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An Iowa Farm Boy On Detour is the story of Henry B. Tippie--the first-born son of Iowa dairy farmers who turned a lifetime of hard work and a devotion to simple business principles into a true American success story.Written primarily as a personal history for his family, Henry's story begins near Belle Plaine, Iowa, where he was born in 1927. As a young boy, he listened to his mother's advice to get off the farm and find a better life, and her dreams fueled his drive for success. Before he celebrated his 90th birthday in 2017, Henry was an accomplished World War II veteran; a graduate of the University of Iowa; a successful businessman in Delaware and Georgia who helped orchestrate the first leveraged buyout (LBO) in American business history; a husband, father of three, and grandfather of nine; an entrepreneur and rancher in Texas; a recipient of the prestigious Horatio Alger Award; and a prominent educational and civic philanthropist in his home state of Iowa. The story of Henry B. Tippie is a universal tale, and many will no doubt see themselves in his rags to riches journey. But what makes Henry's story unique is the extraordinary degree of success he experienced--and the depth of what he calls "repayment for benefits received" to his hometown and the university that took a chance on him. This former Plainesman has never forgotten where he came from and the people who helped him when he had nothing. And that's what makes the story of Henry B. Tippie truly remarkable. "My whole life, I'm just a farm boy on a detour," said Henry B. Tippie. "That still sums it up pretty well."
An Iowa farm boy longs to quit school and join his dad working the land Dick comes home from school early and tells his mother he was sent home with a stomachache. She puts him to bed and tells him to get some sleep, but Dick can’t shut his eyes for a second. All his life he’s wanted to be a farmer—to quit school and join his father and brother driving tractors across their sprawling property—and today is his chance. His father is getting a 2nd tractor, and he’ll need Dick to drive it. Dick is certain that there’s nothing on the farm that he can’t handle. But when he gets a taste of farmer’s work, will he be so sure it’s the life for him? This charming novel offers a detailed look at life on a farm and a snapshot of a time when a boy could quit school to work in the fields.
Ed Kramer was born and raised on an Iowa farm during the last half of the 1930’s. He was the youngest of four brothers, so they had a profound effect, in so many ways, on his early life. He attended a rural, one-room, country school for the first eight years of his life. He describes, in detail, what a typical country school looked like, and how it functioned. Many younger people today have no idea what it was like to have only one teacher for their first eight grades. The idea of having all eight grades in a one-room school-house boggles their minds even further! Ed thoroughly enjoyed his farm experiences. He grew up in a difficult era of our country. He points out that the concept of the “good ole days” was not all true. Hardships and dangers abounded around every corner. Farming was a dangerous business. However, along with the dangers and hardships, there were so many fun and exciting times. Ed vividly describes threshing time on the farm. Many of the older generations will be able to relate to Ed’s stories. Ed loved the outdoors and nature. He learned to adapt to, and live with, the outdoors and nature. Ed understood the need for mankind to appreciate the importance of both in our lives and the impact they leave on all of us. This was very evident in his outdoor hobbies and experiences. What was it like to transition from country school to high school - going from a small school to a large school, and from a class size of four to one with thirty-two? What impact did sports have on Ed’s life? So many teachers! What an adjustment that he had to make! So many important decisions had to be made, and so little time. Life seemed to be moving fast now. Ed wanted to let his readers know what went through his mind, as he tried to cope with the many options available, in steering the future course for him. Should he listen to his brother’s advice? Should he follow in his brother’s footsteps? What process did he use to arrive at a decision? College was another phase of Ed‘s life. He had to decide what would be his major. What did he really want to do later in life? Again, so many more teachers, subjects and larger class size. It seemed like each phase of his life was on such a higher level. How did he feel having a brother as his professor? Did that help or hurt their relationship? He understands that each person has a different vision of what college would be like. He tries to point out some mistakes he made in college, so that others may avoid them. Ed was fortunate to have had summer employment that paid his way through many of his college years. He understood that the cost of attending college was much less during his era. However, for his family, the cost was high. His summer