I was so impressed with Laurie Loewenstein’s first Dust Bowl mystery, that I asked if I could interview her. Tomorrow, I review Death of a Rainmaker. Thank you, Laurie, for taking time for the questions.
Laurie,
Would you introduce yourself to readers?
Would you introduce yourself to readers?
I am a fifth generation Midwesterner from central and western
Ohio. My ancestors were farmers, butchers, salesmen and village merchants. My
first job after college and grad school (where I majored in history) was with a
small-town daily newspaper in Upstate New York as a feature and obituary
writer. Edith Wharton, Barbara Pym, Richard Price, Ruth Rendell, William Maxell,
Bruce Catton and Herman Melville fill places of honor on my bookshelves. After
living in eastern Pennsylvania for 25 years, I make my home in Maryland.
Ohio. My ancestors were farmers, butchers, salesmen and village merchants. My
first job after college and grad school (where I majored in history) was with a
small-town daily newspaper in Upstate New York as a feature and obituary
writer. Edith Wharton, Barbara Pym, Richard Price, Ruth Rendell, William Maxell,
Bruce Catton and Herman Melville fill places of honor on my bookshelves. After
living in eastern Pennsylvania for 25 years, I make my home in Maryland.
Please
introduce us to Sheriff Temple Jennings and his wife, Etha.
introduce us to Sheriff Temple Jennings and his wife, Etha.
Temple is an honest man trying to balance justice with
practicality in the hard times of the Great Depression. He detests standing
guard at farm foreclosures because he knows that most times it is not the
farmer’s fault that the land is not producing. But it is his duty as a lawman and
so he does it. He has a restless streak that took root when, as a young boy,
his family moved west after the Johnstown Flood in Pennsylvania’s Alleghany
Mountains. Since then his answer to grief and loss is to pack up and move on.
practicality in the hard times of the Great Depression. He detests standing
guard at farm foreclosures because he knows that most times it is not the
farmer’s fault that the land is not producing. But it is his duty as a lawman and
so he does it. He has a restless streak that took root when, as a young boy,
his family moved west after the Johnstown Flood in Pennsylvania’s Alleghany
Mountains. Since then his answer to grief and loss is to pack up and move on.
Etha is a tender-hearted piano teacher who has, for 15
years, mourned the death of her 8-year-old son.
When she sets her mind on something, such as advocating for an underdog,
Etha digs in her heels. She is not afraid to argue that sometimes the ends justify
the means. Moving from Vermillion, Oklahoma, where they live on the fourth
floor of the courthouse, back to Illinois, where their son is buried, is her
strongest desire.
years, mourned the death of her 8-year-old son.
When she sets her mind on something, such as advocating for an underdog,
Etha digs in her heels. She is not afraid to argue that sometimes the ends justify
the means. Moving from Vermillion, Oklahoma, where they live on the fourth
floor of the courthouse, back to Illinois, where their son is buried, is her
strongest desire.
Tell
us about Death of a Rainmaker, without spoilers.
us about Death of a Rainmaker, without spoilers.
When an itinerant rainmaker blows into Vermillion, Oklahoma,
he stirs up hope, skepticism and opens old wounds. That evening he puts on a
showy demonstration of his explosive techniques and promises to bring rain to
the drought-ridden county. He and three boys from the Civilian Conservation
Corp, a New Deal program for unemployed youth, retire to a local bar late that
night. A fight breaks out. Then the mightiest dust storm of the 1930s sweeps
into town the next day. After the storm passes, Chester, a blind man with a
proud and prickly nature, is clearing out the side exit of his movie theater
when he unearths the rainmaker’s body. Sheriff Jennings, who is running for
re-election in a tight primary race, struggles to solve the case. Farm foreclosures,
wandering tramps and other miseries of a years-long drought and the Depression,
make his job that much harder. When he arrests a young man from the Civilian
Conservation Corps, Etha, is convinced of the boy’s innocence and sets out to
prove it.
he stirs up hope, skepticism and opens old wounds. That evening he puts on a
showy demonstration of his explosive techniques and promises to bring rain to
the drought-ridden county. He and three boys from the Civilian Conservation
Corp, a New Deal program for unemployed youth, retire to a local bar late that
night. A fight breaks out. Then the mightiest dust storm of the 1930s sweeps
into town the next day. After the storm passes, Chester, a blind man with a
proud and prickly nature, is clearing out the side exit of his movie theater
when he unearths the rainmaker’s body. Sheriff Jennings, who is running for
re-election in a tight primary race, struggles to solve the case. Farm foreclosures,
wandering tramps and other miseries of a years-long drought and the Depression,
make his job that much harder. When he arrests a young man from the Civilian
Conservation Corps, Etha, is convinced of the boy’s innocence and sets out to
prove it.
The
setting is almost a character in your book. What drew you to the Dust Bowl as
the setting and time period?
setting is almost a character in your book. What drew you to the Dust Bowl as
the setting and time period?
