Andrew Ubben
Intern
T-R PHOTO BY ANDREW UBBEN – Author Laura Sohl-Cryer visits the Stepping Stones Christian Bookstore in Marshalltown to sign her first book, “Remembering the Home Place: Sonnets and Stories From Our Family Farm. On the same subject : Jenny Welbourn on YouTube Vlogging, a sustainable lifestyle and online burnout.”
While the Stepping Stones Christian bookstore celebrated its 20th anniversary last week in both Grinnell and Marshalltown stores, author Laura Sohl-Cryer made a signature Friday at the Marshalltown location to promote her debut, Remembering the Home Place: Sonnets and Stories From Our Family. Farm.
Sohl-Cryer grew up in northwestern Iowa on his family’s Century Farm established by his great-grandfather between Boyden and Hull. For the past 24 years, he has lived in Cedar Falls, teaching at Hawkeye Community College and some online classes for DMACC. Sohl-Cryer has been writing intermittently since graduate school and is also a recognized member of the Iowa Poetry Association, of which she has won several recognition awards.
The new book is born out of a place of sadness when Sohl-Cryer’s mother died last October, which left her making the difficult decision to drop out of school and return to the family farm to addressing heritage issues and their grievance process. Amid the paperwork management on the farm, she had free time to mourn, but since she’s a heart farm girl, Sohl-Cryer didn’t want to sit in her hands.
According to Sohl-Cryer, God began waking her up every morning around 4:45 a.m., when chores usually began on the farm, reminding her of her presence when she was little. Remembering his childhood that he spent there, he wanted to be on the farm during this difficult time to ride the waves of pain and turn it into something productive and positive.
“Writing this, Remembering the Home Place, has helped me know that it has been present all my life,” Sohl-Cryer said. “He came out of the pain and gave me a lot of hope.”
Mourning is not the only subject of the book, as there are humorous tales of growing up on a farm and multiple stories of lightness. The book also serves as a catalyst for people to share their own stories, and Sohl-Cryer encourages them to do so, as she says many of these little family farm stories are one or two generations old. been forgotten for a long time, unless shared.
In celebration of 20 years of business in Grinnell and 12 years in Marshalltown, Stepping Stones held a week-long sale that offered customers a 20% discount off a regular price, on the stock item chosen at Marshalltown, along with daily prizes and refreshments at both stores. .
“It’s just our way of thanking all of our loyal customers over the years. In particular, thank you to all of our past and current team members and all of the volunteers over the years,” said Mindy Uitermarkt, the owner of the bookstores. “We just want to thank everyone.”
In addition to Sohl-Cryer, the bookstore also hosted book signings with Rosa Clark and Jocelyn Green during the week. Christian Stepping Stones bookstore encourages everyone to check out sidewalk sales this coming weekend for Ridiculous Day on Saturday, July 23 at Grinnell. For more information on Stepping Stones Christian Bookstores, follow them on Facebook at Stepping Stone Christtain Bookstores or call the Mindy Uitermarkt store owner at 641-990-1381.
Contact Andrew Ubben at 641-753-6611 or aubben@timesrepublican.com.
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