In Stores Nov. 22, 2011 ORDER: Hardcover ($25) | E-Book ($9.99)
Brenda My Darling
The Love Letters of Fridtjof Nansen to Brenda Ueland
Edited by Eric Utne
Some of the most passionate, candid and eloquent love letters in the English language.
Order Hardcover: $25 – ISBN 978-0-9761989-3-2
238 pages, including 16 pages of b & w photos Publication: January 1, 2012. In stores: November 22, 2011.
Available at better booksellers everywhere, dealer inquiries welcome.
Order E-book: $9.99 – ISBN 978-0-9761989-4-9
“O Brenda, My darling, my mistress, my girl, my everything. You are a sorceress…What wondrous witchcraft do you possess?…There is not a corner of my heart or soul which I do not wish you to look into…I have the feeling that I could talk to you about everything…and you would always understand…”
—FRIDTJOF NANSEN TO BRENDA UELAND
FRIDTJOF NANSEN, Norway’s greatest explorer, humanitarian and winner of the 1922 Nobel Peace Prize, met the writer BRENDA UELAND in New York City in 1929. He was 67 and she was 37. They had a brief love affair and a year long correspondence until his death. Brenda, My Darling presents Nansen’s letters to Ueland, (hers to him are lost), and a sampling of Ueland’s published work and unpublished diaries. Available for the first time, his letters are some of the most passionate, candid and eloquent in the English language. Brenda My Darling offers profound insight into the lives of two extraordinary individuals.
From the Foreword by Per Egil Hegge:
“These love letters from Fridtjof Nansen to Brenda Ueland make for compelling reading. Nansen’s fiery confessions of his great love for Ueland would have been considered semi-pornographic only a half century ago. The Norwegian saying “when the old house catches fire, it burns with great heat,” fully applies. But, because the letters are so earnest, so intense and so beautifully written, it is more appropriate to classify them as literature – a true love song… What is most remarkable about these letters is how Nansen opens up and exposes himself for Ueland, who was younger than him by 30 years… He holds little back when he describes his erotic obsession with her… In these letters Nansen reveals to Ueland something about his past relationships that none of his many biographers seems to have discovered… he writes poetically, gently and beautifully… [Brenda Ueland] was discrete about the past. She could have brought her secret to the tomb… but she did not burn his letters. Over 80 years after they were written, these letters take us far from the mists and glaciers of Nansen’s Arctic adventures. They give us the opportunity to admire the literary Fridtjof Nansen and his abilities as a writer of love poetry.”
* * *
Per Egil Hegge is a Norwegian journalist, cultural commentator, and author of several books, including biographies of Fridtjof Nansen and King Harald V of Norway. He chaired the Norwegian branch of PEN-International from 1985 to 1988.
ERIC UTNE is an entrepreneur, publisher and educator. In 1984 he founded Utne Reader magazine, a “field guide to the emerging culture,” which he edited and published for 15 years. He now writes a back-page column in every issue. Utne is a member of the executive committee of the Nobel Peace Prize Forum and of the advisory boards of Ecotrust and the World Future Council. He has a B.E.D. (Environmental Design) from the University of Minnesota and serves as a Senior Fellow at the University’s Center for Spirituality & Healing. Utne is the step-grandson of Brenda Ueland, who called him her grandson and said they were “closer than kin.” He lives in Minneapolis.
FRIDTJOF NANSEN (1861-1930) was an athlete, polar explorer, scientist, statesman and humanitarian. He was the first person to cross Greenland on skis, got closer to the North Pole than anyone before him, was asked to become King of Norway after it won its independence from Sweden (he declined), and saved an estimated 7-22 million Russians from starvation, for which he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1922. He was the author of many books, and the subject of many more, including one called Nansen and His Women (Schibstad). He was well-known for his high regard for women. According to Nansen’s daughter-in-law Kari, Brenda Ueland was Nansen’s last, and greatest love.
BRENDA UELAND (1891-1985) was born in Minneapolis and grew up there. During the 1910s and 1920s she lived in Greenwich Village, working as a freelance writer and traveling with such bohemian free thinkers as Mabel Dodge, Emma Goldman, Theodore Dreiser, Willa Cather and Eugene O’Neill. Returning to Minneapolis, she wrote for the Minneapolis Times and taught writing. She was the author of several books, including the best-selling If You Want to Write, (over 300k copies sold), her brash autobiography ME, and a collection of essays Strength to Your Sword Arm. She corresponded with, and was admired by Langston Hughes, Paul Robeson, Eleanor Roosevelt, Upton Sinclair, Robert Penn Warren, and Carl Sandburg, among countless others. She was awarded the Order of St. Olaf medal by the King of Norway and set an international swimming record (for over-80-year-olds). She replaced the Ten Commandments with two of her own: “No Cruelty. And no Lying… That would take care of everything,” she wrote, “ignorance-inducing newspapers, advertising, war, stealing, murder, vivisection, adultery.” She died at home at the age of 93.
Praise for Brenda Ueland’s books:
“The best book ever written about how to write.” —CARL SANDBURG (If You Want to Write)
“An inspirational tract aimed at all those who would write but are prevented from so doing by shyness, fear or humility … I wanted to shout, ‘Amen.’” — ANDREI CODRESCU (If You Want to Write)
“I only have to read a few sentences and I am infected with the desire to follow her.” —The Women’s Review of Books (If You Want to Write)
“Brenda Ueland is an inspiration…especially to writers of memoir…her voice bounces off the page… there is no one else like her.” (Strength to Your Sword Arm!) — CINDY LA FERLE
Praise for Eric Utne’s most recent book, COSMO DOOGOOD’S URBAN ALMANAC: Celebrating Nature & Her Rhythms in the City
“I didn’t think it possible to make any day more interesting than it is, but Cosmo Doogood does just that!” —BILL MOYERS
“Quite simply, Cosmo Doogood’s Urban Almanac is a book of delights… a compendium of joy. I love it!” —TERRY TEMPEST WILLIAMS
“This almanac makes me more alive, more curious and bold. I love it.” —COLEMAN BARKS
“This almanac reminds us that our teacher and companion Nature is always with, and inseparable from, ourselves.” —ALICE WALKER