My father was a shy
city boy from Cincinnati, descended from a long line of Jewish merchants and
grocers. Yet the jolting rhythm of a tractor, the fleshy udder of a cow ready
for milking, and the grassy smell of hay inexplicably called him. In 1949,
after earning a degree in
he pulled open the barn doors on his family’s old summer place and dug in. For
a while he made a go of it, helped along by neighboring farm families who took
pity on a young bachelor farmer.
But
farming is unforgiving. A stretch of bad weather, a sudden outbreak of the
avian flu, a busted disc on a cultivator can wipe out a farm’s profit in an
instant. Even after he married my mother, an efficient organizer who adhered to
a budget as tightly as twine to a hay bale, they went broke after five years
due to nothing more than bad luck.
farming is unforgiving. A stretch of bad weather, a sudden outbreak of the
avian flu, a busted disc on a cultivator can wipe out a farm’s profit in an
instant. Even after he married my mother, an efficient organizer who adhered to
a budget as tightly as twine to a hay bale, they went broke after five years
due to nothing more than bad luck.
In
2006 I read The Worst Hard Time by
Timothy Egan. It tells the stories of farmers and town folk who were overtaken
by the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. These were the people who stayed on the High
Plains, even as the land shifted under their feet, smothered their babies and
killed their livestock, while others, like Steinbeck’s fictional Joads, migrated
westward. I was awed by the stories of those who hunkered down and survived. I
read the book three times. As the daughter of a young farm couple who couldn’t
make it, the book stirred me deeply.
2006 I read The Worst Hard Time by
Timothy Egan. It tells the stories of farmers and town folk who were overtaken
by the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. These were the people who stayed on the High
Plains, even as the land shifted under their feet, smothered their babies and
killed their livestock, while others, like Steinbeck’s fictional Joads, migrated
westward. I was awed by the stories of those who hunkered down and survived. I
read the book three times. As the daughter of a young farm couple who couldn’t
make it, the book stirred me deeply.
My
response was to write a novel set in that time and place. A mystery novel–for
the High Plains in the 1930s were, after all, a place of social unrest, violent
and destructive dust storms that turned day into night…and fear. Death of a Rainmaker also taps into my
abiding fascination with history. It is a tale about the endless ripples of an
individual’s past, pushing onward until the last breath.
response was to write a novel set in that time and place. A mystery novel–for
the High Plains in the 1930s were, after all, a place of social unrest, violent
and destructive dust storms that turned day into night…and fear. Death of a Rainmaker also taps into my
abiding fascination with history. It is a tale about the endless ripples of an
individual’s past, pushing onward until the last breath.
Death
of a Rainmaker is your first mystery, but not your first book. Would you tell
us about your publishing journey? Every author’s experience is different.
of a Rainmaker is your first mystery, but not your first book. Would you tell
us about your publishing journey? Every author’s experience is different.
After spending most of my professional life as a
small-town reporter and, later, a public relations writer, I wanted to try my
hand at writing fiction. At age 53 I completed a master’s degree in creative
writing at Wilkes University, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., during which time I wrote the
first draft of a novel. It was set in 1911 and was based on my grandmother’s
childhood in Texas. Despite signing with an agent, I was unable to sell it. It
sits on a high shelf in my basement. My second attempt resulted in the
publication of Unmentionables, a
historical novel set in 1917 about a women’s dress reform advocate on the
Traveling Chautauqua circuit. The publisher, Akashic Books, a small but mighty
press, took a chance on me. Mine was the first book published under Akashic’s
imprint, Kaylie Jones Books, whose motto is “Dedicated Writers Taking a Stand.”
Kaylie Jones was one of my professors at Wilkes University and championed me
and my writing.
small-town reporter and, later, a public relations writer, I wanted to try my
hand at writing fiction. At age 53 I completed a master’s degree in creative
writing at Wilkes University, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., during which time I wrote the
first draft of a novel. It was set in 1911 and was based on my grandmother’s
childhood in Texas. Despite signing with an agent, I was unable to sell it. It
sits on a high shelf in my basement. My second attempt resulted in the
publication of Unmentionables, a
historical novel set in 1917 about a women’s dress reform advocate on the
Traveling Chautauqua circuit. The publisher, Akashic Books, a small but mighty
press, took a chance on me. Mine was the first book published under Akashic’s
imprint, Kaylie Jones Books, whose motto is “Dedicated Writers Taking a Stand.”
Kaylie Jones was one of my professors at Wilkes University and championed me
and my writing.
What
drew you to the mystery/crime fiction genre?
drew you to the mystery/crime fiction genre?
As an avid reader of mystery, crime and true crime
books, I wanted to try my hand at a classic who-done-it. I tried to write the
type of book I like to read – one with a mystery to solve, clues for the reader,
a compelling cast of characters, and a small-town setting in the first decades
of the 20th century.
books, I wanted to try my hand at a classic who-done-it. I tried to write the
type of book I like to read – one with a mystery to solve, clues for the reader,
a compelling cast of characters, and a small-town setting in the first decades
of the 20th century.
