It has taken more than a year of planning and grant-writing, but Jefferson County will host a Pulitzer Prize-winning author this month.
Caroline Fraser, who wrote “Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder,” will make three appear¬ances – one on Oct. 16 and two on Oct. 17 – at locations around the county.
Fraser won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for biography for her book that takes a close look at Ingalls, who survived a harsh childhood during the pioneer days on the Great Plains and grew up to write the best-selling “Little House on the Prairie” series.
The theme of Fraser’s book is that Ingalls’ reality was much different than the soft focus in her series.
“It’s all coming together, and soon she (Fraser) will be here. We’re very ex¬cited about it,” said Pam Klipsch, director of the Jefferson County Library, which is sponsoring the appearances, along with the Jefferson College library.
The public is invited to attend Fra¬ser’s appearances. Admission is free, but online registration is recommended.
The final program, on Oct. 17, at the Fox C-6 Service Center, will be filmed by C-SPAN. “The executive producer of C-SPAN’s ‘American History’ TV show learned of the event and is sending a film crew,” Klipsch said.
The library director said she thinks Fraser’s audiences will enjoy the visits.
“She is a very good writer, and she’s obviously done extensive research,” Klipsch said. “I’ve heard her speak, and she’s a very engaging speaker.”
Klipsch said the decision to bring Fraser to Jefferson County came after the Missouri State Library announced it was starting an author grant program.
“We’ve never had a major author come to Jefferson County, and so we thought maybe this would be a chance to do that,” Klipsch said.
She said she had read the “Little House on the Prairie” books as a child, just like many Jefferson Countians, and she knew there was a lot of interest in genealogy and pioneer days in the county.
“I thought it would be a great fit,” Klipsch said.
So, she contacted Lisa Pritchard, the librarian at Jefferson College, and asked her if she would be will¬ing to collaborate for the author visit. When Pritchard said yes, the Jeffer¬son Coun¬ty Library a p p l i e d for and re-ceived a $5,000 grant from the Missouri State Library, and Pritchard received a $2,500 grant from the Missouri Humanities Council, which was matched by the college’s Performing Arts and Cultural Enrichment program, Klipsch said.
The libraries also received a $2,000 grant from Ameren Missouri and a $2,000 grant from the Arnold Tourism Commission to help fund the event. In addition, the Northwest and Fox school districts offered the use of their facilities for free for Fraser’s visit.
To promote the visit, each of the libraries held book discussion groups and purchased additional copies of Fraser’s book to lend to patrons. In addition, other public librar¬ies in Jefferson County promoted the visit through a variety of pioneer-centered programs and by encouraging children to read the “Little House on the Prairie” books.
“Hopefully, fingers crossed, we’ll have a good turnout,” Klipsch said.
Fraser’s first appearance will be at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 16, at the Northwest High School Auditorium, 6005 Cedar Hill Road, in Cedar Hill.
At that event, Fraser will discuss her book, followed by a question-and-answer session led by the Leader’s Teen Advisory Board. “It will be almost like a press conference,” Klipsch said.
Fraser also will make an appearance at 1 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17, at the Jef¬ferson College Library on the Hillsboro campus, where she will discuss her work and answer questions from campus book group representatives.
“She’s going to be doing more of a straightforward lecture,” Klipsch said.
The last of Fraser’s visits will be later that day, at 6:30 p.m., at the Fox C-6 Ser¬vice Center, 849 Jeffco Blvd., in Arnold, where Jane Henderson, book editor for the St. Louis Post Dispatch, will lead a conversation with Fraser. “It will be a back-and-forth interview,” Klipsch said.
At the end of each session, the author will take questions from the audience and sign copies of her book.
For information on Fraser’s visit or to register for one of her visits, call 636- 481-3166 or 636-677-8689.