Canadian juv. author Don Lemna, 84, in Oct. 2020 (When the Sergeant Came Marching Home, 2008)

[Lenona]

He was an electrical engineer and lieutenant colonel in the Canadian Armed Forces.

Some compare his books to those by Robert Newton Peck (author of A Day No Pigs Would Die).

http://gonebutnotforgotten.ca/medicine-hat/2020/11/02/lemna-donald-frederick/

September 29, 1936 ~ October 24, 2020

Donald Lemna of Medicine Hat, Alberta passed away peacefully at the Calgary Foothills Medical Center in Calgary on October 24, 2020 at the age of 84. Don was the loving father of Donald Lemna (Joanne) of Chestermere, AB, and Boyd Lemna (Christine) of Manotick, ON. He will be dearly missed by his brothers: Pat and Fred; grandchildren: Joseph (Michele), Sean (Heather), Samantha (Diego), and Robyn; and his great grandchildren Werner, Rachel, and Daisie. Don was predeceased by his soulmate and loving wife of 53 years Deanna, and his grandson Matthew. Don was born in Medicine Hat, Alberta to his parents Edward and Phyllis. He spent his childhood in the Hat, and many years later, when walking through the downtown with his children and grandchildren, he would point out the landmarks of his childhood, and provide a story for each. Don joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1955, and attended Royal Roads and the Royal Military College of Canada, where he earned an engineering degree. He met Deanna in his final year of RMC and they were married in 1960. After serving 20 years, Don retired from the military as a Lieutenant Colonel, and the family moved to Sedgewick, Alberta where he took up writing full time. In 1981, Don and Deanna moved to Medicine Hat and it has been his home ever since. He was a published author, avid gardener (tomatoes and morning glories being favorites), friendly neighbour, amateur mason, loving father, and devoted husband, and he will be lovingly remembered by us all. Arrangements for a celebration of life will be made at a later date. To express condolences, please visit: www.mountain viewmemorial.ca.


https://www.kirkusreviews.com/author/don-lemna/
(two Kirkus reviews)

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1158759.Don_Lemna
(a few reader reviews)

http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/1158759.Don_Lemna
(includes two quotations from "When the Sergeant Came Marching Home")

http://www.medicinehatmedia.com/2012/03/don-lemna-book-launch/
(short post about Lemna from 2012)

Excerpt:

...In Bubsy (1993), he drew on his experiences as a child growing up in Medicine Hat. While Out in Left Field and When the Sergeant Came Marching Home are set on the prairie landscape of Montana, the portrayal is very familiar to Prairie Canadians...

http://booksforkidsblog.blogspot.com/2012/09/bonkers-out-in-left-field-by-don-lemna.html
(review)

From "Contemporary Authors": "Contributor to periodicals, including OWL and Australian School Magazine...Leacock Medal runner-up, for A Visit from Mr. Lucifer; received national and provincial awards for playwriting."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGrsmXW98UI
(short video from 2002; he appears for less than half a minute)

http://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n87-150973/
(extra titles)


WRITINGS:

A Visit from Mr. Lucifer, Western Producer Prairie Books (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada), 1984.
("This collection of warm, humorous stories embraces an exciting period of discovery in the lives of two boys, Bobby and Pat Cameron.")

Bubsy, illustrated by Sally J.K. Davies, Riverwood Publishers (Sharon, Ontario, Canada), 1993.

When the Sergeant Came Marching Home, illustrated by Matt Collins, Holiday House (New York, NY), 2008.
("Donald can't believe it when his father returns after serving in World War II and decides to move the family to a middle-of-nowhere farm, where they work hard trying to make end meet.")

Out in Left Field, illustrated by Matt Collins, Holiday House (New York, NY), 2012.
("This timeout, Donald is sure that his life is ruined when a pop fly beanball knocks him senseless out in left field. The error costs his team the game, and Donald is desperate to redeem himself. But all of his efforts end in disaster.")



Lenona.

[radioacti...@gmail.com]

Clearly, every appreciator (or, I suppose, even consumer) of juvenile literature herein owes you hugely for your diligent updates on the community. And I should also point out as someone proudly if pedantically punctilious about punctuation, I think your " Lenona. " handle is nifty indeed, Lenona.! (And might be even NIFTIER as LENONA., some graphics designers might argue.)

That said, I consider myself fairly well-read for a Midwestern hick (and lifelong radio guy), but few of the oodles of authors you update everyone on here are familiar names to me. Point is, I don't know NUTTIN' 'BOUT this important literature sub-genre other than Judy Blume. Ergo, Lenona, YOU could VERY:POSSIBLY be a wildly-successful practitioner of the art YOURSELF, either under this punctuated-pseudonym or any other!

So: and though it's absolutely none of my cotton-pickin' business, I'll politely ask anyway. Are you, Lenona, a young fiction novelist YOURSELF, or better yet, some juve-nonfiction phenom?

BRYAN STYBLE/Florida

[Lenona]

On Sunday, February 21, 2021 at 4:08:41 AM UTC-5, radioactive wrote:

> So: and though it's absolutely none of my cotton-pickin' business, I'll politely ask anyway. Are you, Lenona, a young fiction novelist YOURSELF, or better yet, some juve-nonfiction phenom?

No, though it would be nice. Personally, though, I'd settle for being someone who could convince huge numbers of PARENTS to read to their kids. According to an unsigned editorial from the 1990s or earlier, that's where the real heavy lifting lies when it comes to curing illiteracy among the young.

I wish I'd clipped it, but one thing that it should have said (if it didn't), was that there is No Need to read the same books over and over; one can simply get five new books every week from the library - and pick books the PARENT will enjoy reading aloud. (But a certain amount of repetition IS necessary, according to most child psychologists.)

Besides which, even if one is too busy with housework to read aloud at certain times of the day, that should NOT be an excuse to let kids watch screens! Anyone knows that's only going to hurt their attention spans in school, later. I once encountered someone in Amy Alkon's blog (pre-pandemic) who said that whenever she was busy, she didn't dare let her kids play in the yard for fear some rotten neighbor would report her to CPS, "so TV it is."

I pointed out that even three-year-olds can play at washing floors. Yes, small kids who "help" with chores make the chores last much longer, but at least they're spending time with their parents when no playmates or babysitters are available; they're slowly learning how to do the chores efficiently, and most importantly, they're learning that they are NOT entitled to passive entertainment - or even work evasion - after the age of two or so! Besides, there are library books on rainy-day projects featuring common household materials, so keeping kids away from screens doesn't have to take a lot of money or effort.

Bottom line: Once kids are over six or old enough to read on their own once their chores are done, they need to be able to ENJOY reading, and that takes a lot of reading aloud by the parent, in advance. Otherwise, parents are setting themselves up for all sorts of fights over screen time. (Also, the inconvenient truth about independent reading is that, unlike video games, it typically takes time away from one's peers. Not to mention exercise. So one really has learn to love it - and spend even less time on screens so as to have more time for exercise.)



Lenona.