A Path of Colored Leaves [Paperback]

Rachel Carr Klippenstein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 31, 2000

Can a lifetime hold more than one dream?

Rachel and her husband were South Dakota ranchers -- it was their whole life. Then came the Farm Crisis years of the 1980s, when they lost the ranch they loved and had worked so hard for. What do you do when a dream seems lost? What kind of toll does it take on a marriage? In this little book, Rachel poignantly describes the aftermath of the blow she and her husband suffered, and their struggle to find new footing and new direction. "A Path of Colored Leaves" tells a story of starting anew, learning the ropes of the writing business, and learning that life rarely turns out the way you thought it would. Rachel finds meaning in the journey, and joy in arriving at unexpected destinations.

Editorial Reviews

Review

...the unexpectedness of [the twists and turns in this story] makes it real and authentic, and Rachel's swings between hope and discouragement give it a living pulse. -- Theta Alpha Journal

I read "A Path of Colored Leaves" in one sitting. Rachel Klippenstein's journey from ranch woman to writer is compelling. -- Val Farmer, Clinical Psycologist, syndicated columnist

This is a little book of hope and encouragment for anyone who has had a dream and thought they lost it. -- Jane Kirkpatrick, award-winning author of "A Sweetness to the Soul."

About the Author

Rachel's first book "Do You, Rachel, Take Ranching for Better or for Worse?" is a delightfully funny depiction of ranch life, also available on Amazon.com. Her story, "The Sale" appears in "Leaning into the Wind" a High Plains women's anthology published by Houghton Mifflin. She writes for "The Sagebrush News," as well as livestock newspapers. She and her husband of thirty-seven years pursue their passions of ranching and writing on a small ranch in central Oregon.

Product Details

• Paperback: 100 pages
• Publisher: Fountain Pub (March 31, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 096591643X
• ISBN-13: 978-0965916431
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 5.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,666,708 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #50 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Reference > Publishing & Books > Authorship

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Uplifting and Inspirational Read, July 13, 2000

By 

AMERICAN WESTERN MAGAZINE - ReadTheWest.com - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Path of Colored Leaves (Paperback)

This inspirational book offers a rare and honest view of one woman's challenging journey from ranch woman to writer.

From the start it is clear the journey isn't an easy one. Klippenstein begins by touching upon her personal experience of suffering through the Farm Crisis of the 1980s and of losing the South Dakota ranch she and her husband, Marc, had owned: "Not the kind of lost where you set the car keys on top of the refrigerator and find them two months later during a house-cleaning binge. More like the lost as in lost youth. You had it once. Used it. Enjoyed it. And then you were stripped of youthful exuberance and creamy soft skin."

Ironically, this losing-it-all experience supplies Klippenstein with the grit and gumption to go after her dream of becoming a writer. The book takes the reader on the ups and downs of learning the ropes of the publishing business. It is a journey where hope quickly blossoms, then almost as suddenly is dashed; where self-pity and self-doubt ride an emotional roller coaster with pride and confidence.

Torn between wanting to become a voice for the American rancher, yet admitting that she resisted becoming "emotionally involved with ranching again," Klippenstein writes, "I grew up in Pittsburgh. My Mayflower ancestors were seamen and merchants, inventors and scholars. I was devastated as we slowly lost the ranch and had to ship our cattle to market. I lost my dream. The dream betrayed me. The land and cattle betrayed me. My background didn't hold me to the land the way it held Marc. What I saw as risks, Marc saw as challenges."

Be it risk or challenge, opportunity or struggle, hope or angst, ranching or writing, A Path of Colored Leaves speaks very intimately to all of these yet leaves the reader feeling renewed and refreshed, ready to take on any personal dream abandoned - an especially helpful book for the novice writer to have at hand.