employment happened to be in the forest service. That gave him the opportunity to extend his horizons. It meant going out on his own to execute, or perform, what he had learned in his earlier years. Now he could put his good Iowa work ethic to good use. He learned that hard work, patience and perseverance paid off. He accepted new responsibilites and assumed a leadership role that he never experienced before. Decisions are a part of everyday life. One of Ed’s most important decisions was to enter the military service. He tries to point out to his readers what a man or woman has to go through in the military. There will be good and bad days, as there are in any part of life. He mentioned before, that each phase of his life meant reaching out further to a higher level. Each phase prepared him for the next level. Each phase was a steppingstone to greater things to come. Ed wants his readers to understand that, even though growing up today is a lot different than when he grew up, there still are many similarities. Developing a good work ethic is still paramount today. Religious faith was important to
"Eloquent and detailed...It's hard to have hope, but the organized observations and plans of Hoffman and people like her give me some. Read her book -- and listen." -- Jane Smiley, The Washington Post In her late 40s, Beth Hoffman decided to upend her comfortable life as a professor and journalist to move to her husband's family ranch in Iowa--all for the dream of becoming a farmer. There was just one problem: money. Half of America's two million farms made less than $300 in 2019, and many struggle just to stay afloat. Bet the Farm chronicles this struggle through Beth's eyes. She must contend with her father-in-law, who is reluctant to hand over control of the land. Growing oats is good for the environment but ends up being very bad for the wallet. And finding somewhere, in the midst of COVID-19, to slaughter grass finished beef is a nightmare. If Beth can't make it, how can farmers who confront racism, lack access to land, or don't have other jobs to fall back on hack it? Bet the Farm is a first-hand account of the perils of farming today and a personal exploration of more just and sustainable ways of producing food.
In Talkin’ Big, Tom Dittmer—former CEO of Refco, the United States’ first world-renowned futures firm—recalls how with hard work, determination, optimism, and some good old-fashioned luck, he was able to able to achieve his greatness. Growing up as a farm boy in small-town Iowa, Dittmer first made a name for himself as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. His industry and potential were quickly noticed, and Dittmer rapidly rose to become a White House aide under Lyndon B. Johnson. After an honorable discharge, Dittmer moved to Chicago with his new wife, Frannie, where he, from the Chicago Union Stockyards, first learned of the wealth of potential that that the Chicago Stock Exchange held. In 1969, he got into the business world himself, forming Ray E. Friedman & Co., (Refco) with this father. And from there, Dittmer’s fortunes only rose. Making millions, taking Refco to the international stage, and hobnobbing with celebrities, Dittmer became a legend in his own right, all while staying true to himself and his Midwest roots. Brimming with fascinating business insights and incredible inside stories, Talkin’ Big is a true rag-to-riches story of one of America’s greatest businessmen.
This autobiography of the first Dean of the College of Agriculture at Cornell University offers an unconventional account of farm life in New York and the Middle West during the nineteenth century, and of the difficulties attendant upon building up a vital and progressive agricultural college. Born in Seneca County, New York, in 1833, Isaac Phillips Roberts emigrated west--first to Indiana, where he worked as a carpenter until he was able to buy a farm, and taught school during the winters; then, in 1862, to Mount Pleasant, Iowa, in a pioneer wagon with his wife, Margaret, and daughter. In 1869, he became the Superindent of the Farm and Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the Iowa Agricultural College at Ames, where he soon became Professor of Agriculture. In 1873, he returned to New York to take a similar position at Cornell University; shortly thereafer, he was made Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Director of the Experiment Station. During his thirty years of service in Ithaca, he wrote voluminously on agricultural subjects, and after his retirement, penned Autobiography of a Farm Boy, initially published in 1916, reissued by Cornell University Press in 1946, and now made available in paperback. He died in Palo Alto, California, in 1928.
As you read the book you will be able to experience the adventures trough the eyes of a boy in the 1940's. There can be so much fun growing up in a Farm in Iowa, have you heard of the meanest cow in South West Iowa history. It will transport you to an era before the commodities of modern time and how a boy could use his imagination to have a fun life. This book promises to bring a smile and lots of laugh.
