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Reviews on Groundwork:

Carl Anderson, Farm Crusader

NEBRASKA HISTORY, Summer 1999 Review by Vernon Linnaus

"The promised opportunities of the Canadian prairies in the early twentieth century attracted many Americans. Among them were C.J.Anderson and his young son, Carl, coming from Omaha, Nebraska. Realities, though, were not always so glittering as the promise. ...The book presents an interesting and detailed lesson in local and provincial political-economic affairs, and with it the man who always seemed to be in the midst of those dynamics. His election to the Alberta Agricultural Hall of Fame [and as an honorary member of the Canadian Institute of Agriculture] came as fitting tribute to this community leader and his contribution as part of the Canadian economy."

THE BROOKS BULLETIN July 1998. Ann Harvie wrote:

"But Groundwork is more than one man's biography. The story of Anderson's life is the history of settlement and agricultural development in southeastern Alberta. Tempted by the CPR's dream-like promises of a bounteous oasis, settlers in fact found themselves faced with weed-choked irrigation ditches, cruelly misrepresented weather conditions, no rail transport for years and endless conflict with the CPR's paternalistic supervision. Meticulously researched, detailed but never overdone, Gross's book gives, behind the facts, a convincing picture of everyday life for these pioneers."

LEGACY MAGAZINE, November 1998. From an article by Dan Aire
"Renie Gross knows Anderson well and sees his personal generosity and concern for others as defining characteristics. When Lee, his wife of 56 years died, he set up two educational scholarships in her name: one in Alberta and one in New Brunswick where she was from. One of the criteria favours single parents, especially women...This summer to celebrate his 100th birthday, the Eastern Irrigation District established a $50,000 endowment fund in Carl Anderson's honour for the libraries within the borders served by its water delivery system. It is a fine tribute to the energetic plain-spoken man who has continued to serve his community with such determination."

ALBERTA REPORT May 1999. Review by Virginia Byfield
"The Andersons settled on the north bank of the Bow River, 110 miles east of Calgary, in the CPR's irrigation block. By 1920 there were several score more farms, many of them owned by Swedish Lutherans like the Andersons. More than half would pack up and leave in the next 10 years, however, and still more after that. Groundwork convincingly explains why... Author Renie Gross clearly loves and understands the region. She paints a compelling picture of the life and times of the Anderson clan and their neighbours, along with all the actors and events in their absorbing political-economic battles."

"BROOKS AND COUNTY CHRONICLE, July 1998. Review by Sonny Rajoo
"Farm crusader, Eastern Irrigation District founder and gentleman extraordinaire, Carl Anderson is the subject of a well written and highly informative book, Groundwork."

CALGARY HERALD October 1998. From an article by Brian Brennan
"Writer Renie Gross, who previously co-authored a commissioned history of the Eastern Irrigation District, entitled Tapping the Bow, says she wrote the Anderson biography to expand on some of the themes mentioned in the earlier book. One man's story thus becomes the story of all the immigrants who struggled to make a life for themselves in a dryland region once known as The Great American Desert."

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Badlands Books	Reviews on Groundwork: Carl Anderson, Farm Crusader
NEBRASKA HISTORY, Summer 1999 Review by Vernon Linnaus "The promised opportunities of the Canadian prairies in the early twentieth century attracted many Americans. Among them were C.J.Anderson and his young son, Carl, coming from Omaha, Nebraska. Realities, though, were not always so glittering as the promise. ...The book presents an interesting and detailed lesson in local and provincial political-economic affairs, and with it the man who always seemed to be in the midst of those dynamics. His election to the Alberta Agricultural Hall of Fame [and as an honorary member of the Canadian Institute of Agriculture] came as fitting tribute to this community leader and his contribution as part of the Canadian economy."
THE BROOKS BULLETIN July 1998. Ann Harvie wrote: "But Groundwork is more than one man's biography. The story of Anderson's life is the history of settlement and agricultural development in southeastern Alberta. Tempted by the CPR's dream-like promises of a bounteous oasis, settlers in fact found themselves faced with weed-choked irrigation ditches, cruelly misrepresented weather conditions, no rail transport for years and endless conflict with the CPR's paternalistic supervision. Meticulously researched, detailed but never overdone, Gross's book gives, behind the facts, a convincing picture of everyday life for these pioneers."
LEGACY MAGAZINE, November 1998. From an article by Dan Aire "Renie Gross knows Anderson well and sees his personal generosity and concern for others as defining characteristics. When Lee, his wife of 56 years died, he set up two educational scholarships in her name: one in Alberta and one in New Brunswick where she was from. One of the criteria favours single parents, especially women...This summer to celebrate his 100th birthday, the Eastern Irrigation District established a $50,000 endowment fund in Carl Anderson's honour for the libraries within the borders served by its water delivery system. It is a fine tribute to the energetic plain-spoken man who has continued to serve his community with such determination."
ALBERTA REPORT May 1999. Review by Virginia Byfield "The Andersons settled on the north bank of the Bow River, 110 miles east of Calgary, in the CPR's irrigation block. By 1920 there were several score more farms, many of them owned by Swedish Lutherans like the Andersons. More than half would pack up and leave in the next 10 years, however, and still more after that. Groundwork convincingly explains why... Author Renie Gross clearly loves and understands the region. She paints a compelling picture of the life and times of the Anderson clan and their neighbours, along with all the actors and events in their absorbing political-economic battles."
"BROOKS AND COUNTY CHRONICLE, July 1998. Review by Sonny Rajoo "Farm crusader, Eastern Irrigation District founder and gentleman extraordinaire, Carl Anderson is the subject of a well written and highly informative book, Groundwork."
CALGARY HERALD October 1998. From an article by Brian Brennan "Writer Renie Gross, who previously co-authored a commissioned history of the Eastern Irrigation District, entitled Tapping the Bow, says she wrote the Anderson biography to expand on some of the themes mentioned in the earlier book. One man's story thus becomes the story of all the immigrants who struggled to make a life for themselves in a dryland region once known as The Great American Desert."