My hope is that this web site www.boldspiritacrossamerica.com will provide us an opportunity to continue creating this “rag rug history” with new information discovered and shared by readers. As interesting new strands of Helga’s story come in, I will let you know what is emerging. Just yesterday, after two major feature articles in Spokane’s newspapers, an elderly couple called who were neighbors of Ida Estby, one of Helga’s daughters, and they have a picture of the original home on Mica Creek that Helga wanted to save. I will be meeting with them soon to hear more stories and to collect the family photographs that they have kept. It should be a fascinating journey to see how much more we can restore more of this lost story. Your help will be appreciated.

July, 2003

     Hello again! Before going on a book tour in June, I visited with George and Agnes Funk, the couple that called the Spokesman-Review newspaper after reading about Bold Spirit because they had been friends and caretakers of Ida Estby in her elderly years. She was the daughter that took care of her younger brothers and sisters in the cold shed when black diphtheria entered the Estby home.

They showed me handcrafted items that Helga had created and given as gifts to her daughter, including a beautiful needlepoint rose bouquet, a large bold-colored quilt with geometric designs and a cross in the center (made in honor of World War I soldiers), and exquisite Norwegian Hardanger lace, plus some of her paintings, and new photographs of her.
The Funks want to give these all to Helga and Ole’s family, and then we hope to have some of these artistic remnants from Helga’s life on display at the MAC Museum before our dramatic presentation there on October 1.

After the Estby family lost their home in Mica Creek, Ole began a construction business in Spokane with a son and eventually built his family this fine home on Mallon Street.

     I've been very fortunate that Pat Stien, a talented theater professor emeritus from Whitworth College, also loves for Americans to learn of Helga’s story. She often travels with me to give a dramatic enactment of different characters in the book while I narrate the story. In June, we followed the Union Pacific route that Helga and Clara walked, stopping at museums, libraries, bookstores, private homes…even a castle in Colorado Springs…to present Bold Spirit. In Baker City, Oregon, at an event sponsored by Betty’s Books, great grandchildren of Helga’s came and shared more stories. In fact, her great-great grandson is now the parish priest in Baker City and he took us on a tour of the beautifully restored St. Francis church. One memory from Mary Kay, the daughter of Thelma Portch (the grandchild who saved the story and passed it on within the family) centered on the importance of an active faith for Helga, a Lutheran. “Mom said that some of Helga’s children would ridicule her belief in God and the importance of church. She felt the traumatic days of their time in the shed when they lost their brother and sister contributed also to a loss of their own faith. But Helga still shared her faith with her grandchildren who didn’t share such painful memories.” According to Mary Kay, many of her descendents are now active in their local churches in a variety of Protestant and Catholic traditions.

     Bold Spirit needed to go into a second printing in just nine days, and a third printing by the end of June. For the last two weeks, it’s also been on the Bestseller List for the PNBA, the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association which represents independent book stores in five states. I’ve been grateful for all the readers who let others know about the story. Book clubs are starting to read Bold Spirit together and Discussion Guide Questions are now included on this website. Enjoy!

January 2004

Hi friends,

     It’s been a wonderful adventure traveling across the country introducing Americans to Helga’s remarkable story and meeting readers that find her courage and spirit inspiring. After seeing the tragedy of the silencing of family stories, many are now researching their own family histories. My favorite story came last week when one Bold Spirit reader with an unusual Dutch name just typed it into Google on the Internet and found out for the first time that she had many cousins living nearby on Vashon and Whidbey Island outside Seattle. She always thought she had few living relatives! Readers are also sharing their own experiences of silences that permeated their family. The book continues on the Pacific Northwest Bestseller’s List for independent book stores (# 5 this week), CNN interviewed me live during Thanksgiving break, and I’ve just returned from launching her story in Southern California in Pasadena at Vromans Bookstore. It’s now in the fourth edition. Book groups are finding the Discussion Guidelines on our website useful for lively conversation when they meet, and professors have found Bold Spirit a compelling textbook for their college classrooms in women’s studies, history, and composition. Thank you ALL for helping this happen!

     We’re also finding out new information in this “rag rug” history. Kelley Adams, who works as a Private Investigator with an emphasis in genealogy, came to the dramatic presentation Pat Stien and I did at the Nordic Center in Seattle. A former theater student of Pat’s, she offered to help with the research and has already uncovered the trail of Helga’s stepfather…always known only as “Mr. Haug.” Without his first name, I’ve never been able to fill in some of the puzzle pieces in Helga’s life. Through the use of Ancestor.com software that her firm owns, she was able to go backwards and trace his origins in Norway. He apparently was named Christian Bing at this time, and changed his name later. Now we have found evidence of their moving with Helga and Ole to nearby property by the homesteading farm in Minnesota. She’s exploring much more that this lead opened. I’ll keep you posted.

     A research librarian in Norway just discovered an 1897 newspaper article Helga wrote to Skandinaven, a Norwegian-American newspaper, while she was stranded in New York. It describes in detail parts of Helga's experiences in the underground silver mines of Park City, Utah and her visit to Cripple Creek, Colorado. This is the very first account of her trip written in her words that has ever been discovered; it's like finding a page in her diary! We'll translate it from Norwegian and place on the website soon.

     Next will be visits to Portland, Tucson, Palo Alto and Berkeley, Scottsdale, Denver, and the east coast again this spring. If you have friends in these places, please visit my website periodically for addresses of upcoming events. I appreciate how readers are helping share this story across the land and returning it to American history!

