Foreword by Michael Perry xi
Preface xiii
Introduction: From the Garden State to the Garden of Eden 3
Part 1: The Accidental Agriculturalist 16
Of Poetry and Planting: Farmers in Springtime 19
The Farm That Love Built: Helen and Paul Lute 23
I'd Know That Face Anywhere: Cliff and Shelly Keepers 29
I've Always Been Lucky: The Ballad of Herman Tronrud 35
My Apologies, Mr. President: Wherein Our Hero Fails to Outsmart Jerry Ford 41
The World by the Tail with a Downhill Pull: Katie and Erhardt Schultz 47
Part 2: Ageless 62
Try Not to Be Boring: Emma Washa 65
Love Is Still Love, Even When It's Frozen: Edna Koenig 73
Beautiful Ballerinas, Heavenly Holsteins: The Life and Loves of Schomer Lichtner 79
Larger Than Life, Suddenly Small: Eric Lloyd Wright 85
Part 3: The Dark Side of Paradise 92
Tragedy without Reason: The Eerie Calm of John Norton 97
The Pain of Never Knowing: Mary Wegner 105
Living with the "Enemy": Bill Fero 113
The Truth Will Out: The Short, Unhappy Life of Emmanuel Dannan 118
The Banality of Evil: Jerry Boyle and the Defense of Jeffrey Dahmer 124
Part 4: Not Quite Plumb 136
"I'm So Happy It's Just Terrible!": Woodrow Wilson Roberts 139
The Frogman Cometh: Art Gering and the Astounding Amphibian Invasion 145
Big Brats, Tiny Trophies: Dennis Leffin and the Wondrous White Sausage 150
Dignity in Motion: Jim Herther and the World's Greatest Car Wash 155
Nearly Naked, Seeking Snow: In Wisconsin, That's Amore 160
Farewell, My Doboy: Kissing Alex P. Dobish Good-Bye 164
Part 5: Animals? Yes!! People? Not So Much. 172
The Elephant in the Room 175
Bo Knows 180
Oh, Deer: The Anna Mae Bauer Story 183
Part 6: Your Lucky Day 190
Poems from the Edge: Ellen Kort 193
Short in Stature, Long on Courage: Joe Bee Xiong 199
Making Beautiful Music: Steve O'Donnell 205
A Naturalist's Journey: Ken Lange 210
Running for Help: Sue Birschbach and Barb Klinner 216
You Can' t Tattoo a Soap Bubble: Evelyn Ann Fefer 223
The Road to Redemption: Ed Thompson 229
A Million Miles to Go: Don and Cathryn Tredinnick 235
Postscript 243
Acknowledgments 245
