Kirkpatrick, Jane 1946-

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KIRKPATRICK, Jane 1946-

PERSONAL: Born 1946; married Jerry Kirkpatrick. Education: Master's degree in social work, c. 1974.

ADDRESSES: Home—Starvation Point, OR. Agent— c/o Author Mail, Waterbrook Press, 2375 Telstar Dr., Suite 160, Colorado Springs, CO 80920. E-mail— [email protected].

CAREER: Social worker and writer. Has worked as director of a mental health program in Eschutes County, OR, and as a mental health and educational consultant at Warm Springs Indian Reservation, OR.

AWARDS, HONORS: Wrangler Award, Western Heritage Center/National Cowboy Hall of Fame.

WRITINGS:

NONFICTION

Homestead, Word (Dallas, TX), 1991, revised edition with photographs, WinePress (Mukliteo, WA), 1996.

A Burden Shared: Words to Encourage Your Days, Multnomah (Sisters, OR), 1998.

A Simple Gift of Comfort, photography by Lisa H. Sorensen, Harvest House (Eugene, OR), 2002.

Also author of foreword to Wildflower Living by Liz Duckworth. Contributor of articles and essays to more than fifty publications, including Decision, Country, and Daily Guideposts.

FICTION

A Sweetness to the Soul, Multnomah (Sisters, OR), 1995.

Love to Water My Soul, Multnomah (Sisters OR), 1996.

A Gathering of Finches: A Novel, Multnomah (Sisters, OR), 1997.

Mystic Sweet Communion, Multnomah (Sisters, OR), 1998.

All Together in One Place: A Novel of Kinship, Courage, and Faith, Waterbrook (Colorado Springs, CO), 2000.

No Eye Can See: A Novel of Kinship, Courage, andFaith, Waterbrook (Colorado Springs, CO), 2001.

What Once We Loved: A Sisterhood of Friendship andFaith, Waterbrook (Colorado Springs, CO), 2001.

A Name of Her Own, Waterbrook (Colorado Springs, CO), 2002.

Every Fixed Star, Waterbrook (Colorado Springs, CO), 2003.

Hold Tight the Thread, Waterbrook (Colorado Springs, CO), 2004.

A Land of Sheltered Promise: A Novel Inspired byTrue Stories of the Big Muddy Ranch, Waterbrook (Colorado Springs, CO), 2005.

ADAPTATIONS: A Gathering of Finches has been adapted for the stage.

SIDELIGHTS: Jane Kirkpatrick worked in the field of social work and rehabilitation for many years before she set out with her husband on a new life that included moving to a remote part of Oregon to begin "homesteading" and writing. The author of both fiction and nonfiction, Kirkpatrick's first book, Homestead, is a memoir detailing her family's move from the city to build a house and establish a farm in Oregon's John Day River Valley. In an interview for MemorableTV.com Kirkpatrick commented, "I don't believe I would have written a book, let alone almost twelve with contracts for three more, if it hadn't been for that leap of faith to our 160 acres along the John Day River."

Although Kirkpatrick has written several nonfiction books, her writing has primarily focused on historical fiction. In her interview with Memorable TV, she noted that she likes to spend about a year conducting researching for her historical novels and added, "I also have to start writing before I think I should or I never would, the research is such fun."

Kirkpatrick's "Dream-Catcher" series features books about the Oregon frontier that include Sweetness to the Soul, Love to Water My Soul, A Gathering of Finches, and Mystic Sweet Communion. In Love to Water My Soul Kirkpatrick tells the story of Asiam, a little girl who serves as the novel's narrator and recounts being raised by Modoc Indians after being accidentally left behind at a watering hole by her family on their way west. Asiam ends up getting traded to the Paiutes, where she discovers that she is not the only white woman to be raised by Indians. Writing in Booklist, John Mort called the author's description of Asiam's growth into womanhood after she begins to menstruate as "touching and beautiful." The reviewer also noted that the author has an "almost magical feel for the rituals of an antelope hunt." Mort called the novel "poetic, subtle, and bittersweet."

All Together in One Place is part of Kirkpatrick's "Kinship and Courage Historical" series, which also includes No Eye Can See and What Once We Loved. Kirkpatrick recounts the story of a family heading west as part of a wagon train in All Together in One Place. The novel's heroine, Mazy Bacon, and her husband almost part company when her husband announces his intention to sell their Wisconsin farm and head west. Ultimately Mazy reconciles with her spouse and heads off on the long and perilous journey. Library Journal contributor Melanie C. Duncan found that the author "leaves several plot points hanging while she wraps others up a little too easily." Writing in Booklist, Mort called the book a "tender and brutal look at how it must really have been to head west in 1850."

No Eye Can See recounts the story of eleven women traveling the Oregon trail together after losing their respective men. A Publishers Weekly contributor noted that the author "is convincingly insightful about the conflicting emotions these women experience during dramatic life changes" but added, "The novel's chief flaw is that the male characters are far less developed." Nevertheless, the reviewer called the novel "a thoughtful exploration of human character and community."

Kirkpatrick is also the author of three historical novels making up her "Tender Ties" series, which fictionalize the true story of Marie Dorion Veneir Toupin, an Ioway native who accompanied the Astor overland expedition in 1812. The series includes A Name of Her Own, Every Fixed Star, and Hold Tight the Thread. In Every Fixed Star Kirkpatrick tells the story of Toupin's struggle to survive with her children after the death of her husband, whose debts she is held accountable for by merchants in a local encampment. A Bookreporter.com contributor noted that the novel "offers enrichment on many levels" and added that Kirkpatrick's book will "delight you with pictures of love, bravery, struggles and triumphs, all painted on a historically accurate canvas." Hold Tight the Thread is the final installment in the series and focuses on the last decade of Toupin's life as she struggles with the influence of the Europeans, her newfound Catholicism, and her growing family. A Publishers Weekly contributor commented that the author "neither demonized nor tidily redeemed" characters' flaws and noted, "In combining historical authenticity with an exceptional ability to render poetic the thoughts of her characters, Kirkpatrick achieves a novel that enchants as it educates."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 1, 1996, John Mort, review of Love to Water My Soul, p. 65; June 1, 2000, John Mort, review of All Together in One Place, p. 1854; October 1, 2000, John Mort, review of All Together in One Place, p. 302.

Denver Post, April 11, 2004, Sybil Downing, review of Hold Tight the Thread, p. F10.

Library Journal, April 1, 2000, Melanie C. Duncan, review of All Together in One Place, p. 82.

Marriage Partnership, spring, 2002, "Jane Kirkpatrick Is Cleaning up after One of the Western Lighting Fires Burned Thousands of Acres around Their Remote Home," p. S8.

Publishers Weekly, January 1, 2001, review of No EyeCan See, p. 67; March 8, 2004, review of Hold Tight the Thread, p. 49.