Frederick Feikema Manfred (January 6, 1912 – September 7, 1994) was an American writer of

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

s, very much connected to his native region: the American

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

, and the prairies of the West. He named the area where the borders of Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota, and Nebraska meet "

Siouxland Siouxland is a vernacular region that encompasses the entire Big Sioux River drainage basin in the U.S. states of South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa. cheetz, George H."Whence Siouxland?" ''Book Remarks'' ioux City Public Library May 19 ...

Biography

Manfred was born in Doon,

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

. He was baptized Frederick Feikes Feikema VII, and he used the name Feike Feikema when he published his first books. He was the oldest of six boys, all over six feet tall, and was himself six feet nine inches tall. Manfred was a third generation Frisian American, whose family originated in the village of

Tzum Tzum (, ) is a village in Waadhoeke municipality in the province of Friesland, the Netherlands. It had a population of around 1,110 in 2023. Tzum is known for its 72 metre tall church tower. Etymology The origin of the name ''Tzum'', which used ...

, in the Dutch province of

Friesland Friesland ( ; ; official ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia (), named after the Frisians, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen (p ...

. Manfred was raised in the Christian Reformed Church. James Bratt argues that Manfred rebelled against this upbringing, being filled with "religious doubts and ethical chafings." Bratt goes on to discuss this influence that this upbringing had on Manfred's writing, and suggests that the qualities of his work - "earthy detail, metaphysical sweep, both set to biblical cadence - are precisely those of his native faith." In 1937, Manfred starting working as a sports reporter for ''The Minneapolis Journal''. He was fired a couple years later, due to his involvement in union organization. Shortly after this, Manfred developed tuberculosis and entered Glen Lake Sanatorium in Oak Terrace, Minnesota, in April 1940. It was in this sanatorium that he met his future wife Maryanna Shorba. Manfred left the sanatorium in 1942 and worked on the staff of Modern Medicine and as assistant campaign manager for

Hubert Humphrey Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was an American politician who served from 1965 to 1969 as the 38th vice president of the United States. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing Minnesota from 19 ...

, who was a candidate for mayor of Minneapolis. He fictionalized this period in his book ''Boy Almighty'', published under the name Feike Feikema. Manfred published ''The Primitive'', the first novel in his World's Wanderer trilogy, in 1949. It was poorly received, and the next two books in the trilogy, ''The Brother'' (1950) and ''The Giant'' (1951), met with mixed reviews. In 1952 Manfred decided to change his name from Frederick Feikema to Frederick Feikema Manfred, and Frederick Manfred became his publishing name. ''Lord Grizzly'', the first of The Buckskin Man Tales, was the first work Manfred published under his new name. It was a best seller and one of the finalists for the National Book Award in 1954. The Buckskin Man Tales are the novels ''Lord Grizzly'', ''Conquering Horse'', ''Scarlet Plume'', ''King of Spades'', and '' Riders of Judgment''. For a time he lived in a house which is now the derelict interpretive center of Blue Mounds State Park in Rock County,

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. He attended

Calvin College Calvin University, formerly Calvin College, is a private Christian university in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1876, Calvin University is an educational institution of the Christian Reformed Church and stands in the Reforme ...

in Michigan. He had three children with his wife Maryanna Shorba Manfred: Freya Manfred, Frederick Manfred Jr., and Marya Manfred. Manfred was the writer-in-residence in the English Department at the

University of South Dakota The University of South Dakota (USD) is a public research university in Vermillion, South Dakota, United States. Established by the Dakota Territory legislature in 1862, 27 years before the establishment of the state of South Dakota, USD is t ...

during the 1970s and 1980s. According to his daughter Freya Manfred, "Many of those who drank coffee with him, watched him, listened to him, learned from him, are now well-known national or regional writers:

Pete Dexter Pete Dexter (born July 22, 1943) is an American novelist. He won the U.S. National Book Award in 1988 for his novel '' Paris Trout''. Early life and education Dexter was born in Pontiac, Michigan. His father died when Dexter was four and he ...

