As we each have, Laura had a dream. Yet it would take the Great Depression to make her dream come true.

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Laura had hoped to become an author, but it was the Great Depression that compelled her to act for she and her husband Almanzo had lost their life savings when the stock markets crashed.

At age 65, old age in the 1930’s, Laura wanted to publish “Little House in the Big Woods,” but she and Almanzo had no contacts in the publishing industry.

Fortunately, their daughter Rose Wilder Lane was a successful travel writer and novelist and had the connections to secure for her mother a literary agent and a publisher.

Rose also helped Laura edit the material to make it appealing to a broad audience, and not just to children, which was her mother’s initial intention.

The book became so popular, that Laura would write seven more books in the Little House series describing her childhood on the frontier, the last of which was published in 1943, when Laura was 76.

Laura Ingalls Wilder
Photo: publishersweekly.com

The popularity of the books eventually led to a renowned TV series and TV movies, “Little House on the Prairie,” (1974 �" 1984).

By the time she passed away in her sleep at age 90 in 1957, her books had a huge readership and remain so popular, they are printed in 40 languages.

Editor's Note: Prior to her fame, what kind of life had Laura lived?

At 15, to help support her family she became a frontier school teacher in a one room school while also attending high school, from which she never graduated.

At 18, she married 28-year-old Almanzo (whom she called “Marty”), a farmer, and at 19 gave birth to Rose.

In the years that followed, Laura and her family suffered as did many prairie families, from deadly illnesses, fires, draughts, freezes and financial busts.

She finally found some financial stability as a newspaper columnist, writing about women’s and family issues, and offering poultry and farming advice.

This was how Laura sharpened her writing skills prior to becoming rich and famous from her Little House series of books.

To learn more, click here. If you would like to watch The Little House TV series, it is available worldwide on streaming services and Amazon.

In the next KazanToday: A woman who didn’t begin her famous career until she was 76.