William Anderson: Award-winning Historian and Laura Ingalls Wilder Scholar
William Anderson's lifelong interest in history was first stimulated in elementary school, when a third grade teacher read Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie to his class. He quickly read the rest of the Little House books and, realizing that they were true stories, began asking the question, "What happened next?"
"My mother tells me I was inquisitive, even as a pre-schooler," Anderson says. "I guess this is a good qualification for a researcher. My interest in the Wilder books led to family visits to the Little House sites, correspondence with relatives and friends of the Ingalls and Wilders, and finally, historical writing. My first published writing was The Story of the Ingalls, which appeared when I was fifteen."
Since then, William Anderson has written constantly, in numerous magazines and newspapers, and finally books. While a student at Michigan's Albion College, his summer job as a tour guide for the Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Society in De Smet, South Dakota, included preservation work and research. He founded the newsletter "Laura Ingalls Wilder Lore," which he still edits. He is also a director of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home Association in Mansfield, Missouri.
In addition to making significant contributions to the literature about Laura Ingalls Wilder, Anderson is a high school teacher of American History and lives in Lapeer, Michigan. He uses his summers for extensive traveling, research, and literary projects and, throughout the year, speaks about Mrs. Wilder and her works and times on visits to schools and libraries and at writers' conferences and seminars.
Anderson's book credits include Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Biography, Laura Ingalls Wilder Country (HarperCollins, with Kelly, 1990), The Little House Guidebook (HarperCollins, with Kelly, 1996), Laura's Album: A Remembrance Scrapbook of Laura Ingalls Wilder (HarperCollins), Pioneer Girl: The Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder (HarperCollins), A Little House Reader: A Collection of Writings by Laura Ingalls Wilder (HarperCollins), A Little House Sampler: A Collection of Early Stories and Reminiscences (HarperCollins) and The World of the Trapp Family.
Book Signing Schedule: TBA
Leslie A. Kelly, "Little House Home Sites" Photographer
Leslie A. Kelly, a resident of Huntington Beach, California, is an internationally known photographer and writer. He has traveled the United States since 1973 photographing Americana. His travel stories and photography about the Amish, covered bridges, rural courthouses and other Americana have appeared in more than 120 magazines, books and calendars in the United States, Europe and Japan, to include Time Magazine, Literary Places In The US, National Geographic Guide To Small Town Escapes, Country, Farm and Ranch Living, Delta Airlines' SKY Magazine, Country America, Touring America and Trailer Life.
Working with Anderson, Kelly has supplied color photography for Laura Ingalls Wilder Country (Harper Collins, 1990), Musical Memories of Laura Ingalls Wilder (1992), Little House Country: A Photo Guide to the Home Sites of Laura Ingalls Wilder (1989), Laura Ingalls Wilder Country Cookbook (Harper Collins, 1995) and Little House Guidebook (Harper Collins, 1996) and Little House on the Prairie Photo Guide (Japanese language version, 1988, Kyuryudo Publishing).
With Doyle Yoder, Kelly was co-author and co-photographer for America's Amish Country (1992) and America's Amish Country II (America's Amish Country Revisited) (2000). He has also authored and provided all current photography for two books for the California Gold Rush Sesquicentennial, California's Gold Rush Country 1848 - 1998 (1997) and Traveling California's Gold Rush Country (1997).
Kelly also operates a number of websites to include Amish.Net with online information about the Amish lifestyle and tourism services, California's Gold Rush Country, Show Me The Gold® Tours and NetCopyrightLaw Net Consulting Services.
Kelly is a former member of the Board of Directors for the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home Association in Mansfield, a current member of the Oregon California Trails Association, and a current member and former Publicity Director for the National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges.
Book Signing Schedule: TBA
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