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Secrets In A Forest began as my wife Claire’s literary effort, A Personal Journal, Life in the North Woods. She envisioned a collection of interviews accompanied by caricatures and photographs that captured the lives of our neighbors in the Cedar River Valley of north central Wisconsin. She was inspired by the work of Brandon Stanton, Humans of New York, and Edgar Lee Masters, Spoon River Anthology (1915).
Beginning in 2010, Stanton created portraits, using candid photos of the people of New York City, accompanied by bits about their lives. A century earlier, Masters was preoccupied with folks buried in a cemetery in the fictional village of Spoon River, Illinois. Claire was fascinated by the folks who were alive and kicking in Cedar country in 2020.
Wilbur Denton captured Claire’s attention. He lived a simple, cloistered life deserving of a few pages in her book. He was to appear alongside Mavis Sampson, her husband Darren, the Crenshaws and Toomeys, Molly Kettler, Ed Bailey and a raft of others, too numerous to mention.
The man had a history, well hidden by time and effort. Claire emerged from her interview with Wilbur, convinced there was “more to the man than meets the eye.” Her words, not mine. Wilbur’s story did not fit into the context of Claire’s project. There was, she thought, “something dark and foreboding about this man.” To say she was right on the money would be an understatement. Claire’s sketch evolved into this book. She encouraged me to write it. She thought it would keep me busy as a retired educator.
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