In this edition of Madison Book Beat, host Lisa Malawski talks with Robin and Joan

Rolfs about their book Hearthstone: America’s Electrical National Treasure.

Joan and Rob have been enthralled with Hearthstone since the 1970’s when they

moved to the Fox Cities. Joan developed a successful Interior Design program at Fox

Valley Technical College in 1971.

In 1986, Joan was contacted by a member of The Friends of Hearthstone Board and

invited to become involved with the restoration of Hearthstone. Rob was also invited

because of his background in electronics and electricity. Realizing the Edison

connection and the historical importance of the house, the Rolfs accepted.

In 1990, they were given the task to develop the Hydro-Adventure Exhibit in the lower

level of Hearthstone. The exhibit increased public awareness of the role of electricity in

daily lives and the transformation which occurred in society as a result of Thomas A.

Edison’s inventions and Henry Roger’s vision for implementation.

Hearthstone contains all the original architecture and electrical light fixtures from when

the home was built in 1882. The Rolfs worked with the Edison National Historical Park

in Orange, NJ and one day during their visit met Chad Shapiro, a collector and historian

of early lighting. He shared his knowledge and provided the Rolfs with copies of original

Bergmann lighting catalogs from 1882-1884.

Approximately thirty years later, as the Rolfs researched the hanging light fixtures

(electroliers) and wall sconces, they concluded the majority of these light fixtures were

the original Sigmund Bergmann fixtures dating to 1882. The significance of these

fixtures is they are the earliest surviving examples of Bermann electroliers and sconces

in the world! This inspired the Rolfs to write Hearthstone: America’s Electrical National

Treasure.

In this episode, Lisa discusses the Rolfs passions for all things Thomas Edison, their

volunteerism at Hearthstone, antique phonographs, records, writing and their shared

love for research.

In her fourth collection, Driftless Area-based poet Nikki Wallschlaeger further proves herself as a singular poet of astonishing emotional depth and formal range. Hold Your Own is a steadfast search for peace, self-acceptance, and pleasure in a world that makes those basic rights an everyday challenge for Black women. It was published in May 2024 by Copper Canyon Press.

Nikki joins host Sara Batkie for a conversation about getting the right rhythm, the joys of working with books every day, and the natural beauty of her home state.

Nikki Wallschlaeger’s work has been featured in The Nation, Brick, American Poetry Review, Witness, Kenyon Review, Poetry, and others. She is the author of the full-length collections Waterbaby (Copper Canyon Press, 2021), Houses (Horseless Press 2015), and Crawlspace (Bloof 2017), as well as the graphic book I Hate Telling You How I Really Feel (2019) from Bloof Books. She is also the author of an artist book called “Operation USA” through the Baltimore-based book arts group Container, a project acquired by Woodland Pattern Book Center in Milwaukee.

In this edition of Madison Book Beat, host Lisa Malawski talks with Richard Sweitzer about his book ODE The Scion of Nerikan. Richard is award-winning author and longtime morning radio host. He received his Master’s of Arts degree in Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Richard is the author and publisher of ODE The Scion of Nerikan which was published in 2023. The book is about an immortal monster who is searching for a way to die, and the little girl who gives him reason to live...for a little longer.

Richard created an ODE Bingo card which he hands out at book signings and there is a tiny independent book store near his home that he places these cards in. Some of the boxes on the Bingo card ask the reader if they threw the book, hugged the book. laughed, cried and more.

Richard always wanted to publish his books traditionally, but after three false starts working with literary agents, he decided to publish his own book. The agents he had worked with offered some great advice, but he felt the story was drifting away from the adventure which he created. When Richard is not writing, he hosts a popular morning radio show in central Wisconsin. He has been with this show for more than thirty years.

In this episode, Richard reads from his book, discusses self-publishing, marketing, artificial intelligence, going to school at age thirty, being a radio host and his love of fantasy.

Lisa thanks Richard for his message to the audience: Try something new even if it’s scary. Take that course, make that change. Be afraid and do it anyway.