DearDaddy.com: New Website Chronicles Minnesota Family's Life During the Great Depression

In her 80s, Martha Linsley bought a small typewriter from Montgomery Ward, taught herself to type, and transcribed the hundreds of letters she and her husband and their two children wrote to one another. Their correspondence may very well comprise the most extensive written insight into the day-to-day lives of a family dealing with the challenges of the Great Depression. After decades of a 5-generation family effort, the first phase of the letters, daughter Ruth's memoir of their adventure, the children's drawings, photos, and family Cookbook are now posted on the new website - http://www.deardaddy.com

/PRNewswire/ -- They were the victims of a mortgage scam and greedy lenders, the nation's crops were failing in record-setting heat, unemployment was soaring, the economy was in free-fall -- the lame duck president was overwhelmed, but a newly-elected president was promising change. It was the early 1930s...

Despite the national crisis, James and Martha Linsley planned their strategy for financial independence and a farm of their own. After "qualifying" for a shady mortgage deal on a 160-acre parcel, they were encouraged to hear about a new government loan program available to assist farmers. They decided that James would stay in Minneapolis and continue working his ten-year job as a streetcar conductor, while Martha and the children, Ruth (9) and John (7), would move to their "farm" near Park Rapids, Minnesota, about 160 miles north. Martha and the kids could live inexpensively, and they were sure that, with a federal loan to get them started, they would soon be full-time farmers.

The "farmhouse" turned out to be a 15-foot square dilapidated cabin with no running water or electricity. Through two brutal Minnesota winters while temperatures dipped as low as 38 below zero, they lived this arrangement from the summer of 1932 until the fall of 1934, writing letters to each other almost daily.

Feisty Martha Linsley was a city girl, raised in a Minneapolis orphanage, where talking at the dinner table was prohibited. She was a high school physics and math teacher, a University of Minnesota graduate, with Masters level education in Greek and Latin. James was a country boy who left school after eighth grade. A devoted husband and father, he was a life-long voracious reader, and had a passion for horses, farming, and carpentry. Daughter Ruth had a vivid imagination and gift for expression. Her father was fond of saying, "The only time Ruth is quiet is when she's eating cherry sauce -- with pits." John was a creative, gifted student who continually challenged his one-room rural school teachers, was kicked out of school numerous times -- and was later nominated for a Nobel Prize in Physics.

Their dream of farming was never realized, but they were all transformed by the experience. And over 75 years later, there is an odd resonance to their struggles and concerns, and possibly a lesson in the way they often found comfort and entertainment in the simplest of things.

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New Poll: Reagan, FDR Lead Presidential Role Models

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- When American voters were asked which past President of the United States they believe Barack Obama should model his new presidency after, they did not pick Abraham Lincoln or John F. Kennedy, or even George Washington as their top choice. They picked Ronald Reagan.

According to a nationwide survey conducted by Clarus Research Group this past week, Reagan was the top choice among all voters with 26 percent, followed by Franklin Roosevelt with 18%, Kennedy with 17% and Lincoln with 13%.

"Reagan was the overwhelming favorite among Republican voters," said Dr. Ron Faucheux, President of Clarus. "He received 59 percent as the President GOP voters want Obama to emulate. Nobody else came close."

"Democrats scattered their choices more," Faucheux noted. "FDR was their top pick at 27 percent and was closely followed by Kennedy, with 26 percent. Lincoln, a Republican, ranked third among Democrats."

Other findings:
-- Independents favored Reagan, followed by FDR, Lincoln and Kennedy.
-- Younger voters (under 30) selected JFK as their favorite. Reagan and
Lincoln followed.
-- Older voters (over 65) put Roosevelt first. Reagan was second.
-- White voters picked Reagan as their top choice with FDR in second
place.
-- African American voters favored Kennedy by a wide margin. Lincoln, the
Great Emancipator, came in second.
-- Home regions of past Presidents can still have political impact.
Reagan, from California, did the best in the West (30 percent) and the
worst in the Northeast (22 percent). FDR, a New Yorker, scored highest
in the Northeast (26 percent) and lowest in the Midwest (15 percent).
-- Reagan dominated small town and rural America, winning 31 percent.
Among urban voters, FDR led with 23 percent. Reagan was also favored
among suburbanites, capturing 28 percent.
-- Reagan won high-income voters (over $100,000 a year) with 33 percent
followed by FDR with 21 percent. JFK and Reagan, at 21 percent, tied
among voters with incomes under $50,000 a year.
-- Education was a factor in some cases. FDR received 14 percent among
voters without a college degree but 25 percent among those with
graduate degrees. Kennedy won 27 percent of voters with high school
educations and 14 percent among college graduates.

Presidents among the Founding Fathers -- George Washington and Thomas Jefferson -- received 4 and 3 percent, respectively. Cold War Presidents Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower also received 4 and 3 percent among all voters. Theodore Roosevelt, a progressive Republican, captured 4 percent; the Hero of the Battle of New Orleans, Democrat Andrew Jackson, received 1 percent.

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So lame...

I have been so bad. How many times have I said that? So many things to do, so little time to write. And I love to write.

Wouldn't know it by the infrequency of my blog posts this year!

Did anyone watch the Iowa candidate debates? I still haven't figured out how that woman who moderated, controlled, decided on the questions, controlled, was chosen. One moderator? She gets to make the rules?

How'd they decide to put Keyes on the Republican side but ditch two contenders who've been included in all other debates on the Democratic side? Was it because Keyes was going to go after Republicans? And on the Dem side the gestapo queen wanted smoother sailing?

It was interesting to watch. Unfortunately, it was only interesting because the moderator was such a puzzle. She didn't allow the candidates the freedom they needed to show their personalities or to really share any pertinent info.

Ah well. At least this go around there are more opportunities to see the candidates. In the past they just kind of popped out to the world already annointed.