For many years my grandfather, Robert B. Forrest, wrote a weekly newspaper column in his Minnesota newspaper, the Lake Wilson Pilot. In December, 1953, the column moved to the Murray County Herald. Most of his columns from July, 1947 through October, 1961 are presented here. They provide considerable insight into the way people in the rural Midwest thought and lived during that time. Readers with Southwest Minnesota roots may find relatives' names mentioned in some of these pages.

Grampa's grammar and some of his spelling and punctuation were part of his inimitable style. I have tried to preserve that style, but I have made changes where I thought the meaning was unclear. In a few places I have no idea of his intent--such cases are unchanged.

My thanks to the Murray County Historical Society for making the columns available to me, and my special appreciation to Mr. Don Erickson of Lake Wilson who took on the onerous task of photocopying them from microfilm.

I would like to add more of Grampa's old columns. Please contact me if you have any columns or column portions not presently included in these pages. Also, please let me know of typographic errors--mine, not Grampa's!

Robert Forrest III (rbforrest@mail.com)

Whidbey Island, Washington
May, 2002