Simpler Times - A Memoir

SIMPLER TIMES | A PERSONAL MEMOIR

By Dale Swanson, an award-winning Minnesota novelist, poet, screenwriter, and playwright.

Swanson grew up in Mound, Minnesota. He is a published author, screenwriter, playwright, and poet. His poems have been performed in stage productions and appear in multiple anthologies. Two of his radio plays were recorded live and aired statewide in Minnesota.

This book is the result of Swanson's desire to capture the ancestral history and introduce his family to what life was like in the "olden days." Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on October 17, 1942, Swanson's family moved to the Village of Island Park in 1945. His entire school experience was in Mound. His most recent release, Simpler Times, is a vivid, nostalgic, and intimate memoir of his growing up in Island Park in the early 50s. 

Simpler Times is filled with reflections of goodness, innocence, and all too often misguided play. His intricately woven tales return you to a time and place that you cherish and to which you are intrinsically and forever linked — a place in your memory, calling for your return. Included are humorous tales about hide and seek, snowball fights, family pets, wildlife rescue, and the discovery of the opposite sex.

This book will make you smile, laugh, rejoice, and bring you to tears. It may lift the fog of a fading memory of a grandparent long gone or remind you of a valuable life lesson taught by a parent, special teacher, or scout leader.

While the story takes place in The Village of Island Park in Minnesota, it will remind all who grew up in rural America of the joys of being a kid, the awe and love we had for friends and family, and grand adventure limited by only our imaginations. This expertly crafted memoir will inspire you to share your life story and family history with your children, grandchildren, and future descendants.