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Book Was 60 Years In The Making

Photo by BRENDA REEVES

Marion S. Kundiger of Kings Point enjoys her first glimpse of her new release, ‘Izzie of Fergus Falls: a Minnesota Childhood of the 1880s,’ which was a surprise gift for her 90th birthday.

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By BARBARA ROUTEN

Tribune Correspondent

Published: September 23, 2008

Updated:

SUN CITY CENTER - Marion S. Kundiger of Kings Point started writing and illustrating a book nearly 60 years ago about her mother's childhood.

Her dream of seeing it in print was realized in July.

At an early, surprise 90th birthday celebration-family reunion July 25-27 in Sun City Center, Kundiger's daughter Jerri Garretson of Sun City Center presented her a full-color, hardbound copy of the book, "Izzie of Fergus Falls: A Minnesota Childhood of the 1880s."

Garretson, who owns Ravenstone Press, published the book as a surprise for her mother, who turned 90 on Sept. 10.

In 1949 Kundiger was reading a picture book to Garretson, who was then 2. She recalled saying to herself, "This is the stupidest book, and the illustrations are absolutely ugly! I can't even draw, and I can do better than that!"

So Kundiger started writing down stories her mother, Jeannette "Izzie" Isabella Caroline Anderson Swenson, told of her childhood in the 1880s in Fergus Falls, Minn. As early as 1951, Kundiger was sending the text to publishers, though none accepted it.

When Garretson and her siblings, Sherie Reeves of Lawton, Mich., Lannay Tull of Greenbelt, Md., and Donovan Kundiger of Pattaya, Thailand, were young, they loved the stories about Izzie. They enjoyed watching their mother paint the watercolor illustrations, which she learned to do by studying pictures in magazines.

By the late 1970s she had completed the book. Garretson shared with her children a typed copy of the tales that included photographs of the pictures her mother had painted. Garretson's children also were captivated by the stories and vivid pictures.

Garretson hoped to see her mother's book in print with the original watercolors.

"I was delighted when I discovered that digital printing technology had advanced to the point where my small company could afford to publish it," Garretson said. "Designing the book was a labor of love."

Garretson reproduced the heirloom not only for her mother and her family, but also for anyone interested in seeing what life was like for children in the 1880s.

When Garretson presented the book to her mother, Kundiger was ecstatic.

"She does amazing things!" Kundiger said about Garretson. "Oh, yes, I was surprised! I never dreamed of that. The stories are exactly like Mother told me."

Kundiger said that at her 80th birthday, Garretson gave her a revised copy of the stories with black-and-white line drawings and family photographs.

"She was delighted to have it in print," Garretson said, "but ever since then she has wished to see it in color with her illustrations."

Although 60 years is a long time to wait, the delay did not dissuade Kundiger from continuing to write. She is working on a six-chapter, junior high-level reference book about bamboo: "what it is, where it grows, what it's good for," she said.

Her interest in bamboo was piqued during her three visits to China and Thailand.

Everyone in the family knows that Mom "loves pandas and is fascinated with bamboo," said Garretson. Even Kundiger's 7-year-old great-granddaughter, Kimberly Kundiger of Virginia, knows that. Kimberly decorated a poster-sized birthday card with pandas for her great-grandmother.

A panda birthday cake was created for Kundiger by Darlene Garretson of Washington, wife of grandson Peter A. Garretson, who recently earned the National Space Society's 2008 Space Pioneer Award for Space Development. The cake featured marzipan bamboo stalks and one panda for each of Kundiger's 23 descendants.

Thirty-four people, including Kundiger, attended the gathering, with three coming from as far away as Thailand. Present were Kundiger's four children and the spouses of three of them; nine grandchildren (there were 10 before the younger Garretson son died in April) with six of their spouses; nine great-grandchildren, including the youngest, 5-month-old Sydney Jepson of Pittsburg, Kan.; and two unofficial members of the family.

Chad McFarland of Overland Park, Kan., husband of Kundiger's granddaughter Holly Kundiger McFarland, designed reunion T-shirts for the clan. A round, colorful view of the earth under the words "Kundiger Reunion" reflected the family's international flavor.

The Kundiger family housed many foreign students from Kansas State University through the years, Garretson said. Kundiger and her late husband, Donald G. Kundiger, were professors at the university.

"Mom maintained friendships with people from all over the world all her life. Now she has her own little U.N.," Garretson said. "My daughter-in-law is from the island nation of Palau in the South Pacific. My husband is from Germany. My niece's husband is from Guyana. There is some Native American ancestry for one of my sister's children and Hispanic for some of my great-nieces and nephews."

Kundiger's son, Donovan, presented a slideshow that chronicled the family's history from 1943 to 1972. There was no shortage of photos.

"Our family reunions resemble a paparazzi gathering," said Shane Reeves of Portage, Mich., son of Kundiger's daughter Sherie Reeves. "Anyone who isn't getting their picture taken is behind a camera taking a picture."

"Donovan wrote a script for the slideshow and said many funny things," Kundiger said. "There was a photo of me and Jerri in matching bathing suits - and then out came Lek Rujirawongs, my 'adopted' daughter from Thailand, wearing my 54-year-old suit! Everybody cracked up!"

"Mom saves everything," Jerri Garretson said.

"I know that the reunion and having her 'Izzie' book finally published with her original watercolors was very special to Mom," Tull said, "but it was very special to me as well. There were so many wonderful memories crammed into those few days, and Mom's book will be a family heirloom to pass down for generations."

"I can't believe the whole family kept it a secret," Kundiger said.

For Information about the book, visit www.ravenstone press.com.

Correspondent Barbara Routen can be contacted at neighbors @tampabay.rr.com or at (813) 657-4531.

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