Author Description

"Regionalism at its best. A wonderfully entertaining book, stuffed with sparkling and insightful stories, yarns, and sketches." Richard W. Eutulain Professor Emeritus of History and former director of the Center for the American West If it is true that a region is defined by its people and their culture, then Jim Hoy and Tom Isern have taken a second giant step in defining the Great Plains. Plains Folk II: The Romance of the Landscape continues that story. As in the first volume, Plains Folk: A Commonplace of the Great Plains, the authors write about hardy plains dwellers-a rare breed who feel out of place anywhere except on the prairie-and their cultural heritage, derived from many countries in both the Old World and the New. Here are stories about plains folklore, animals, food, lifestyles, and artifacts in a land of buttermilk and blabs, Bigfoot and bindweed. Sharing their experiences of the plains region, Hoy and Isern convey their sense of place and their affection for the area. They see beauty in landscapes that others, used to mountains or forests, deem barren. They look beyond the seemingly flat surface into the lives and culture of those who turned the Great American Desert into the Garden of the World. Jim Hoy, professor of English at Emporia State University, writes about Flint Hills history and folklife. Tom Isern, professor of History at North Dakota State University, writes on farming, ranching, and rural life on the plains. They are coauthors of the newspaper column "Plains Folk" and Plains Folk: A Commonplace of the Great Plains.