Author

Today I attended a book signing/lecture at the library by J. Ryan Stradal. He spoke for about an hour about his passion in writing Midwestern books. He has published three books now including Saturday Night At The Lake Side Supper Club, The Lager Queen of Minnesota, and Kitchens Of The Great Midwest. He grew up in Hastings. He named and thanked his second grade teacher and school librarian for getting him started on reading. He went to school for multi media editing and did work for a time on television shows such as The Bachelorette and Storage Wars In Texas. After his mother died of cancer at age 55 he decided to process his grief by writing. She is in some of the characters in his books. She dreamed of writing a novel someday so he is doing this for her and to keep her memory alive. Several people in the audience were friends with his mother and they wore lacy shirts with pink flamingoes in her honor. The author was funny and humble and appreciative.

I took his photo of a stained glass window at the Winona County History Center.