Christmas is a time to say thanks

Christmas is a time to say thanks. I must say thanks to the many people who have helped me doing the past year and years before that. I’ll start with the booksellers, without whom my work would fall on its face. To mention a few: Mystery to Me in Madison, Jahnke’s Bookstore in Wausau, Books and Company in Oconomowoc, and Dregne’s in Westby.

Then the non-traditional booksellers: Friends of the Patterson Library in Wild Rose and McFarlane’s in Sauk City. McFarlane’s is an upscale hardware store, but they have my books for sale, and invite me to do a special Merry Christmas radio show at their store each year. And a big thank you to the many booksellers I have not mentioned.

Above all, I must thank my many readers. First a big thank you to all who read my books, young and old. I especially want to thank those at nursing homes and memory care centers, who read my books to folks who can no longer read themselves.

A big thank you to those who read my weekly blog and my weekly column in The Wisconsin State Farmer. Thank you to those who read my twice-monthly column in Agri-View and those who previously read my columns in The Country Today. Not to forget, thank you, readers, of my monthly column in the Richland Electric Coop newsletter.

A Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year. As we old farmers always say no matter what happened this year, next year will be better.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: A writer without readers is like a car without wheels. Neither goes anywhere.

Jerry Apps, born and raised on a Wisconsin farm, is Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the author of more than 35 books, many of them on rural history and country life. For further information about Jerry's writing and TV work go to www.jerryapps.com