Tales of a Preacher's Brood: Rural Central Wisconsin in the 1950s and 60s: a by-gone era when country kids worked long and hard and played even harder, and where there were still optimistic hints of Huck Finn and the Swiss Family Robinson in their lives. For the large Alwin family, the days also contained harsh lessons learned straight out of The Grapes of Wrath with a dose of thought-provoking drama.
Take a huge, growing family out of Milwaukee, plant them in tumbling-down rural parsonages in country churches, sprinkle them with adventures at home and as "loaners" to local and far-away families, water them with genuine pride and responsibility, laughter, empathy, maybe even with tears, and see what grows. The Alwins are a close-knit band of preacher's kids, sixteen siblings raised in rural Wisconsin poverty. These are the signature events that molded, refined, and shaped them to become doctors, lawyers, educators, social workers, one noble felon, and an honest-to-goodness All-American Hero.
The tales brim with the innocent joy and glee of brothers and sisters sharing camaraderie and imagination with the drama and tragedy of conflict, deprivation, and a stubborn distain for "normal." Simply put, these are stories you will never forget.
