Hazel Keays Northey taught in a one-room schoolhouse and, as the wife of a dairy farmer, nurtured all kinds of animals and her growing family. When she heard about a neighboring farm that had a “pet” Sandhill crane, a rescue bird from the International Crane Foundation, she combined her love of writing and animals to tell their story. Hazel passed away in 2011, and while sorting through family genealogy material her eldest daughter Alice found the manuscript of Shadow, which she always wanted to publish.

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Aside from her work at Old World Wisconsin, Hazel’s daughter Alice Lundstrom is on the board of Plowshares Fair Trade Market in Waukesha, Wisconsin and participates in quilting, knitting, and book clubs. Hazel’s other daughter Susan Wood taught public school in Wisconsin for thirty-five years, spending most of those years as an elementary school librarian.