The Moderator Blog

BY SCOTT MORRISON

It takes a certain degree of difficulty to meld the rugged nature of ranching with the harmonious structures of writing, but when such a task is completed the outcome proves captivating.

Looking forward to Linda Hasselstrom’s visit to Mount Marty College, audiences have an opportunity to experience this.

Hasselstrom visits MMC on April 8 bringing with her a collection of writing unique to the Great Plains region.

Given the nature of literature, every writer featured in the Great Plains Writers’ Tour at MMC adds their own sense of identity. However, Hasselstrom adds an element rarely used among present day writers.

In fact, her ability to capture a woman’s perspective of rustic life in South Dakota renders her as a perfect match amongst writers noted for their originalities.

Growing up on a ranch in the Black Hills of South Dakota and spending a majority of her life rustling cattle, Hasselstrom imagines herself as “a permanent student of the Great Plains grasslands.”

Born in Texas in 1943, Hasselstrom moved with her family to a farm in South Dakota.
At the age of nine she began to keep a journal of her family’s farm life.

Earning Bachelor’s Degrees in both English and Journalism at the University of South Dakota, she moved on to receive her Master’s Degree in American Literature at Christian College in Missouri.

Working with various publishing companies, Hasselstrom continued to write until she had established herself.

Taking the journals that she wrote in her early childhood, she completed her first masterpiece called Windbreak: A Woman Rancher on the Northern Plains.

Though the labor from her ranch provided much of her financial support, Hasselstrom found glory after she was named South Dakota Author of the Year in 1989.

As she continues to write, Hasselstrom recognizes that her writing uses the plains as a final frontier.

Though she has moved onto to life outside of the farm, Hasselstrom still preserves her ranch house as a writing retreat for women called the Windrbreak House.
Now, as Hasselstrom prepares her journey to MMC, she does so keeping in mind that South Dakota will always be her home.

Hasselstrom will read in the afternoon for the MMC students. She plans on a separate reading in Marian Auditorium in the evening.