R . Lee Ingalls carries on family tradition of writing
JACOB WANDERSEE
Staff Writer
When you are a descendent of the famous author Laura Ingalls Wilder , who penned the series of “ Little House ” children ’ s books , writing just might be in your blood .
R . Lee Ingalls sought to tell a story that would continue the legacy of the Ingalls name into a new generation .
“ Once you become aware of that family connection , it plants a seed that someday , you , too , might write a book ,” Ingalls said .
After about a decade of pondering ideas , he started with the mindset of writing his own story . He started researching his grandparents and parents , and found that his parents ’ story was much more compelling than his own , making it the right story to tell .
That story became “ Ingalls on the Prairie ; The Gene and Fern Ingalls Story .”
The writing process
Ingalls got to work on writing the story of his mother Fern , now 88 years old and a resident at Cokato Manor , and his father Gene . Although he had no formal experience in writing a book , Ingalls was determined to get it done .
“ I ’ m kind of a storyteller . I do a better job of telling the storylines , and several people helped me edit them into book form .”
The book was started more than a year ago , and progress was slow at first . However , the COVID-19 pandemic discontinued the project Ingalls was working on as a contractor , which allowed him free time to finish the book fairly quickly .
To write the book , Ingalls needed to collaborate with his mother Fern in Cokato while he wrote from his home in Houston , Tx . The best way to do this was through countless hours on the phone and sending hard copies through the mail .
“ There were a bazillion edits ,” Ingalls said . “ It took a long time , required a lot of research , our family has quite the history in the US . I wanted to capture as
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������������������������������� much of that as I possibly could , and wanted to make sure that everything was correct .”
This meant that Ingalls would write a chapter and mail a hard copy to Fern . Who would take a look at it , add any details that were missing , correct any information that was wrong and mail it back to Texas . That would be done multiple times for each chapter until things were finally settled .
“ We are under a lockdown at Cokato Manor , so I had plenty of time to work through the edits and chapters whenever he needed it ,” Fern said . “ He sent me each chapter to make sure he had it right and 99 percent of the time , he had it right .”
Ingalls noted that he was “ a little thick headed ” and Fern had to remind him a couple of times to make corrections , but overall , the experience went smoothly .
“ How thrilling is it to work on a project like that with your mother ? It was an absolute pleasure and is something that I ’ ll never forget ,” Ingalls said .
After everything got the final ok from Fern , the book was set to be published . Ingalls choose Amazon to publish his book in order to keep complete creative control over the story and copyrights for future use .
“ It wasn ’ t difficult at all to work with Amazon ,” Ingalls shared . “ Traditional publishers typically want to buy the story , pay you and sometimes you get a royalty . Then you are done . I wanted this one to be a lasting legacy for our family , so I couldn ’ t let the control of the copyrights go .”
The only challenge that Ingalls mentioned was that he gained a new appreciation for authors and the process they have to go through to get a book completed and published .
A changed perspective
Writing a book about Fern and Gene was powerful in changing the perspective Lee had of his parents .
“ I never let my mom and dad be anything other than my mother and father ,” Ingalls stated . “ My mother was a young girl , my father a young boy , they came together as a young couple and built a family together .” At the base of the book is the love story that built the Ingalls family .
While Lee was learning a lot about his family history , Fern was both learning and reminiscing while
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“ He did such a good job of looking up backgrounds and going into details about things that happened , and of course raising eight children , a lot of things happened ,” Fern said . “ He found a lot of information and family history , some that I didn ’ t even know or had forgotten .”
From Gene ’ s parents
R . Lee Ingalls new book is about his parents Fern and Gene Ingalls .
SUBMITTED PHOTO
not originally blessing his relationship with Fern , to Lee ’ s brother Kurt almost drowning when they were children , to their house flooding in the 1960s due to the flooding of the Mississippi River , a lifetime of events were documented in this book .
“ Children nowadays , they don ’ t realize what was going on that long ago and that so many things have changed ,” Fern said . “ It is good to read it to see what people went through during their lives .”
Future work
Now retired from his full-time job , Ingalls is planning to add some more titles to his resume with his first book now completed .
“ I already have a second book in process and an idea or plan for two more after that ,” Ingalls stated .
These ideas include more family history with different time periods or viewpoints . One idea is a collaborative book where each of his seven siblings write their own story to meld together as one cohesive book .
The feedback so far has been positive from the family , the editors and people who have already purchased the book , which is available on Amazon for $ 17.99 .
“ Laura Ingalls Wilder , her first book was published when she was only a year younger than I am ,” Lee , 67 years old , noted . “ Laura created a legacy and I want to continue that into a new generation .”
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