Would
you tell us about your next book?
you tell us about your next book?
I am hopeful that Death
of a Rainmaker is the first in a series. I have plotted out the next story,
which picks up four months after Death of
a Rainmaker, when Vermillion is beset with both a train wreck and a murder
within days of one another.
of a Rainmaker is the first in a series. I have plotted out the next story,
which picks up four months after Death of
a Rainmaker, when Vermillion is beset with both a train wreck and a murder
within days of one another.
What
authors influence you?
authors influence you?
Glancing at my bookcase for thoughts on this, I feel
as if my influences are all over the map. I certainly am devoted to novels set
in the Midwest and West in the early decades of the 20th century, so
that authors such as William Maxwell, Sinclair Lewis, James Jones, Toni
Morrison and Ray Bradbury come to mind. Literary masters such as Flaubert,
Nabokov, and Tolstoy push me to set the bar as high as I can.
as if my influences are all over the map. I certainly am devoted to novels set
in the Midwest and West in the early decades of the 20th century, so
that authors such as William Maxwell, Sinclair Lewis, James Jones, Toni
Morrison and Ray Bradbury come to mind. Literary masters such as Flaubert,
Nabokov, and Tolstoy push me to set the bar as high as I can.
Name
an author or book that you wish had received more attention.
an author or book that you wish had received more attention.
Housekeeping
by Marilynne Robinson.
by Marilynne Robinson.
I
end my interviews with the same question. I’m a librarian. Would you tell us a
story about a library or librarian in your life?
end my interviews with the same question. I’m a librarian. Would you tell us a
story about a library or librarian in your life?
This is a difficult question since there have been so
many libraries in my life – places of sanctuary, enlightenment and comfort as I
moved from place to place. The small shelf of Little Golden Books at nursery
school; the book-filled niche at the First Presbyterian Church where the church
librarian was a friend of Tasha Tudor; my elementary school library where I
discovered Twenty-One Balloons and Tom’s Midnight Garden.
many libraries in my life – places of sanctuary, enlightenment and comfort as I
moved from place to place. The small shelf of Little Golden Books at nursery
school; the book-filled niche at the First Presbyterian Church where the church
librarian was a friend of Tasha Tudor; my elementary school library where I
discovered Twenty-One Balloons and Tom’s Midnight Garden.
When I was in fifth grade, my hometown’s Carnegie
Library sponsored an essay contest: Describe
Your Favorite Character. I was a shy, bookish child. My teacher encouraged
me to enter the contest. I wrote an essay about Eloise, the title character in
the book by Kay Thompson with delicious illustrations by Hilary Knight. My
teacher, Mrs. Felton, marked my paper up with red ink and gently asked for a
re-write. Looking back, I believe I must have re-written that piece at least
six times. My essay was awarded second place. I am forever grateful to the
library and to Mrs. Felton for providing me with that first, heady dose of self-confidence
and for whispering in my ear “You can write.”
Library sponsored an essay contest: Describe
Your Favorite Character. I was a shy, bookish child. My teacher encouraged
me to enter the contest. I wrote an essay about Eloise, the title character in
the book by Kay Thompson with delicious illustrations by Hilary Knight. My
teacher, Mrs. Felton, marked my paper up with red ink and gently asked for a
re-write. Looking back, I believe I must have re-written that piece at least
six times. My essay was awarded second place. I am forever grateful to the
library and to Mrs. Felton for providing me with that first, heady dose of self-confidence
and for whispering in my ear “You can write.”
Thank you, again, Laurie. I hope the rest of you come back tomorrow for my review of Death of a Rainmaker.
Laurie Loewenstein’s website is https://laurieloewenstein.com/
Thank you for the interview. I just purchased the book from Better World Books since our library does not have it. I had read about the book elsewhere and was intrigued then and you just confirmed it.
Keep these wonderful interviews coming.
I really want to read this book! And the interview was great, Lesa. Thanks for introducing us to Laurie. I loved hearing about her research and, as I'm from Texas, I'm very curious about the 'book still on the shelf' relating her grandmother's childhood in Texas. My grandparents, all 4 of them, lived through the Dust Bowl in the Texas Panhandle. My Dad's folks were farm people, my mother's town people. They all stayed in the area afterwards. Times were indeed hard. My paternal grandmother though always thought the Texas Panhandle was the most beautiful place on earth.
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Thanks for the kind comments about the interview. As I said, the book really impressed me, so I asked Laurie if I could interview her. I'm looking forward to the next in the series. (sigh) Don't you hate having to wait a year?
I enjoyed your visit with us today.
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Feeling much gratitude for this interview, Lesa. Your questions made me think…in a good way! Looking forward to meeting up for coffee in June. Regarding Kay's remarks about Texas, my grandmother was from Fort Worth and orphaned at a young age.