No One Left Behind

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An Unexpected Educational Adventure at Machu Picchu

Deb Pitton

$17.95 – Purchase a print copy online.

Professor Deb Pitton led a group of education and healthcare students to Peru and Machu Picchu in 2010. When rain swelled the mountain rivers, flooding downstream villages, the group was trapped and struggled to remain together waiting to be evacuated.

No One Left Behind, Deb Pitton’s personal account of what was to become a legendary study abroad trip is filled with humor and honesty. She spares no detail when it comes to describing the rewards and challenges of traveling with a group of college students who are seeing (most of them for the first time) a less privileged side of life. Those revelations, which are often noticed and appreciated by Pitton as she describes an event or interaction, form one of the recurring themes of the book. Another emergent theme has to do with the power of nature and how it can disrupt one’s best laid plans; readers who remember the news stories about the Gustavus Professors and students stranded in the mountains of Peru will perhaps share my amazement as the extent of the ordeal is unveiled. Deb does a wonderful job of detailing the many ways she and her co-leader, Mary Solberg, had to improvise, consult, and make immediate—sometimes scary—decisions. Anyone considering leading a group on a study-abroad trip would do well to read No One Left Behind, but perhaps—as the title suggests—the most important idea we are left with is that we all need to look out for each other and stick together—a goal that seems particularly relevant to the times.

—Joyce Sutphen, Minnesota Poet Laureate

Deb Pitton, Machu Picchu 2010.

Lake Zumbro – the First 100 Years

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Contact Lake Zumbro Forever, Mazeppa, Minnesota, to purchase a hardcover copy.

Lake Zumbro Forever

 

Hardcover copies are available from Lake Zumbro Forever board members, Mazeppa, Minnesota.

 

A collectable photobook and narrative history of Lake Zumbro, the Zumbro dam, the neighborhoods that grew around the lake, and the future of Lake Zumbro, its water, its wetlands and its residents.

Magic and Tragic Rosebud

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Nancy Palker
a memoir
Join Nancy Palker, a young woman from Connecticut who in 1973 goes to work for the U.S. Public Health Service and suddenly finds herself immersed in a culture very different from her own on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota.
Magic and Tragic Rosebud revisits the days of unrest on the Dakota reservations—a time of turmoil, kidnapping, death threats and shootouts between the FBI and members of the American Indian Movement. Witness miracles of survival as well as poignant tragedies. Learn along with her about the rich Lakota Sioux traditions, hear the drums and flutes. Celebrate lasting friendships and the resilience of the human spirit.
Nancy Palker returned to Rosebud in September 2016. “Native history is still being written,” she says, “a history that still calls for public awareness. Rosebud is an isolated pocket of poverty. The hospital and community continue to struggle with inadequate funding and personnel.” Magic and Tragic Rosebud concludes with a reader guide for strategies and resources to offer support to Rosebud and its Native American neighbors.
Retired from nursing now, Nancy’s career in health care as an aide, registered nurse and nurse practitioner in gerontology, spanned more than forty-five years. She has organized nursing groups and successfully worked for changes in health care legislation and regulation in several states. From her home in Maryland, Nancy continues to advocate for improvements in Rosebud’s health care system.

Amazon reviews—

From Jane C: Historically Relevant Perspective of Rosebud, SD Sioux. Nancy Palker’s nursing account while working on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation reflects both an historical view and a current and compelling plea for change. Her author’s voice is authentic, professional and empathetic towards those whose voices are routinely dismissed. The author’s lists of resources present rich and varied avenues for advocacy. Kudos to Nancy for paying forward her proceeds to a sorely neglected group of Americans! Read and embrace her journey!
Merrilyn N. Cummings: Most Enlightening. I had the opportunity to visit Rosebud during the author’s work there in the ’70’s. The book provides history and current information on this Indian Reservation and its people. The author’s ability to bring the magic and tragic alive through her writing is most commendable. You feel like you are right there with her throughout the book. All legislators need to read this. Nice job, Nancy.