....................................Linda

June 2004

     This past spring brought both wonderful news for Bold Spirit….and very troubling news. In February, the Pacific Northwest Bookseller’s Association announced that Bold Spirit was chosen for one of their 2003 literary awards. This delighted the University of Idaho Press staff since it is unusual for a book from a university press or small press to be selected. However, the same week newspapers highlighted the winners, an interim administration at the University of Idaho decided to close down the press in their efforts to slash costs on campus debts…..a genuine shock to the staff and, of course, to all the authors with books published through them. Since their press has been publishing significant and beautiful books under the recent direction of Ivar Nelson, this decision caused considerable uproar. However, it seemed like Helga’s story might get silenced again!

     Thanks to the efforts of their marketing director, he was able to place all 1400 remaining copies with Partners, a northwest book distributor so that they would be available for book stores featuring the PNBA book winners throughout the spring (rather than locked in their storage basement until the press issues were resolved). The university also agreed to do a fifth printing to meet interest in the book, and they are now being distributed (along with other University of Idaho Press books) through Caxton Press in southern Idaho, another fine regional press. Out of this surprising and distressing development has finally emerged some further good news. This coming winter, Bold Spirit will be published by a major national press (to be announced soon) and Helga’s story now has a chance to be known around the country, not just the west coast. Except through ordering on-line with Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble, it’s been challenging for readers to find the book in a store outside our region. In the meantime, I’ll be on book tours in eastern Oregon (with author Jane Kirkpatrick), Montana, and Washington this summer, on the east coast this September, and Omaha and Minneapolis in early October.

     Many book groups and college classes have been enjoying Bold Spirit and using the questions in the “book discussion guide” on the website that readers say have been most useful. Thanks for all the ways you’ve been sharing Helga’s story with friends, other readers, book groups, and organizations. Because of your interest, Bold Spirit has continued to be on the PNBA bestseller list for weeks this spring and summer….even without the support of a publisher and marketing team behind it! Amazing! It was also recently selected as a finalist for ForeWord Magazine’s history award. During this transition period, while we prepare for national release, your efforts to restore Helga’s story to America’s history will be most appreciated. Please keep spreading the word! Thanks, Linda

First day of spring 2005

Dear readers,

     Much has happened lately! The national release of Bold Spirit by Random House/Anchor Books came out in mid-January, so I'm now in a Washington D.C. hotel for some book events. Being east also provides a great chance to spend time with Hunter, our six-month-old grandson in Boston, a definite benefit in a book tour!

     When the University of Idaho suddenly shut down their excellent press last spring, Helga's story seemed in danger of another kind of silencing, just as it was receiving recognition with literary awards. After months of being in legal limbo land, it's good news to see the new version published. To celebrate this national release, Auntie's Books creatively partnered with the Davenport Hotel, a beautifully restored hotel in downtown Spokane that Helga's husband actually worked on as a carpenter! Over 330 filled the elegant Isabella ballroom, with many of Helga's extended family joining us for this special time. I'll also be traveling for events in Seattle, Palm Desert/Springs, Portland, Omaha, and Chicago in the next couple of months.

     You'll notice on the home page that a yearly "Helga Estby bold-spirited scholar award" has just been set up through the Women Helping Women Fund, which will provide a $1000 scholarship for a spirited and determined mid-life woman attending college to pursue her dream. If you click on this, the criteria and application information is included. Please alert any mid-life women you know that might qualify.

     A friend alerted me to the novel, The Kite Runner, which is a beautiful book and also illustrates the concepts of the "silencing of family stories." The writer explores universal themes with poignancy and depth. Enjoy! Linda

Summer 2005

Dear Friends,

     Thank you for your letters and emails that share your great interest in Helga's spirited but challenging life. It means a lot to writers to have this direct communication with readers, and I've also enjoyed meeting so many readers that have come to book presentations throughout the country. I've just returned from speaking (and kayaking!) at a beautiful island in the San Juans in western Washington. This fall I'll be in the Sierras sharing Helga's story with the American Long Distance Hikers, a group that really understands what a "long walk" entails. But, just think, Helga and Clara did this before map quest, before Gore-Tex, before good hiking boots, and all the other products that make distance travel in all weather conditions feasible! It's almost inconceivable that they took off in long Victorian dresses and only an eight pound satchel. In November, I'll be in Washington D.C. at the Norwegian Embassy with a co-sponsored event with the Smithsonian Associates. It's on November 17th and open to the public, so if you live in the area and want to visit a beautiful embassy, please come! Also, the Washington State Library Association just chose Bold Spirit as their 2005 Summer Reads adult book…drawing on the theme of Helga's "courage" for their children's books too.

First Bold Spirited Scholar Award

     Sharon Miller received the first Bold Spirited Scholar Award at the annual Women Helping Women Fund luncheon in Spokane. It just happened to be on May 5th…the same day that Helga and Clara left Spokane in 1896! Sharon started college in mid-life and is in her last year of a nursing degree through Washington State University. She perseveres in the midst of many challenges, which included troubling years when a rebellious teenage daughter chose a life living on the streets for a while. Because of this experience, Sharon and her husband regularly provide meals and friendship for homeless teenagers at a drop-in center. Her daughter, now a college graduate who also wants to counsel troubled teens, joined her Mom at the luncheon and they offered enormous hope for 2000 women attending who might also be finding raising adolescents very difficult. Sharon wrote, "Helga is such an inspiration to all women, in that she sets forth the truth that if there is something that you are passionate about, it can be accomplished." Sharon's dream is to be a public health nurse, serving the community.

The Krista Foundation for Global Citizenship

     I'm now in the early stages of a book for parents who have lost children, and for their friends, with a focus on healing actions. If you have a chance, please go to the website www.kristafoundation.org which is for the foundation we began in honor of our daughter who was killed while volunteering in Bolivia with her husband. There's an essay there (under Resources and Articles) called A Terrible Beauty: Love and Loss in Bolivia you might value.

     Mary Oliver has a new book of poems called Why I Wake Early….so awake to the joys of summer. Thinking of you, Linda