asses
Tuesday/February 21,1989
8
Did the Butler do it, or was it Hilde Nelson?
by Kevin D. Putzke
Quick! Name two novelists at SJU! Uh, Jon Hassler and J.E Powers? Right! Now name one novelist from CSB. Drawing a blank? The College of St. Benedict does not have a writer in residence like SJU, but that doesn't mean there aren't any novelists here. The unsung authors of CSB are also worthy of recognition, and of the effort needed to find them. Deep in the HAB's maze lies the windowless office of Hilde Nelson, CSB's own detective novelist
Hilde Nelson is an author, and a part time professor here at CSB. She currently teaches Symposium and Intro to Fiction, but her true love, as those who have taken her J-term class will tell you, is writing detective fiction. In an interview with the Independent, Nelson answered questions about herself and her writing.
Born in Indiana, Nelson moved to Minnesota with her family when she was a few weeks old. She lived here until the age of twelve, when her family moved to Georgia. After several years in the Southeast she returned to Minnesota in 1981 and began teaching at CSB and SJU. "I sort of hang out," Nelson said of her
teaching status. 1981 also marked her entrance into the ranks of aspiring authors with the creation of her Sherlock Holmes, Raphael Wood. Today she divides her time between teaching, writing, and being "Mom" to 6 children, ages 7 to 17.
"The most frustrating part of writing is finding time to write," Nelson said, "I am beginning my third book, and with my classes this semester, I have a hard time finding the time to write."
Independent- What is the most satisfying part of writing?
"Jon Hassler said, fAbout once a month you get a 'stand up1 line. That's a line so good you have to stand up and walk around the room*. I get a stand up scene about once a month, those are fun.11
Independent -You said you were begining your third book. What has become of the first two?
"The first book in the Raphael Wood series, The Mockingbird Murders, has been read by publishing companies in the U.S., and is hopefully being read in London. The second book, My Father's Daughter Loved a Man, is being read by Viking-Penguin now."
Independent-What are they about?
Wallace to give lecture on ethics in the modern world
On Wednesday, March 1, Dr. Doug Wallace will present a lecture entitled "Ethics, Spirituality and the Corporate World". This lectiTre is the third of four in this year's Warner Lecture Series.
Dr. Wallace will examine how we can face the competitive pressure of this age of rapid transistion toward a global economy. Questions he will pose include: Are there new ethical guideposts for the immense stresses in our families, schools and business organizations? What role does spirituality play in this "brave new world"?
Dr, Wallace is nationally recognized for his innovative approaches and results in managing corporate responsibility issues. He served as Vice-President of Social Policy at Norwest Bank, Minneapolis
from 1978 to 1984, as well as advising other organizations, including Bank of America, Polaroid, Honeywell, Control Data, and Northwestern Bell. Currently Dr. Wallace directs the Center for Ethics, Responsibilities, and Values at the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul.
Dr. Wallace has presented his lectures on management and ethics at Harvard Business School, Yale University, Georgetown University, and numerous other universities and colleges. His articles have appeared in journals such as the Harvard Business Review, Journal of Public Relations, and Industry Week. He is a frequent guest on Twin Cities radio and television talk shows, and a National Public Radio series, "The Corporate Conscience" featured his ideas and task force programs at
"The first book is about murders which occur in the Mockingbird, which is Raphael's restaurant. Raph has to solve the murders to save his business. The second book is about a girl who is searching for her father, Raph gets involved because the girl is a waitress in his restaurant."
Independent- Why detective novels?
"The framework is there. It's very secure to write within the fixed framework of a Genre."
Independent- How do you develop the plots for Raphael to untunst?
"I start with a fragment, in my first book it was a murder method, and in my second it was a story remembered from childhood, and then I create a plot outline for the fragment. Once I have the plot outline I write the story by chapter, filling in the details and red herrings as I go. I write with a pen, and then transpose onto a computer. My writing method is somewhat quaint in that respect."
Independent- Most publishing companies discourage authors from sending manuscripts to them. How do you manage to get your manuscripts read?
"Discourage is putting it mildly. Publishing firms don't want
Dr. Doug Wallace
Norwest Bank in Minneapolis.
Dr. Wallace will speak in the BAC Auditorium at 8 pm on Wednesday, March 1,1989- The lecture is free and open to the public.
earbook
The choice of a new
This is your last chance to order a 1989 Saints Yearbook, r and to receive:
—A free pair of boxer shorts —an opportunity for a free six pack of Alountain Dezu courtesy of Bernick's Pepsi
The Yearbook will be on sale at: Campus Center CSB: Feb. 21, 22, 23 10:30-2:30
Mary Cafe SJU: Feb. 21, 22, 23 10:30-2:30
Sparky (editor -in-chief) says, "Take the yearbook challenge!
You won't be disappointed!91
unsolicited manuscripts, and they won't read them. I write a query letter telling the firm about the book, with sort of a dust-jacket plot summary, and then I ask if they would like to read the manuscript. I write a pretty good query letter."
Independent- What would be your advice to someone who is writing a novel?
'The same advice given to me by J.E Powers, finish the book. Once the book is finished you can worry about getting it read, but you must finish the book."
Independent- Where do you see your writing going?
"I would like to write a few more Raphael books. Ten seems like a nice round number for a series. I would also like to write a non-detective novel. Ifm trying to avoid writing an 'academic1 book, but I will probably write one. I would like to write some more philosophy with my husband. So far that's what I've had published."
While Hilde Nelson has not yet achieved the sucess of Hassler or Powers, she is an active writer doing what writers are supposed to do, writing.
Behind the
innings: College of St. Benedict
by Sr. Imogene Blatz, O.S.B., Archivist
Editors' note: The following article is part of a series celebrating the 75th anniversary of the College of St. Benedict. Sr. Imogene Blatz's article originally appeared in Sisters of Saint Benedict, the Convent newsletter. Copies are available through Campus Ministry.
As we celebrate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the founding of the College of St. Benedict, it might be well to pause and look "behind the beginnings"- to go back to our roots.
We honor Sisters Dominica Bogerding, Adelgundis Bergman, Jeanette Roesch, Irma Schumacher and Grace McDonald as the "founders" of the college. It is true that they, along with Father Henry Bogerding, O.S.B., made up the teaching staff for the 1913-1914 school year, but did they really found the college?
Would there have been a College of St. Benedict without a Mother Scholastica Kerst? Was it not she who laid the foundation when, in one of her quick moves, she closed the Saint Agnes Academy in Saint Cloud, rented the old Haarman building which stood on lot nine, block nine in
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