Naomi Yaeger

I started my career in social services in my 20s, then moved into journalism in my 30s, working in the field for about 30 years total, though not continuously. One of my proudest achievements was serving as editor of The Hill Cider, a small non-profit newspaper in a diverse neighborhood in Duluth, Minnesota, for 5 years. I was really the chief cook and bottle washer - I sold all the advertising, brought all the money in, made all the assignments, and kept the whole thing running while working with a board. I felt like it helped pull the community together. I attended the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, where I initially majored in journalism but found it challenging because I was shy and not a great speller. I changed my major to Cultural Anthropology because I really love people and learning about people, then went on to get my master's in counseling from the same school. After moving to Seattle, Washington with my first husband, I mostly stayed home with my daughter. Later, I came back and finished up my journalism degree at the University of North Dakota in 1998. I also took classes for a couple years at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College in digital storytelling, photography, audio production, and video production, even though I was old enough to be the grandma of the other students who were 17 or 18. I recently published my book 'Blooming Hollyhocks: Tales of Joy During Hard Times' about a little girl growing up in southwestern Minnesota during the Great Depression and 1940s who becomes a nurse. The people who enjoy it most are older adults because it reminds them of their parents or grandparents. Now I'm working on getting historical societies and libraries to host presentations where I speak, my husband plays banjo, and people make corn husk dolls. I also write for Northern Wild magazine, focusing on stories for active, outdoor-loving people in the Arrowhead region of Minnesota. I don't work full-time anymore - I started taking Social Security since I'm 66.