, Michael Doane, Elly Welt, William Earls, Dan O'Brien, Linda Hasselstrom, Craig Volk, Bill Holm, John Calvin Rezmerski, and Joe and Nancy Paddock." Manfred died in

Luverne, Minnesota Luverne ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Rock County, Minnesota, United States, along the Rock River (Big Sioux River), Rock River. The population was 4,946 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Luverne is part of the Sioux Falls ...

in 1994, of a brain tumor, at the age of 82. In 2013, a Frisian translation was published of Manfred's autobiographical novel ''Green Earth'', titled ''De Griene Ierde''.

Fiction

*'' The Golden Bowl (Manfred)'' (1944) *''Boy Almighty'' (1945) *''This is the Year'' (1947), Doubleday & Company *''The Chokecherry Tree'' (1948) *''The Primitive'' (1949), Doubleday & Company *''The Brother'' (1950) *''The Giant'' (1951) *''

Lord Grizzly ''Lord Grizzly'' is a 1954 biographical novel by Frederick Manfred. It was part of his ''Buckskin Man Tales'' series of five novels. It was Manfred's first novel published under his new pen name, with his prior seven novels published under the ...

'' (1954), , about the ordeal of mountain man

Hugh Glass Hugh Glass ( 1783 – 1833) was an American frontiersman, Trapping, fur trapper, trader, hunter and explorer. He is best known for his story of survival and forgiveness after being left for dead by companions when he was mauled by a grizzly bear ...

*''Morning Red'' (1956) *'' Riders of Judgment'' (1957), fictionalization of Wyoming's

Johnson County War The Johnson County War, also known as the War on Powder River and the Wyoming Range War, was a range war in Johnson County, Wyoming from 1889 to 1893. The conflict began when cattle companies started ruthlessly persecuting alleged Cattle raiding ...

*'' Conquering Horse'' (1959), *'' Scarlet Plume'' (1964), *''King of Spades'' (1965), *''The Man Who Looked Like the Prince of Wales'' (1965) *''Eden Prairie'' (1968) *''The Manly-Hearted Woman'' (1976) *''Milk of Wolves'' (1976) *''Green Earth'' (1977) *''Sons of Adam'' (1980) *''Flowers of Desire'' (1989) *''No Fun On Sunday'' (1990) *''Of Lizards and Angels'' (1992) Note: There are also a handful of non-fiction titles, notably ''The Wind Blows Free'', a memoir of the Dust Bowl, ''Conversations with Frederick Manfred'', and ''Prime Fathers'' and ''Duke's Mixture'', anthologies of FM's essays.

References

Sources

*"Frederick Manfred." ''Dictionary of Literary Biography'' 212:185-197. 1999.
The Frederick Manfred Information Page
*Robert C. Wright, ''Frederick Manfred'' (Twayne's United States Authors series ; TUSAS 336)

External links

*Frederick Manfred discusses Lord Grizzley and his other writings with his daughter Freya Manfred in this two-part program recorded in 1988:
Northern Lights Minnesota Author Interview TV Series #51

Northern Lights Minnesota Author Interview TV Series #52
*Author John Calvin Rezmerski reads from The Frederick Manfred Reader as part of the 1997 Minnesota Book Awards program in 1997:
Northern Lights TV Series #376
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manfred, Frederick 1912 births 1994 deaths 20th-century American novelists Writers of fiction set in prehistoric times American male novelists American people of Frisian descent Calvin University alumni People from Lyon County, Iowa People from Luverne, Minnesota Writers from Sioux City, Iowa Western (genre) writers Novelists from Minnesota Writers from South Dakota Deaths from brain cancer in the United States 20th-century American male writers Novelists from Iowa Neurological disease deaths in Minnesota Deaths from cancer in Minnesota