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NEWS & EVENTS

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Fall & Winter 2023  
Dr. Timothy J. Kloberdanz, author of ONE DAY ON THE RIVER RED  continues to do research and to write about the famous singer, Peggy Lee, who was born in Jamestown, North Dakota, in 1920.  
 
In June 2023, Dr. Kloberdanz and his wife Rosi and son Matthew met with family members of Peggy Lee in Fargo, North Dakota.  The family members included Holly Foster Wells (granddaughter of Peggy Lee), her husband Dan Wells, and their son Keaton (the great-grandson of Peggy Lee).  They all met in BernBaum's Deli in downtown Fargo.  The site was the former location of the Powers Hotel Coffee Shop, where Peggy Lee often performed in the 1930s.

Dr. Kloberdanz later wrote an article about the above event, entitled "Family Members of Singer Peggy Lee Retrace Her Steps in Downtown Fargo,"  The Forum, July 13, 2023, pp. B4-B5.  The article included pictures of the visit, as well as two early photos of "Miss Peggy Lee."

In August 2023, Dr. Kloberdanz wrote yet another article for The Forum that included rare photos of Peggy Lee that had never been published.  That article was entitled " 'True Love Was Real' :  Peggy Lee and Her 'First Boyfriend at Home' Were the Couple to Watch in 1930s Fargo."  The article appeared in The Forum on August 13, 2023, pp. B4-B5.  To see some of these articles, go to the website:  https://www.peggylee.com
Spring & Summer 2023 
Readers of the book ONE DAY ON THE RIVER RED  will remember that the main character in the novel, Raymond "Raymondo" Knutson, was a great fan of the late singer, Peggy Lee.  
 
In the book, author Timothy J. Kloberdanz brought Peggy Lee back to life for a power-charged outdoor concert on the Red River in Fargo, North Dakota.  She performed such songs as "I'm a Woman," and "Is That All There Is?"
 
On April 14, 2023, Timothy J. Kloberdanz wrote a feature article for The Forum  entitled "Truly Legendary: Why North Dakota's Peggy Lee Deserves More Recognition in Fargo."  In the article, the author pointed out that Peggy Lee, a native of North Dakota, sang in Fargo on WDAY Radio.  Indeed, it was during the late 1930s in Fargo that her name changed from Norma Deloris Egstrom to "Peggy Lee."  Then, after joining Benny Goodman's Orchestra in 1941, the sultry-voiced singer became known to millions as "Miss Peggy Lee."
 
The famous singer will be remembered this summer with a special "Peggy Lee Day" in Valley City, North Dakota, on June 16.  A free tribute concert will be held that same evening at Valley City State University.
 
To read the entire article about Peggy Lee by author Timothy J. Kloberdanz, go to the official Peggy Lee website:  https://www.peggylee.com 
Winter 2022-2023  
The Winter 2022 AHSGR Newsletter ran a full-page article entitled "Colorado Gala Inspired by Kloberdanz Book Raises Over $380,000."  The article details how Dr. Tim Kloberdanz's book, ONCE UPON THE RIVER PLATTE ,  served as the thematic inspiration for a large charity event in Sterling, Colorado, in early September 2022. 
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Located in northeastern Colorado, Sterling is the hometown of Dr. Kloberdanz.  Besides being the regional setting for several of his articles and books, the Sterling area has important connections to the ancient Clovis culture.  As early as the 1890s, for example, an irrigation farmer near Sterling accidentally dug into a Clovis burial near the South Platte River.  Among the artifacts found were three Clovis projectile points and five large hematite beads.

 

In 1978, a cache of Clovis artifacts was unearthed in a wheat field northwest of Sterling.  Altogether, the cache yielded 13 Clovis points, as well as some tiny white fragments believed to be mammoth ivory.  This discovery is now known as “The Drake Clovis Cache.”  [The site originally was discovered by Orville Drake, an artifact collector from Fort Collins, Colorado.]  Several of the Drake Clovis points were made of Alibates Dolomite, a distinctive type of multi-colored flint from a quarry in the Texas Panhandle.

 

Such discoveries greatly increase our understanding of the ancient Clovis big game hunters who once roamed the Great Plains.  The Clovis people were quite mobile and had obvious preferences for the various types of stone that they utilized.  Thus, the Sterling, Colorado area seems especially important in helping researchers piece together “The Clovis Story.”

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Fall 2022  
On Saturday, October 15, author Tim Kloberdanz signed copies of his book, ONCE UPON THE RIVER PLATTE , at the Old Library Mercantile in Sterling, Colorado.
 
Previously, on September 10, the Sterling Community Fund held a gala in Sterling to raise funds.  The theme of the gala, "Upon the River Platte," was inspired by Tim Kloberdanz's novel, ONCE UPON THE RIVER PLATTE.  The fundraising event proved very successful and raised over $380,000.  
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"I was surprised but very pleased that the Sterling gala theme was inspired by my Platte River book," Dr. Kloberdanz said.  "Sterling is my hometown and naturally I want the Sterling Community Fund to grow and be successful.  And I want the lives of people there to be improved and enriched.  No matter the challenge, we are all in this together." 

