Bearlodge Writers stages open house Sept. 15 for Gaydell Collier's memoir

Press release from Andi Hummel in Crook County:

Ever wonder what it would be like to toss out the television; cook every meal on an old wood cook stove; tiptoe in the dark of night, flashlight in hand, down the path to the outhouse? Gaydell Collier, retired Crook County librarian, can tell you.

Bearlodge Writers invites you to join in at an open house celebration of Collier’s new memoir, "Just Beyond Harmony," at the Community Room of the Crook County Library in Sundance on September 15, 5-8 p.m. You’re sure to enjoy the stories of the move Gaydell, her husband Roy, and their four children made cross-country, transitioning from Vermont to Wyoming in the 1960s. Intent upon living a self-reliant, homestead-style existence they experienced their “great experiment” in a little cabin not far from Harmony, near Laramie.

Collier has previously proven her outstanding authoring and editing skills with such notable books as "Basic Horse Care," "Basic Training for Horses," and "Basic Horsemanship: English and Western" (co-authored with Eleanor F Prince), and "Leaning Into the Wind," "Woven on the Wind," and "Crazy Woman Creek" (co-edited with Linda Hasselstrom and Nancy Curtis). She now takes the opportunity to allow her wit, patience, and determination to show through in a memoir. Readers will laugh at her sharing of cabin life. They’ll dance along with her as she wrestles the disconnected chimney pipe from that old kitchen stove; look over her shoulder as she patiently waits for the black ooze that gurgles from the kitchen pump to shift from “gunk that slithered down the drain with reluctance” to drinkable water; and go with her to the river to seek solace, to renew patience, and to make ready for the next day.

Published by High Plains Press, the paperback edition of "Just Beyond Harmony" will be available at the signing for $17.95 plus tax. Remaining copies of the limited hardcover edition will also be offered for sale at the time of the signing for $35.00 plus tax. The book is also available through local bookstores, from High Plains Press (1-800-552-7819 or www.highplainspress.com), and from Backpocket Books (ph. 1-307-283-2665).