3/28/2006 2:20:00 PM Novel about Spring Valley will feature local writers
Spring Valley native Mark Reps, who has written a number of novels, is asking local residents to send him short stories about this community, which he plans to compile into a novel.
By Charlie Warner
Spring Valley Tribune
"When I was back in Spring Valley last summer during the city's sesquicentennial, I spoke with so many people who reminisced about 'the good old days in Spring Valley.' I had such a good time listening to those stories and the more I thought about all those wonderful stories, the more convinced I became that they needed to be shared by others."
That's the way former Spring Valley resident Mark Reps summed up how he came up with the idea for a new novel. The son of former Spring Valley educators Charlie and the late Irene Reps has completed three novels since his first endeavor One Summer In Flyoverland was published in 2004. The full-time writer is working on two sequels to Flyoverland, which was a coming-of-age tale wrapped around a murder mystery set in the summer of 1966 in Hibbing, Minn. Reps utilized many of his boyhood memories growing up in Spring Valley when writing his first novel. The two sequels he's currently trying to wrap up will also have copious amounts of local flavor.
"I want this new novel to be a living history of Spring Valley," Reps explained last week. "I would like to take many stories about Spring Valley people, places and events and compile them into a book. Because Spring Valley has meant so much to me, I will be donating all the proceeds of this book to the Spring Valley Historical Society and/or a scholarship at the school."
Reps said that he sent out a mass mailing to as many former and current Spring Valley residents as he could, asking people to write short stories about their favorite recollections of growing up and/or living here. So far, he has received about 50 responses and about 15 short stories.
"I want them to tell me what Spring Valley was like 40, 50, 60 years ago. Who their favorite teachers were, town characters, class trips, their favorite cars, being in the marching band, the football team, their neighbors, church activities. The list is endless. I want to put a book together that 100 years from now, people will be able to know what Spring Valley was like in the 1930s, ‘40s, ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s.
"I'm encouraging people to pull out their old high school yearbooks, scrapbooks and photo albums and start remembering," he continued. "What was it like in downtown Spring Valley on a Friday night in the summer when everyone came to town: going to the movie theater downtown or later on the drive-in theater. There's got to be lots of stories about things that went on there."
Reps is hoping to receive several hundred stories that he can meld into a novel about Spring Valley, and he's looking for pictures, too.
"Pictures? Sure I'd love to have old photos as well.
"I just want people to sit down and think about the old days and write down what comes into their minds. If they just want to jot down some thought patterns, that's fine. What they write doesn't have to be perfect English or even complete sentences. I'm planning on editing the information and getting it into the proper form."
And for persons who might have a difficult time writing their stories down, Reps said he's accepting taped stories as well.
"People don't have to write volumes," he added. "One to one and one half typed pages is just about perfect."
Reps hopes to have the novel about Spring Valley completed by this fall so that it can be published and ready for sale before the holiday season. He feels the book on Spring Valley would make a great holiday gift. Persons who would like to submit material for this novel are asked to do so by July or August at the very latest. Include your name, the year you graduated from Spring Valley High or moved to Spring Valley and, if you would like, include your e-mail address so those who read the book can get in touch with you.
Mark Reps' address is 16470 5th Street North, Lakeland, MN. 55403.
