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Collected by Ann Hardy Beardshall & Mark Hager III

In 2015 Mark Hager's family visited the Bland County Historical Society in hopes of gaining more family information and in the course of the discussion told Ann Beardshall they would really like to collect and publish the numerous stories he had written and sold over the years. They talked to the right person. Over the last few years Ann Beardshall has worked with the family, investigated several avenues and finally published this book this year.

Mark Hager (1889-1960) was a native of Bland County and a prolific short story writer. In her preface Ann notes that "Mark Hager wrote over 250 short stories that appeared in a wide range of publications including Collier's, Progressive Farmer, Household, The American Legion Magazine, and Woman's Day." Many of his stories were also published in short story collections.

An excellent biography is provided giving you a sense of whom this man was, as well as a summary of his background as it pertains to his writing. As an example, Ann writes that his stories were written on a used typewriter (originally bought for his children) on his dining room table. These stories were then published across the United States, one story was adapted for television and shown on "Fireside Theatre".

This is a large book, with over 300 pages, and contains 53 of Mr. Hager's 250 stories. They should provide many hours of enjoyable reading as well as a glimpse of another time and different places. It should also be noted that all of the stories besides being well written are wholesome, frequently amusing and often teach a moral lesson. These stories just beg to be read out loud for the whole family.

To order this book now, go to Our Order Page.