Ridge Stories: Herding Hens, Powdering Pigs, and Other Recollections from a Boyhood in the Driftless [Paperback]

Straight talk from up on the farm

Raised on a small dairy farm in the Driftless Area in the mid-twentieth century, Gary Jones gets real about his rural roots. In this collection of interrelated stories, Jones writes with plainspoken warmth and irreverence about farm, family, and folks on the ridge. Readers will meet Gramp Jones, whose oversized overalls saved him from losing a chunk of flesh to an irate sow; the young one-room-school teacher who helped the kids make sled jumps at recess; Charlotte, the lawn-mowing sheep who once ended up in the living room; Victor the pig-cutter, who learned his trade from folk tradition rather than vet school; and other colorful characters of the ridge. Often humorous and occasionally touching, Jones’s essays paint a vivid picture that will entertain city and country folk alike. 

Gary Jones has written professionally as a freelancer since the 1970s, publishing in theMilwaukee Journal,Milwaukee Sentinel,Milwaukee Magazine, and several Door County publications. He taught high school English for many years and in retirement has taught college composition courses at University of Wisconsin–Platteville. 

Gary Jones earned a bachelor of science degree from UW-Platteville, a master's from UW- Madison, and a PhD from UW-Milwaukee.