Jacqueline Jackson still tends a herd of cows but nowadays they’re figurines on her mantle.
Raised on the Dougan Guernsey Dairy Farm near Beloit, Wis., in the 1930s and 40s, Jackie decided at age 14 to chronicle her family’s business. In the decades since, she’s published more than a dozen books, had several plays and musicals produced, and has written a poem a week for Illinois Times the past seven years. At long last, The Round Barn: A Biography of an American Farm will be released this month. See www.roundbarnstories.com for details.
Jackson’s Round Barn projects led directly to her teaching “Writing a Woman’s Life” and later “Writing from Family Materials” at UIS. She was a founding faculty member at Sangamon State, now the University Illinois Springfield, and is currently a professor emerita.
She will be signing copies of her book on Saturday, Oct. 22, from 4 to 7 p.m. at Trout Lily Cafe, 218 South Sixth St. She’ll speak briefly around 6 p.m.
Jackson was featured in an October 20, 2011, article in The Illinois Times.
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