Check Out What's New! These biographies of Iowans have recently been added to our collection.  State employees may request that any of these items be sent to them.  To do so, please fill out the Request An Item Form.  Non-state employees with a State Library card may check out books in person or request them through their local public libraries.

Gentlemen on the Prairie: Victorians in Pioneer Iowa By Harnack, Curtis 2011-05 - University of Iowa Press 9781587299674 Check Our Catalog In the 1880s, the well-connected young Englishman William B. Close and his three brothers, having bought thousands of acres of northwest Iowa prairie, conceived the idea of enticing sons of Britain's upper classes to pursue the life of the landed gentry on these fertile acres. "Yesterday a wilderness, today an empire" their bizarre experiment, which created a colony for people "of the better class" who were not in line to inherit land but whose fathers would set them up in farming, flourished in Le Mars, Iowa (and later in Pipestone, Minnesota), with over five hundred youths having a go at farming. In "Gentlemen on the Prairie," Curtis Harnack tells the remarkable story of this quite unusual chapter in the settling of the Midwest. …More

Gladys Black: The Legacy of Iowa's Bird Lady By Stone, Larry A. 2010-01 - Turkey River Environmental Expressions 9780972944120 Check Our Catalog Gladys Black's newspaper columns about birds and birding, her environmental education work with young people, and her high profile as an outspoken defender of the environment made her well known across Iowa. And, despite her death in 1998, Gladys's influence still touches many people. …More

Grant Wood: A Life By Evans, R. Tripp 2010-10 - Knopf Publishing Group 9780307266293 Check Our Catalog In this major new biography of America's most acclaimed, and misunderstood, regionalist painter, Grant Wood is revealed to have been anything but plain, or simple. Evans reveals the true complexity of the man and the image Wood so carefully constructed of himself. …More

Growing Up Country: Memories of an Iowa Farm Girl By Bodensteiner, Carol 2008-01 - Rising Sun Press 9780979799709 Check Our Catalog Carol's book evolves into a page turner, not because of high drama but rather because we come to care for this little girl who is living a good, simple life that has evaporated. --Mary Kay Shanley, author, 'She Taught Me to Eat Artichokes' and 'The Memory Box' Carol's book celebrates a unique and important time in the history of rural America. Growing Up Country: Memories of an Iowa Farm Girl is up on my bookshelf where I keep all the books I enjoy re-reading, and that is the highest compliment I can give it. --Mark Pearson, host of the Public Television show Market to Market and co-host of the Big Show on WHO Radio If you have ever milked cows, made hay, wondered about Santa Claus, or had your dad shush you at the noon dinner table while the markets were on, you will identify with these situations. --Lee Kline, farm broadcaster, WHO Radio …More

Hanging Out in Bur Oak: During the 1930's Depression, Bootleggers, the Draft and World War II By Smith, Neal 2010-01 - Ice Cube Press 9781888160086 Check Our Catalog Neal Smith served in the US Congress from 1958 to 1994. This work explores the United States during the 1930s and 40s. …More

Jim Zabel: 65 Years of Fun and Games: I Love It! I Love It! I Love It! [With CD (Audio)] By Zabel, Jim With Wolfe, Rich 2010-10 - Clerisy Press 9780980097894 Check Our Catalog According to coauthor Rich Wolfe, Jim Zabel is a "god" in Iowa. Over 50 years of University of Iowa football and basketball broadcasts have made him a weekly guest in millions of Iowa households. If Howard Stern is the voice of all our malevolent dark thoughts, Jim Zabel is the good angel on the other shoulder, providing the voiceover soundtrack for all the grain-fed young Hawkeyes of the Heartland. Jim Zabel: 65 Years of Fun and Games is a marvelous, funny, and true account of the absolutely incredible career of the "voice of Iowa." Never-before-told, behind-the-scenes stories mixed with great humor plus dozens of priceless photos make this book a must-read for the hundreds of thousands of Jim Zabel fans. The remembrances are all here, from his youth growing up in Davenport and his match race with Jesse Owens to his days as a University of Iowa student and his relationships with presidents, movie stars, and hall of famers. If a basketball or a football could talk, it would sound like Jim Zabel. The included CD is an audio collection of his greatest calls — which more specifically are Iowa Hawkeyes highlights of game-winning passes/baskets for which he was the radio broadcaster. …More

