QMHR Parish Library

QMHR Parish Library
Issue 4 February 2013
LIBRARY NEWS QMHR Parish Library
BIMONTHLY NEWSLETTER
February 2013 New Arrival
Bold Spirit
Helga Estby's
Forgotten Walk
Across Victorian
America
Welcome to the Lenten and Easter edition of the parish newsletter. In this issue you will find the
review of a biography of an amazing woman, Helga Estby, who walked across America with her
daughter in the late 1800s hoping to win a wager and save her family's farm.
The library is now serving as the parish archive and will house two Catholic publications. The
Communio: International Catholic Review is a journal for Catholic theology and culture founded in
1972 by Hans Urs von Balthasar and Joseph Ratzinger among others. The review is published
quarterly and has a presence in 16 countries and languages. The other publication is Origins:
Catholic News Service Documentary Service. For over 25 years Origins has been delivering
important church texts on noteworthy issues that impact the church's mission. Recent editions
include discussions of adult religious education, same-sex unions, ecumenism and immigration.
Both publications are available for review to all our parish members.
Lenten prayer resources are now available in the library next to the sign-out sheet. There are
booklets on the scriptural rosary, several adaptations on the Way of the Cross and books focused
specifically to help you make the most of your spiritual journey during the season of Lent and
Easter.
COME AND VISIT YOUR LIBRARY
QMHR Parish Library
Issue 4 February 2013
Lenten Prayer Resources
Radical Renovation: Living the Cross Shaped Life by James A
Harnish---Lenten Reflections and Meditations
Praying Lent: Renewing Our Lives on the Lenten Journey by Andy
Alexander and Maureen McCann Waldron---How to make Lent a
personal success.
The Ascent of the Mountain of God: Daily Reflections for the Journey
of Lent by Edward Hays---Scripture and Meditations
Companions For The Journey is a series of books that serve as miniretreats. The "Retreat Masters" are the prayers, reflections and
meditations of the individual in each title of the series. Our library
has eighteen titles: Praying with Vincent de Paul, Thomas Merton,
Julian of Norwich, Dorothy Day and Claire of Assi to name just a few.
BOLD SPIRIT: HELGA ESTBY'S FORGOTTEN WALK ACROSS VICTORIAN AMERICA
Linda Lawrence Hunt has pieced together a remarkable story. A story
that would have been lost to history if not for Thelma Estby's love for her
grandmother, Helga Estby the thirty-six year old Norwegian immigrant
who helped change Victorian attitudes about a woman's place in
American society. Equipped with a Smith-and-Wesson revolver, a red
pepper spray gun, a compass, map, a lantern for night walking, a few
medical supplies, photographs of themselves to sell and a curling iron,
Helga and her daughter Clara walk from Spokane, Washington to New
York City. The year was 1896, three years after the beginning of the
devastating economic depression of 1893.
After her husband Ole's accidents, which left him unable to work Helga
was desperate to save the family farm from foreclosure. She learned of a
$10,000 wager offered by "eastern parties" connected to the fashion
industry to any woman who would walk across America. Despite her
family's opinion that the choice was both "impossible and immoral, not
something women do" she and Clara set off on a seven-month adventure
during which they survive Northwestern spring rains and snow thaws, the
daytime heat and cold nights in the country's interior, frightening
attempts by "bold highwaymen" to relieve them of their provisions and a
prowling mountain lion.
Set against the social and political events of the time the book reads like
a fantasy adventure from middle earth, except that it is all true. Their
inspirational journey captured the American public's imagination.
Immersion into the world of Helga Estby is highly recommended!
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