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Summer 2022 
According to author Timothy J. Kloberdanz, he is nearing completion of his third novel in the "Legendary Rivers of the American West Series."  The book will focus on the Upper Mississippi River region of northern Minnesota. 
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Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine earlier this year, Dr. Kloberdanz wrote two articles that appeared in The Forum, the main newspaper that serves the Fargo, North Dakota, and Moorhead, Minnesota areas.  The articles are entitled "Why Volga Germans and Ukrainians Abhor Being Called 'Russians' " and "A Hole in the Iron Curtain, Easter 1984."  
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Because of his expertise in German-Russian studies, Dr. Kloberdanz is scheduled to give the keynote address at the 52nd International Convention of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia.  The meeting takes place in Lincoln, Nebraska, July 27-30.  The theme of the 2022 convention is "Honoring Our Past, Embracing Our Future."  

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Winter 2021-2022  
Astute readers of the book ONCE UPON THE RIVER PLATTE have shared with us newspaper reports and e-mails regarding wild animals suffering from COVID-19.  A recent study at the Iowa State College of Veterinary Medicine, for example, reveals that one-third of more than 150 white tail deer carcasses tested positive for COVID-19.  Furthermore, the Iowa researchers concluded that the infected wild deer may have contracted the virus indirectly from humans (possibly via human urine or feces). 
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Wild deer are not the only animals affected.  In Lincoln, Nebraska, three captive snow leopards (Ranney, Everest, and Makalu) died of COVID-19 in November 2021.  The snow leopards succumbed despite the use of antibiotics and steroids.  Thus far, the virus also has been detected in rabbits, minks, otters, hyenas, and non-human primates. 
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One is reminded here of the mask-wearing Dr. Susan Hotaru, a wildlife biologist in ONCE UPON THE RIVER PLATTE .  At one point in the book, she expresses her concern about a virus "that can quickly mutate and jump from one completely different species to another" (p. 73).  
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NOTE:  ONCE UPON THE RIVER PLATTE  was released in August of 2019, months before the COVID-19 outbreak was reported. 

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Spring & Summer 2021  
Due to the COVID-19 crisis, many author appearances and book-related events have been canceled or postponed.  Some health experts indicate that things will not return to normal until sometime in Summer 2021 (or possibly later). 
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Nonetheless, Clovis House author Timothy J. Kloberdanz has remained very busy.  Most recently, he authored an article about his late friend, the movie director and writer Joan Micklin Silver of New York City.  The 10-page article is entitled "Memories of Joan Micklin Silver and the 'Second Hoeing'  Film Project."  It appeared in the Spring 2021 issue of the Journal of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia.  This article proved quite timely, for Joan Micklin Silver was recognized in the "In Memoriam" portion of the 93rd Academy Awards event held in Los Angeles on April 25, 2021. 
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Dr. Kloberdanz also was interviewed by Forum reporter Tracy Briggs in April 2021.  Briggs did a podcast and a four-part series of articles that focused on the April 1920 slaying of eight German-Russian family members near Turtle Lake, North Dakota.  That tragic event also was the subject of a crime novel by Dr. Kloberdanz's friend, Vernon Keel.  The 2010 novel, entitled The Murdered Family, was published by Wanamaker Press of Denver, Colorado.

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January 2020  
On January 6, The Forum (of Fargo-Moorhead) runs a front-page story about novelist Timothy J. Kloberdanz.  Entitled "I Just Wrote and Wrote," the article is written by Forum reporter Patrick Springer.  He describes the impaired vision and other health problems that have beset the author in recent years.  After undergoing brain surgery at the Mayo Clinic in 2017, Springer quotes Kloberdanz as saying:   "It felt so good to see clearly again . . . I felt reborn and I was ecstatic, so I just wrote and wrote." 
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The article also includes a large color picture of Kloberdanz standing on the snow-covered banks of the Red River of the North.  Forum photographer David Samson took the picture of Fargo's own "River Writer."
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Summer 2020  
This year marks the 300th anniversary of the famous Villasur battle that took place near the confluence of the Platte and Loup Rivers (southeast of present-day Columbus, Nebraska) in August of 1720.  The tragic confrontation involved New Mexico Lieutenant Governor and Commander-in-Chief Pedro de Villasur and more than forty Spanish soldiers and civilians from Santa Fe.  Accompanying them were Pueblo Indian allies and a number of Plains Apache scouts.  On the early morning of August 14, 1720, the Villasur expedition was attacked and overwhelmed by a large number of Pawnee and Otoe warriors.  The Spanish were defeated and Villasur and numerous soldiers and Pueblo Indians were killed.  This event marked the end of Spanish colonial expansion into the Great Plains region. 
 
