The importance of stories

During Friday's session of Literary Lunches, reader Dawn Botsford emphasized the importance of story.

And Botsford read from Growing Up on Cole Creek---Or Was It Just a Coulee? by Jeannette Roder Klevberg, Botsford's mother. Chronicled in this work are stories about Klevberg's youth, including that when Klevberg went to Grand Forks Central in 1948, her family got their first refrigerator. Klevberg rented a bedroom in Grand Forks, so she could attend high school in the "big town" of Grand Forks. During her time at GFC, she lived in a rented bedroom, ate at Black Cafe's in downtown Grand Forks and kept a diary of her boyfriends. And, in school, students participated in penmanship class and weekly spelling bees.

Klevberg finished her book six months before she died and turned it over to Botsford and her siblings for editing, proofreading, photos and formatting. Klevberg's family self-published the book and donated the proceeds to the American Cancer Society; the second printing proceeds were donated to Ethiopia Reads. Books from the third printing are left to sell, with a variety of organizations set to receive the profits.

Kleberg told Botsford that she had at least two more books to write, something that perhaps informs Botsford's belief in the power of story.

"I would encourage you to interview your grandparents and write those stories down. If you don't write those stories down, they will be lost and we need those stories, " Botsford said.

Botsford is an events coordinator in the office of ceremonies and special events at UND, located in the office of the vice president for student affairs. She grew up on a farm near Northwood and got both her bachelor's and master's degrees at UND. Her son, Tom, graduated from GFC in 2006.