Homosexuality is often seen as a purely urban experience, far removed from rural and small-town life. Farm Boys undermines that cliche by telling the stories of more than three dozen gay men, ranging in age from 24 to 84, who grew up in farm families in the midwestern United States. Whether painful, funny, or matter-of-fact, these plain-spoken accounts will move and educate any reader, gay or not, from farm or city. “When I was fifteen, the milkman who came to get our milk was beautiful. This is when I was really getting horny to do something with another guy. I waited every day for him to come. I couldn’t even talk to him, couldn’t think of anything to say. I just stood there, watching him, wondering if he knew why.”—Henry Bauer, Minnesota “When I go back home, I feel a real connection with the land—a tremendous feeling, spiritual in a way. It makes me want to go out into a field and take my shoes off and put my feet right on the dirt, establish a real physical connection with that place. I get homesick a lot, but I don’t know if I could ever go back there and live. It’s not the kind of place that would welcome me if I lived openly, the way that I would like to live. I would be shunned.”—Martin Scherz, Nebraska “If there is a checklist to see if your kid is queer, I must have hit every one of them—all sorts of big warning signs. I was always interested in a lot of the traditional queen things—clothes, cooking, academics, music, theater. A farm boy listening to show tunes? My parents must have seen it coming.”—Joe Shulka, Wisconsin “My favorite show when I was growing up was ‘The Waltons’. The show’s values comforted me, and I identified with John-Boy, the sensitive son who wanted to be a writer. He belonged there on the mountain with his family, yet he sensed that he was different and that he was often misunderstood. Sometimes I still feel like a misfit, even with gay people.”—Connie Sanders, Illinois “Agriculture is my life. I like working with farm people, although they don’t really understand me. When I retire I want the word to get out [that I’m gay] to the people I’ve worked with—the dairy producers, the veterinarians, the feed salesmen, the guys at the co-ops. They’re going to be shocked, but their eyes are going to be opened.”—James Heckman, Indiana
Limping through Life A Farm Boy’s Polio Memoir Jerry Apps “Families throughout the United States lived in fear of polio throughout the late 1940s and early 1950s, and now the disease had come to our farm. I can still remember that short winter day and the chilly night when I first showed symptoms. My life would never be the same.” —from the Introduction Polio was epidemic in the United States starting in 1916. By the 1930s, quarantines and school closings were becoming common, as isolation was one of the only ways to fight the disease. The Sauk vaccine was not available until 1955; in that year, Wisconsin’s Fox River valley had more polio cases per capita than anywhere in the United States. In his most personal book, Jerry Apps, who contracted polio at age twelve, reveals how the disease affected him physically and emotionally, profoundly influencing his education, military service, and family life and setting him on the path to becoming a professional writer. A hardworking farm kid who loved playing softball, young Jerry Apps would have to make many adjustments and meet many challenges after that winter night he was stricken with a debilitating, sometimes fatal illness. In Limping through Life he explores the ways his world changed after polio and pays tribute to those family members, teachers, and friends who helped him along the way.
With this Dickensian tale from America’s heartland, New York Times writer and columnist Dan Barry tells the harrowing yet uplifting story of the exploitation and abuse of a resilient group of men with intellectual disability, and the heroic efforts of those who helped them to find justice and reclaim their lives. In the tiny Iowa farm town of Atalissa, dozens of men, all with intellectual disability and all from Texas, lived in an old schoolhouse. Before dawn each morning, they were bussed to a nearby processing plant, where they eviscerated turkeys in return for food, lodging, and $65 a month. They lived in near servitude for more than thirty years, enduring increasing neglect, exploitation, and physical and emotional abuse—until state social workers, local journalists, and one tenacious labor lawyer helped these men achieve freedom. Drawing on exhaustive interviews, Dan Barry dives deeply into the lives of the men, recording their memories of suffering, loneliness and fleeting joy, as well as the undying hope they maintained despite their traumatic circumstances. Barry explores how a small Iowa town remained oblivious to the plight of these men, analyzes the many causes for such profound and chronic negligence, and lays out the impact of the men’s dramatic court case, which has spurred advocates—including President Obama—to push for just pay and improved working conditions for people living with disabilities. A luminous work of social justice, told with compassion and compelling detail, The Boys in the Bunkhouse is more than just inspired storytelling. It is a clarion call for a vigilance that ensures inclusion and dignity for all.