In his new novel, ONCE UPON THE RIVER PLATTE, author Timothy J. Kloberdanz makes many historical references to the ill-fated Villasur expedition of 1720.  These references appear despite the fact that ONCE UPON THE RIVER PLATTE  is set in the near future -- not in the early eighteenth century.  
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November - December 2019 
Several newspapers, international newsletters, and magazines carry articles featuring the new book ONCE UPON THE RIVER PLATTE  by author Timothy J. Kloberdanz.  Among these are the AHSGR Newsletter, the Columbus Telegram, the GRHS Newsletter, North Dakota Horizons, the Sterling Journal Advocate, and the South Platte Sentinel.  
Wednesday, October 16, 2019, 7:00 pm
Official book launch for ONCE UPON THE RIVER PLATTE .  The novel will be launched in the
very same area where much of the action in the book takes place--Platte County, Nebraska.  The author, Timothy J. Kloberdanz, will speak and sign copies of his new Platte book. This event is sponsored by Clovis House and the book launch will take place on Wednesday, October 16, 2019, at 7:00 PM.  Place:  The Platte County Historical Society Museum (West Building), 2916 16th Street, Columbus, Nebraska. The event is free and open to the public.  
October 13-21, 2019 -- Whirlwind Book Tour
"Whirlwind Book Tour" for Author Timothy J. Kloberdanz as he stops at various bookstores and museums to sign copies of his latest book ONCE UPON THE RIVER PLATTE .  The whirlwind tour will take the author to various sites in Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, and South Dakota. 
October 3, 2019  
The Columbus Telegram (Columbus, Nebraska) publishes a lengthy article about Timothy J. Kloberdanz's new book ONCE UPON THE RIVER PLATTE .  The article is entitled "Columbus, Platte River Inspire Author's New Book."  
Thursday, September 26, 2019  
Author Timothy J. Kloberdanz is one of the featured writers at the annual conference of the North Dakota Library Association (NDLA), Fargo, North Dakota.  Copies of both ONCE UPON THE RIVER PLATTE  and  ONE DAY ON THE RIVER RED  will be made available to librarians and other NDLA attendees. 
September 2019 
The e-book (Kindle) version of ONCE UPON THE RIVER PLATTE  becomes available to readers world-wide.
August 2019 
Book release for ONCE UPON THE RIVER PLATTE .  This is a full-length novel and it is the second book in the "Legendary Rivers of the American West Series." 
April 2019 
Sometimes, truth is stranger than fiction. Much like in the book ONE DAY ON THE RIVER RED ,  a man almost drowns in the 40-degree Red River waters, but is saved by a name-less woman who just happened to be nearby.  See the article "UND Student's 'Dreamlike Trip' on River Turns Terrifying," in the April 20, 2019, issue of The Forum, pp. A1, A4. 
Thursday, December 6, 2018 (St. Nicholas Day) 
"Writers' Winter Wonderland" author event at Zandbroz Variety Store in Fargo, North Dakota.  Timothy J. Kloberdanz is one of the featured authors.  He will sign copies of his recent book, ONE DAY ON THE RIVER RED .  This is a free event and open to the public.  420 Broadway North, Fargo, 6:00 - 8:00 PM.   For more information call 701-239-4729. 
Friday-Sunday, November 30-December 2, 2018
"Pride of Dakota" Holiday Showcase in Bismarck, North Dakota.  Bismarck Event Center, 315 South 5th St., Bismarck. 
Friday-Sunday, November 16-18, 2018
"Pride of Dakota" Holiday Showcase in Fargo, North Dakota.  Scheels Arena, 5225 31st Avenue South, Fargo. 
Tuesday, November 6, 2018
The GRHC (at NDSU) plans to sell ONE DAY ON THE RIVER RED  at the "Pride of Dakota" Holiday Showcases in eastern and western North Dakota. 
Monday, November 5, 2018
Clovis House becomes an approved member of "Pride of Dakota" Program.  North Dakota Department of Agriculture, Bismarck, ND. 
Sunday, October 21, 2018  
Official Book Launch and Author Event for ONE DAY ON THE RIVER RED  by Timothy J. Kloberdanz.  Zandbroz Variety Bookstore, Fargo, North Dakota. 2:00 - 3:30 pm.
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Thursday, October 18, 2018

Feature story about ONE DAY ON THE RIVER RED  appears in the Fargo weekly newspaper, High Plains Reader.  The article, "Fiction and Folklore Along the Red River" is written by the paper's editor, Sabrina Hornung. 

Monday, October 15, 2018

Kindle edition of ONE DAY ON THE RIVER RED  becomes available world-wide. 

Tuesday, October 02, 2018

Official release date for ONE DAY ON THE RIVER RED  by Timothy J. Kloberdanz.

NOTE:  When future book signings or other press-related events become known to us, these will be listed and periodically updated. 
 
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