I Want to Be Laura

Is anyone else out there a big Little House on the Prairie fan?  (And I am talking both the books and the television series).

I know you will be so surprised to hear that I grew up while Little House on the Prairie was on television,  as I’m sure you thought I was much too young to have grown up in the seventies and eighties (ahem), however I did, and I looked forward to Monday nights at 8:00 p.m. even more than I looked forward to the Facts of Life/Love Boat night, and that’s saying a lot.  I will never forget watching Mary go blind, being on the edge of my seat when Laura was on the runaway caboose, and relishing the never-ending feuds between Laura and Nellie.  I cried when Laura’s baby brother died and the blind school burned down and Mary’s baby died (lots of deaths on LHOP).  I wanted Ma and Pa to be my parents (no offense intended, mom and dad)…Ma, so sweet and forgiving; Pa, so fun and full of good advice.  At one point in middle school, I had my future children named:  Charles, Caroline, Mary, Laura, Carrie, and Grace. 

When I was in third grade, my Aunt Carol bought me Little House in the Big Woods for Christmas and I was hooked.  I saved up my money over the years and bought each book in the series as soon as I could afford it and I read my way through Laura’s pioneer triumphs, trials and tribulations.  When I moved into my own apartment at the age of 22, all alone, the first night by myself I was scared.  I pulled out my Little House books and read my way through the series again and by the time I was finished a few days later, I had gotten used to the night sounds and wasn’t so scared anymore.  Maddie loves the books too.  My old copies were mildewed and falling apart, but luckily I had found her a complete set at a yard sale when she was two (I just knew she’d be a fan).

I’ve also read lots of other Laura Ingalls Wilder books over the years, ones she published for adults about her life and journeys after those first horrible four years of marriage, and books written by other authors about Laura and LHOP.  I am a true fan.

So can you guess how excited I am about this new book:  The Wilder Life, My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie?  The author, Wendy McClure, and her husband, spent many months exploring Laura’s world:  they waded in Plum Creek, they toured her homestead in De Smet, South Dakota, and even headed to the Wilder farm in New York state.  Can I tell you how much I want to do that too, now?  <Stop rolling your eyes, honey, I won’t make you go> And I will probably never get to all these place (although wouldn’t that be a great idea for a tour?  I would sign up for the LHOP tour in a heartbeat!) but I can read the book. 

By the way, I also recently read Prairie Tale: A Memoir, and it was a pretty juicy account of Melissa Gilbert’s life before, during, and after the filming of LHOP.  The book was a bit gossipy, but there was a lot of fun information about the cast and filming of LHOP, the different guest stars on the show, and how Melissa came to be Laura.  And then it degrades quickly into Laura’s wild Hollywood teenage years etc. etc., but the first two thirds of the book were riveting to a Little House fanatic.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to churn some butter and darn some socks.