Section 27: A Century on a Family Farm |
Buy Section 27: A Century on a Family Farm here, one of 749 Kansas History books offered for sale at discount prices here in the history books section at R bookshop. There are currently 72649 history books in our history books section, and over 1,000,000 books listed in our book store. We greatly appreciate your patronage at R bookshop and look forward to offering you a large selection of great books at discount prices now and in the future. Thank you for shopping at R Bookshop!
|
You Are Here: Home > History Books > Kansas History > Item 187
 |
Section 27: A Century on a Family Farm
|
by Mil Penner
Sales Rank: 1486053
|
List Price: $24.95
$24.95
At Amazon
on 6-18-2008.
|
|
|
|
Features
Cover Type: Hard Cover with 232 pages
Published by: University Press of Kansas October 2002
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 0700611967
ISBN 13 Number: 978-0700611966
Book Dimensions:
8.9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
Weighs: 1.1 pounds
Book Description
Smack in the middle of Kansas, Section 27 in McPherson County has been occupied by the Penner family since 1874. Although few of the areas residents have direct ties to the past, Mil Penner still farms the land that his family has worked for over 125 years. His account of daily life on a Mennonite family farm near Inman, Kansas, retells a universal story of the American heartland sharpened by personal accounts of one familys enduring relationship to the land.
In this collection of brief, evocative vignettes, Penner traces the influence of pioneer roots on the present generation as he chronicles the transformation of the land from untouched prairie to productive farm. As a boy, young Mil rubbed shoulders with the very pioneers who tamed the prairies and he now draws on those recollections and memories passed on by his father to make the past come alive.
Through Penners accounts, readers will discover a miniature universe through descriptions of breaking sod and harvesting, Mennonite customs and religion, education in a one-room school, and the evolution of farm equipment from horse-drawn to engine-powered plows. The story he tells is virtually a history of the settling of the West as seen from a farm, where getting through the hardships of the Dust Bowl and Depression needed faith as much as fortitude.
Told in a straightforward fashion befitting his family traditions, Section 27 tracks Penners development of ecological awareness and growing commitment to recapturing a simpler way of life. He has an innate gift for storytelling and a sharp memory for detail, and as one of the last generation to have experienced harvesting with a binder and threshing machine, he shows how the experience of family farming rewards with simple pleasures and joys. Through his expressive prose, even new-mown hay takes on remarkable dimensions.
In this journey of introspection, Penner reflects on how, when his great-grandfather first broke the sod on Section 27, it altered the land profoundly. Today, he takes an old tractor out to a small plot hes set aside and drops the plow, feeling a deep satisfaction in seeing the black soil roll and the birds swoop in for the insects hes stirred up. Although he sees the value in new agricultural methods, he cant help but ponder the direction in which progress is taking us. As our country moves away from its rural roots at an ever-accelerating pace, Section 27 is a signpost that makes us pause and reconsider that fading heritage before it is gone forever.
Back Cover Copy
"An extremely interesting and valuable memoir of life on a family farm and how that life changed over the course of a century and a quarter. In Section 27, Penner has created a universe in miniature in prose as fresh as the grass itself. . . . reminiscent of John Ises classic Sod and Stubble."--Jim Hoy, Director, Center for Great Plains Studies and author of The Cattle Guard and Cowboys and Kansas
"A powerful work that chronicles the transitions and maturation of a reflective farmer in central Kansas. Penner, an enthusiastic participant in the trans-formation of the prairie landscape, reconsiders what he has done and what he ought to do in relation to land and community. He is utterly effective as a voice of his place, his class, and his generation. He speaks with authenticity: this stuff rings true."--Tom Isern, author of Bull Threshers and Bindlestiffs: Harvesting and Threshing on the North American Plains
Back To Top
|
Section 27: A Century on a Family Farm
Available from Amazon
Price: $24.95
Updated on 6-18-2008.
|
NOTICE: All prices, availability, and specifications
are subject to verification by their respective retailers.
| We offer Section 27: A Century on a Family Farm and other related Kansas History Books here at Rbookshop.com. To view more books about Kansas History please use the previous and next buttons near the top of this page.
|
|
Search for books at
