Sara Rath

Author

Henry Hamilton Bennett of Kilbourn City (later Wisconsin Dells) was the subject of Sara's first book, a biography published in 1979 by Tamarack Press. This fall, 2010, The University of Wisconsin Press will bring out a vastly expanded and revised version of Bennett's personal life and photographs, with exquisite reproduction of Bennett's images including many of his newly discovered works: H. H. Bennett, Photographer; His American Landscape.

Night Sisters, is a light-hearted novel narrated by a Madison woman whose flirtation with Spi­ritualism results in an encounter with a mischievous spirit and eerie reflections upon the unresolved death of a childhood friend. Published by Terrace Books of University of Wisconsin Press, much of the story takes place at the fictional "Wocanaga," which closely resembles the Wonewoc Spiritual Camp in western Wisconsin. Jill Gerard, editor of Chautauqua Literary Journal says: “Mysterious, compelling, and altogether human, Night Sisters explores the meaning of love, friendship and belief. Open the book and journey with Nellie Grendon to Wocanaga—discover the power of the past and test the boundaries of belief. Sara Rath creates a world that might seem easy to dismiss— but like Nellie's friends Polly and George, the readers will find themselves caught in the rich web of story. Dare to accept the invitation: May I come to you?”

Star Lake Saloon & Housekeeping Cottages, Sara's first novel, was published in August 2005 by Terrace Books of University of Wisconsin Press. This account of Hannah Swann, a woman forced to take a midlife detour to save a run-down fishing resort from an international mining corporation in the northwoods of Wisconsin was praised by Publisher's Weekly as "a diversion as pleasant as a quiet summer day at the lakeshore."

At the current time, Sara is writing a sequel to the popular "Star Lake Saloon" which follows Natalie Waters as she revisits her family's cabin in the area and becomes involved in adventures led by Ginger and Lily who have dreams of discovering buried treasure.

A new collection of poetry, The Night You Played 'The Snowy Morning Blues' will eventually join four previous collections, including Remembering the Wilderness, awarded The Banta Award in 1984 by the Wisconsin Library Association and the highly praised Dancing With a Cowboy published by The Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters.

The New York Times Book Review said The Complete Pig, published May, 2000 (paperback ed. 2004), "contains enough eccentric pig lore to leave the browser giddy with pleasure. And browsing is in order." The Los Angeles Times called it a "swine fest," and "eye-opening for those who think of the pig only as 'the other white meat.'" A companion book, The Complete Cow, 1998, was reviewed on NBC's TODAY and re-issued in paperback in May, 2003.

In 2003 Sara was named a Weston Cate Fellow by the Vermont Historical Society to research a biography of the passionate life and times of 19th century Vermont spiritualist, poet and activist, Achsa W. Sprague.  This is a project still in progress.

Sara has two children from a previous marriage, Jay Rath and Laura Rath Beausire, and lives in the rolling countryside of the Wisconsin River Valley near Spring Green with husband Del Lamont, Sadie, their chocolate lab, a Maine Coon cat and a Manx, Nellie and Emma.