The Book
Tired from another fall corn harvest, 40-year old A.J. Underwood wonders if there’s an easier life? A.J. revels in the challenges of farm work, but his bleeding hands from corn shucking trigger doubts about his chosen profession. The part-time Minnesota legislator has recently met George B. Wright in the halls of the state capitol. Wright, a surveyor and land developer, has a civic mission – convince A.J. to start a newspaper in Wright’s new development, Fergus Falls, a fledgling frontier town in west-central Minnesota.
A risk taker since his 20’s, A.J.’s restless spirit is tempered by his wife and four children’s comfortable farm life in Medina, Minnesota. Bountiful crops of corn, oats, and wheat are finally paying off after nine years of hard work. The Civil War veteran and former printer faces a major dilemma circa 1872. Should he stay or should he go?
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Endorsements
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We live in an era of media moguls, “fake news” insinuations, a plethora of social media options, and a broad range of “who do you trust” news sources. Ben Underwood’s A.J. Underwood, Pioneer of Print: The Story of a Minnesota Newspaperman is a figurative stroll during less complicated times. Written in an easy-to-read style, this short-chapter, nonfiction format is refreshing. It is a blend of well-researched history, archival newspaper stories, and the author’s passion to make history “come alive” using family anecdotes and dialogue.
Although set in the 1870’s and 1880’s, the book reminds us how newspapers played an integral role in the life many fledgling pioneer communities. I am not a student of journalism history; however, Pioneer of Print may surprise readers in discovering the similarities, challenges, and pitfalls of today’s mass media coverage compared to those of 150 years ago. “Pen in hand, truth on paper” became a guiding principle for A.J. Underwood. And yet, the pressures of public opinion, civic responsibility, political influences, advertising expectations, market demands, and “alternative facts” or perspectives were ever present—then and now.
Today’s readers can easily identify with A.J. Underwood and his family. They decided to take a risk, uproot, and begin a new adventure in a place far away from all that was familiar, safe, and predictable. A.J. Underwood’s story is very relatable indeed.
—John Dinsmore
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“An engrossing, well-researched, humanized portrait of A. J. Underwood, his family, and the newspaper he founded in Fergus Falls in 1873.”
Robert Drechsel, emeritus professor of journalism, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and former city editor, Fergus Falls Daily Journal
“Ben Underwood’s riveting account of his great-great-grandfather, A. J. Underwood, brings to life the adventuresome spirit of America’s great post–Civil War push west.”