Catherine Friend

Join Catherine Friend and the Zumbro River Arts Guild to celebrate the publication of Friend’s new nonfiction book, Sheepish: Two Women, Fifty Sheep, and Enough Wool to Save the Planet. In addition to a brief presentation by the author, members of the Zumbro River Arts Guild will demonstrate spinning, ... (more)weaving, and other fiber arts. Sheepish: Two Women, Fifty Sheep, and Enough Wool to Save the Planet It’s been fifteen years since Catherine Friend left her quiet, urban existence and became the proud owner of two ducks, four goats, fifty sheep, and several acres of Minnesota farmland. Now, caught in a chronic love/hate relationship with her flock, Friend reevaluates life on the farm and discovers that her sheep—and sheep around the world—may be much more important than anyone gives them credit for. Discover the advantages of having sheep as the planet’s “self-propelled lawn mowers” and the scary truth behind “wrinkle free” clothing as Friend reveals what it really means to be “sheepish”—and how it might not be such a bad thing after all. Catherine Friend is the author of Hit by a Farm and The Compassionate Carnivore, as well as seven children’s books and three novels. She farms in Minnesota with her partner of twenty-seven years. The Visiting Author Series is sponsored by the Friends of the Rochester Public Library.

We adore Zumbrota author Catherine Friend and are happy to have her share her new book The Compassionate Carnivore or if you prefer her subtitle "How to keep Animals Happy, Save Old MacDonald's Farm, Reduce Your Hoofprint, and Still Eat Meat

We adore Zumbrota author Catherine Friend and are happy to have her share her new book The Compassionate Carnivore or if you prefer her subtitle "How to keep Animals Happy, Save Old MacDonald's Farm, Reduce Your Hoofprint, and Still Eat Meat

For much of her life, Catherine Friend preferred not to think about where the meat on her plate came from, but her attitude began to change when she and her partner bought a small farm in Minnesota and began raising sheep. Now, in the same witty and warm style that characterized her memoir Hit by a Farm, ... (more)Friend walks consumers through the differences between organic, sustainable, conventional, and factory farms, and labels like organic, grass-fed, and grain-fed, while offering critical insights into how meat is raised, why we buy it and from whom, and why change is both desirable and possible.

Catherine Friend lives and farms in Minnesota. She is the author of a memoir, "Hit By A Farm" and several novels for children and adults.

As consumers are becoming more and more concerned about what happens to their food before it hits the table. In "The Compassionate Carnivore", Friend tackles ... (more)the carnivore's dilemma, exploring the contradictions and questions surrounding the bewildering choices facing today's more conscientious meat eaters.

Using her own struggle to become a compassionate carnivore, Friend offers concrete tools readers can use to talk to farmers and processors, to negotiate the Brave New World of humanely-raised meat. Garrison Keillor will join the author.