Oklahoma Author Jana Hausburg
Oklahoma has a pretty remarkable history of producing Heisman Trophy winners, astronauts, and country music superstars. There are also plenty of fascinating stories of “ordinary” Oklahomans who have done extraordinary things, several of which are collected in local author Jana Hausburg’s new book, It Wasn’t Much: True Tales of Ten Oklahoma Heroes.
Ms. Hausburg is a Cataloger for the Metropolitan Library System, and her first book tells some amazing stories about heroic Oklahomans. One chapter highlights Father Stanley Rother, a Catholic missionary from Okarche who was martyred in a bloody Central American civil war in the 1980s and who may one day soon become Oklahoma’s first canonized saint. Another fascinating story involves World War II nurse Rosemary Hogan, who survived a brutal Japanese P.O.W. camp in the Philippines and was awarded a Bronze Star and Purple Heart among other medals.
The book’s title comes from the story of Rufino Rodrigues, a young miner who saved over 150 lives in a devastating 1912 fire in a Lehigh, Oklahoma, coal mine. Rodrigues commented that his amazing heroism “wasn’t much,” even decades later when survivors and their families would praise his efforts to pull fellow miners from the underground inferno.
Ms. Hausburg’s book is targeted to younger readers, from 4th to 9th grade, but her engaging style makes it a great read for anyone interested in Oklahoma history. Each chapter is augmented with website addresses, suggestions for further reading, and information about how to visit the historic places mentioned in the book.
The Forty-Sixth Star Press website includes portraits of the book’s subjects, excerpts from the text, and tons of extra web-links to more information about each of the Oklahoma heroes.
I interviewed Ms. Hausburg about her terrific book for newsok.tv, and the video of this interview can be seen here: http://www.newsok.tv/?titleID=4688337001
