Publisher's Note

Joy Baker (L) and Patty Wetterling (R) launch Dear Jacob at Talk of the Stacks. Photo credit: Rick Orndorf

October is a month of change and transition. Seasons shift, holidays approach, weather turns—and new books arrive on the shelves. At the Minnesota Historical Society Press, we are happy to take this time to appreciate the moment. In August two beautiful new children’s books were released. The Great Get-Together by Karlyn Coleman and Cori Doerrfeld made a big splash at the Minnesota State Fair. Can’t Nobody Make a Sweet Potato Pie Like Our Mama! by Rose McGee and Christopheraaron Deanes is here in time for gift giving, and for holiday feasting, thanks to the recipe included in the book! Plums or Nuts by Larry Amik Smallwood and Michael Migizi Sullivan Sr. records humorous stories told by a beloved Ojibwe elder. Lee Obizaan Staples and Chato Ombishkebines Gonzalez continue their valuable preservation and educational work in three recent releases. Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl, a writer with a heart of gold and Minnesota’s savviest commentator, collects her newest and best essays in The Essential Dear Dara. Peg Meier's bestseller Bring Warm Clothes returns in a new outfit just in time for winter. Fall has many more awe-inspiring, heart-tugging, and powerful events ahead, including more noteworthy titles from MNHS Press. Thank you for taking time with us to savor the moment.

New Releases

Patty Wetterling’s long-awaited memoir, Dear Jacob, cowritten with Joy Baker,  is now available for purchase. The book’s release has been marked by a documentary on ABC’s news program 20/20 and a feature article in People magazine. 

Patty Wetterling with Joy Baker

Dear Jacob: A Mother’s Journey of Hope

Hardcover, $29.95

With stunning detail, Patty Wetterling shares the untold story of the 27-year search for her son Jacob—and its astonishing conclusion.

In Minnesota and beyond, Jacob’s kidnapping forever changed the way parents raised their children. Dear Jacob offers not only a behind-the-scenes account of one of America’s most notorious crimes, but also a historical account of what has been done in the years since Jacob’s kidnapping to better protect children.

Events

Twin Cities Metro

• 10/28/2023, 10:00 AM, Dear Jacob, Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church, Minneapolis, with authors Patty Wetterling and Joy Baker
• 11/1/2023, 5:00 PM, Voices from Pejuhutazizi, 3M Auditorium, Minnesota History Center, with authors Teresa Peterson and Walter LaBatte Jr.
• 11/3/2023, 7:00 PM, Following My Spirit Home, Birchbark Bizhiw, with author Sam Zimmerman
• 11/4/2023, 10:30 AM, Can't Nobody Make a Sweet Potato Pie Like Our Mama!, Red Balloon Bookshop, with author Rose McGee and illustrator Christopheraaron Deanes
• 11/9/2023, 7:00 PM, Dear Jacob, Excelsior Bay Bookstore, with authors Patty Wetterling and Joy Baker
• 11/10/2023, 7:00 PM, Plums or Nuts, Birchbark Bizhiw, Minneapolis, with author Michael Migizi Sullivan Sr.
• 11/14/2023, 7:00 PM, Euphoric Recall,  Electric Fetus, with author Peter Jesperson
• 11/15/2023, 6:00 PM, Spirits Dancing, Mill City Museum, with author Travis Novitsky

Greater Minnesota

• 10/24/2023, 6:00 PM, Dear Jacob, Bookstore at Fitger's, Duluth, with authors Patty Wetterling and Joy Baker
• 10/26/2023, 6:00 PM, Dear Jacob, New London-Spicer High School's Performing Arts Center, New London, MN, with authors Patty Wetterling and Joy Baker
• 11/2/2023, 5:00 PM, Dear Jacob, Bad Habit Brewing, St. Joseph, MN, with authors Patty Wetterling and Joy Baker
• 11/4/2023, noon, Dear Jacob, Barnes and Noble, St. Cloud, with authors Patty Wetterling and Joy Baker
• 11/6/2023, 7:00 PM, Dear Jacob, Waseca Public Library, with authors Patty Wetterling and Joy Baker

National

• 11/3/2023, 6:00 PM, Euphoric Recall, Easy Street Records, Seattle, with author Peter Jesperson
• 11/4/2023, 3:00 PM, Euphoric Recall, Music Millennium, Portland, OR, with author Peter Jesperson
• 11/9/2023, TBD, Euphoric Recall, Stories Books, Los Angeles, with author Peter Jesperson

In the Media

20/20 Documentary, Dear Jacob, featuring Patty Wetterling and Joy Baker

People magazine feature, Dear Jacob, October 20, 2023

Review in Minneapolis Star Tribune, Dear Jacob, October 18

MNHS Press book trailer for Dear Jacob

Talk of the Stacks with Patty Wetterling and Joy Baker at Minneapolis Central Library

Patty Wetterling featured on KARE 11, KSTP, TPT Almanac, FM 107, and more

Noteworthy

MNHS Press is partnering with Understand Native Minnesota to distribute free copies of Voices from Pejuhutazizi by Teresa Peterson and Walter LaBatte Jr. to K–12 classrooms and school libraries throughout the state. 

Voices from Pejuhutazizi on MPR

Voices from Pejuhutazizi in the Minneapolis Star Tribune

New in MNopedia

Lacemaking at Birch Coulee, 1893–1926

The lace-making school that operated at Birch Coulee at the turn of the twentieth century is an important part of the history of the Lower Sioux Indian Community. Although the school was an extension of the assimilation efforts directed towards Dakota people in the late 1800s, the Birch Coulee lace-makers used the project to support their community, and to continue a long tradition of communal artmaking among Dakota women.

Minnesota State Seal

The Great Seal of Minnesota was created by men who tied their fortunes to the progress (as they defined it) and settlement of the state, often at the expense of Native Americans. Since the late 1960s, critics of the seal have argued that its imagery reflects an anti–Native American bias. Recent calls to change the seal’s design have sparked new conversations about the symbols that best represent twenty-first-century Minnesota.

New in Minnesota History magazine

In this Fall 2023 issue of Minnesota History, we have gathered articles that tell the various stories of home: 

• A commitment to preserve homes and memories of the Linden Hill estate in Alexander Ames’s article, "Mansions of Memories."
• Colleges and seminaries as temporary homes for students, as told by Mark Granquist in "The Other Luther Seminary in Minnesota."
• Two important community spaces that illustrate the concept of "third places": Noah Barth writes on the Onyx Bar in Minneapolis and Greg Gaut and Marsha Neff detail the Worthington Armory. 
• Writing home, an almost daily task for soldiers fighting wars, was a way to describe "hopes, fears, and friendships." William Convery spotlights the Leland Rowberg Papers and Rowberg’s service and sacrifice in World War II. 

If you're not a member, why not become one and get Minnesota History delivered to your door as part of your membership? You can also sign up for an individual subscription to the magazine at our MNHS Shop.

Forthcoming Releases

Spirits Dancing: The Night Sky, Indigenous Knowledge, and Living Connections to the Cosmos
Travis Novitsky, Photography
Annette S. Lee, Text

An exploration of human connection to the aurora, the Milky Way, and the wonder of the universe above us, with gorgeous photographs by a master photographer.

Euphoric Recall: A Half Century as a Music Fan, Producer, DJ, Record Executive, and Tastemaker
Peter Jesperson 

Record executive, producer, band manager, club DJ, booking advisor, record store manager—few people had as deep an impact on the Twin Cities alternative and indie rock scene as Peter Jesperson.

Bestselling Backlist