would like to find this needlepoint book.
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p. 366 Finally I can agree with Rose "I do not belong in this century."
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p. 371 I'm glad Rose's ashes are by her parents (even if it was different than Rose's wishes)
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p. 374 bottom will disappoint --- you bet
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p. 375 Who is Clare Booth Luce?
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p. 376 "the diarist..." now that's good--some of my favorite expression in the book "no small courage to write a diary"
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p. 378 Sweet to think of Bore Rose in USA
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p. 379 and 385 Love the idea of ghost writing as giving spirit to writing, as in Holy Ghost
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p. 379 Appendix--my advice to fellow LHOP fans is to read the appendix first (I second Victoria's suggestion of reading the Appendix first---C.G.)
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p. 384 Rose's decision to remove the fact that the government paid for Mary's blind school tuition lacks integrity. It seems Rose refused to acknowledge that the government could be helpful and that one mihgt not always be able to be 100% self-sufficient.
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Later I'll finish Victoria's notes. I really must tend to lunch and handle afternoon school work. ---C.G.
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Cay Gibson
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Lissa
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Quote:
| Laura's foresight to end LH royalties at Rose's death points to her distrust of Rose. Imagine where Rose might have left royalties (MacBride?). To Rose's credit, she did fully cooperate with the idea of a LH museum. |
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Rose DID leave the royalties & all rights to the books to Roger MacBride. On his death, his daughter inherited them. This caused a conflict, understandably, several years back w/ the library that Laura had designated the eventual beneficiary.
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kingvozzo
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I've been following this discussion, and I'm wondering where I can find add'l info about what happened with the books after Laura died, the books MacBride wrote, etc. Any suggestion?
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Noreen
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Victoria in AZ
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Cay Gibson wrote:
| I am always trying to make the reality more ideal, more beautiful, more acceptable. |
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Me too, Cay, me too. I knew we were kindred spirits!
Cay Gibson wrote:
| I have had to let go of my fond, naïve trust in the narrator and learn to accept new realities, including the impossibility of knowing certain things for sure. My relationship to Laura Ingalls Wilder has been changed, but not destroyed. |
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Yes, yes, yes. Thank you for this wonderful quote, Cay. This sounds similar to what Jenn and I were saying. We still love the Ingalls tremendously, but just in a changed way.
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Victoria in AZ
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Victoria in AZ
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| Posted: May 22 2006 at 9:38pm | IP Logged
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Cay Gibson wrote:
These are Victoria's note ...
Laura's foresight to end LH royalties at Rose's death points to her distrust of Rose. Imagine where Rose might have left royalties (MacBride?). |
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It has been a year since I wrote that note, and I've thought it over. Perhaps this foresight to end LH royalties is more of a reflection that Mama Bess assessed Rose's lack of enthusiasm for the LH stories and less of a reflection on an unhappy mother/daughter relationship? Even with our loved ones, we don't always share the same enthusiams.
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Victoria in AZ
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Victoria in AZ
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Lissa wrote:
| Rose DID leave the royalties & all rights to the books to Roger MacBride. On his death, his daughter inherited them. This caused a conflict, understandably, several years back w/ the library that Laura had designated the eventual beneficiary. |
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Lissa, so Rose did inherit the LH royalties after all?
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Victoria in AZ
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Lissa
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Victoria in AZ wrote:
Lissa wrote:
| Rose DID leave the royalties & all rights to the books to Roger MacBride. On his death, his daughter inherited them. This caused a conflict, understandably, several years back w/ the library that Laura had designated the eventual beneficiary. |
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Lissa, so Rose did inherit the LH royalties after all? |
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Yes. She left the LH estate to Roger (rights and royalties), and it was Roger who licensed the TV rights for the Michael Landon show, Roger who saw to the publication of The First Four Years, and of course Roger who brought us the Rose books. Roger and the Harper editors worked together to launch the Caroline books, but he died in 1995 just as the first Caroline books were coming together. I never met him, but I have met his daughter, who inherited the estate when he died. She and her estate attorney have always read my manuscripts in draft form --technically they have final approval powers, but they have never asked me for any changes.
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Lissa
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Lissa
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kingvozzo wrote:
| I've been following this discussion, and I'm wondering where I can find add'l info about what happened with the books after Laura died, the books MacBride wrote, etc. Any suggestion? |
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There isn't much available online or in print...you might be able to find some articles about the library lawsuit. Was there anything in particular you were interested in?
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Lissa
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Victoria in AZ
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Cay,
Where are you with this wonderful project?
May Our Lady be with you!
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Your sister in Christ,
Victoria in AZ
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Erin
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Congratulations Cay 
This is a fascinating discussion; the first time I ever heard any claim about Laura being a feminist was when I heard of Thomas Tedrow'sbooks. Which by the way I DID NOT get. When we look at this claim should we look at it in the light of the time in which she lived, after all she wrote books and published in the local paper that would have been unusual for her days. When we hear the word feminist we tend to think of the feminists of today vastly different again. Can anyone elighten me?
BTW Cay I haven't yet brought myself to read your links  I guess I am still 12yrs  and Jenn I always identified with Mary.
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Erin
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4Real Forums : Living Literature
Topic: Rose Wilder Lane ~4th Mystery Lit
