Olaf Larson PhD’41, age 101, wrote his latest book for his children and grandchildren, not thinking it would necessarily appeal to a larger audience. Larson already had six scholarly works to his name published throughout his career as a rural sociology professor at Cornell University.

But the University of Wisconsin Press begged to differ and earlier this year published When Horses Pulled the Plow: Life of a Wisconsin Farm Boy, 1910 to 1929 with a foreword by Jerry Apps MS’57. Larson was born and raised on a tobacco farm in Edgerton, and his memoir is full of wry stories and historical details about growing up in that time and place.

Although Larson spent the bulk of his career in New York and now lives in Florida, he has never forgotten his Wisconsin roots. All royalties from the book go to the Olaf L. Larson Wisconsin Rural Youth Scholarship Fund at CALS in support of higher education for rural youth.

Click here to read a profile of Larson that appeared in the Orlando Sentinel and here to download a podcast of Larson’s recent appearance on Wisconsin Public Radio’s Larry Meiller show.