Man Killed by Pheasant and Other Kinships By Price, John T. 2008-03 - Da Capo Press 0306816059 Check Our Catalog A memoir, both lyrical and witty, of kinships both wild and tame …More

The Man Who Wrecked 146 Locomotives The Story of "Head-On Joe" Connolly By Reisdorff, James J. 2009-01 - South Platte Press Bruggennjohann/Reese 9780942035858 Check Our Catalog "Between 1896 and 1932, Iowa native Joseph S. Connolly staged 73 head-on train wrecks before large thrill-seeking audiences at state fairs and other public events nationwide. Connolly, known as "Head-On Joe," boasted that he deliberately destroyed 146 old steam locomotives during these collisions and never had anyone injured in the process. This book looks at both the career of this professional engine wrecker and the techniques used in staging a train wreck for public entertainment. Dramatic head-on locomotive collisions staged by other promoters are also detailed using 40 rare illustrations and informative text. It's a look at a largely forgotten but still fascinating part of railroad history." …More

Memories of a Farm Kitchen By Artley, Bob Editor Artley, Steve Editor Sterner, Joan 2010-09 - Pelican Publishing Company 9781589801509 Check Our Catalog The author of Once Upon a Farm uses full-color illustrations, pen-and-ink drawings, and nostalgic text to describe the wonders of the traditional American farm kitchen. He was raised on his family farm in Hampton, Iowa. The book includes 28 farm kitchen recipes. …More

Moon River and Me: A Memoir By Williams, Andy 2009-10 - Viking Books 9780670021178 Check Our Catalog BookPage Notable Title From the man whom President Ronald Reagan declared a national treasure comes "Moon River and Me," a book in which Williams shares the memories of his seven remarkable decades in show business. b&w photo inserts. …More

Norman Borlaug: Hero in a Hurry By Swanson, Lora 2009-06 - BookSurge Publishing 9781439241523 Check Our Catalog Norman Borlaug won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in saving billions of people from starvation. He is considered the father of the Green Revolution. …More

The Sacred Acre: The Ed Thomas Story By Tabb, Mark 2011-08 - Zondervan 9780310332190 Check Our Catalog After the citizens of Parkersburg, Iowa, survive a F-5 tornado that nearly destroys their entire town, they are stunned by the murder of their beloved football coach, Ed Thomas, at the hands of a former player. What happens next in this incredible true story provides a lesson in grace and forgiveness that inspired the entire country. …More

Where Did All the Cowboys Go? By Millard, Joe 2011-02 - iUniverse.com 1450283136 Check Our Catalog History is more than national personalities, wars, and horrible catastrophes; it is stories told by people who have lived ordinary lives. In Where Did All the Cowboys Go?, author Joe Millard gives a first-person account of what life was like growing up in rural Iowa in the 1940s. From the perspective of young Gene Millard, this memoir reveals the experiences of a one-room school education where pupils studied geography from a globe, read the children's classics, learned sportsmanship on the playground, and bought war bonds. It also recounts Gene's non-classroom life experiences in Farlin, Iowa, where he learned to play pool at the village gossip center next to the blacksmith shop, loathe boxing in the IOOF hall, and understand friendship at a box social. Gene's experiences mirror those of the thousands of children who grew up on farms in the Midwest and Great Plains in the 1940s. The recollection of these memories will lead others to remember the nostalgia of the days of Saturday cowboy movies, participating in Christmas school plays, fishing in creeks, and enjoying community events. It provides a personal perspective of the times and fills a void in the history books. …More