Mari Sandoz wanted everyone to write

Dr. Ron Hull of Lincoln, one of the author’s closest confidants during the latter years of her life, said Sandoz felt everyone who was literate could learn to write well enough to have the work published.

Hull also said Sandoz spent every waking hour either doing research or writing, and was reluctant to take time away from that process. But if she thought there was a chance she could encourage her listeners to write their stories, she was willing to take a break now and then.

“She felt everyone could be taught to write, just as he or she can be taught to sing and dance,” Hull noted. “And, she wanted everyone to do some writing. She felt everyone has a story to tell. She would tell them to get to work.”

Hull said Sandoz, who died in 1966, was an exhaustive researcher who spent an average of three years on each of her major books. Before she was completely finished with a book, she would have started on at least one more and was often had three books in the works. He said she was “emotionally involved” with all of them.

The author was seldom satisfied with her work, Hull said, but continually haggled with publishers who wanted to change her wording or incidents in her works. He recalled that in 1959 she revised a short essay on her memories of Lincoln 11 times before sending it to a newspaper. He added that she organized her research so well that she could answer critics on everything she wrote.

A long-time leader in Nebraska educational television, Hull described Sandoz as a private person. He said while he was preparing to interview her one time, she told him, “I’d rather face a rattlesnake than I would that camera.”

The speaker also recalled that near the end of her life she told him, “My books are my children.”

“She left us a significant family and an enduring legacy,” Hull stated. “Her work is fine craftsmanship and scholarship.”

Hull, who has been president of the Sandoz Society for nearly 20 years, is stepping down from that position. He was presented the first “Spirit of Mari Sandoz” award by his successor, Dr. John Wunder, a history professor at the University of Nebraska.

In another change in the leadership of the society, Deb Carpenter, a CSC English staff member who lives in Rushville, will replace Shannon Smith Calitri of Gordon as the executive director. Calitri will take over as the newsletter editor, replacing Dr. Dan Holst of Peru State College.