What People are Saying About Anna...

Anna Olson was the featured speaker at the Long Prairie zone Lutheran Women's Missionary League meeting. Anna shared her life's story about growing up in the Amish community. We have several Amish families in our area and the women were very interested in her experiences. We had triple the usual attendance and we credit Anna for that. Be sure to read her books and listen to the Cd's to learn about this unique experience.

Rita Decker, Long Prairie zone LWML president

Anna Dee Olson did an exceptional program for the Glenwood Public Library. As promised by my fellow library directors, we had many in attendance including husbands which is rare. She had a very good presentation which gave a real view of the Amish life, and left plenty of time for our questions. No questions were too personal, and many questions were asked. Her straightforward answers helped us all understand a world we can only imagine. All I had to do was print off her ready-made poster and add our library’s name and the time of her program.

I highly recommend Growing Up Amish for all organizations.

Leslie Randall, Glenwood Public Library director, Glenwood, MN

Fellow librarians; if you are considering hosting an author at you library, I’d richly recommend former Amish and rising author Anna Dee Olson who spoke at the Whitehall Public Library last week. In fact, we had to move the session to the community room, as we had eighty-six people turn out to hear her speak on her new book “Growing Up Amish”. When she submitted the manuscript to her first prospective publisher (in New York City) it was accepted in less than 72 hours – almost unheard of. And the publisher wants more! Ms. Olson grew up in a conservative Amish home/community near Blair, Wisconsin…eventually leaving the Amish Order at the age of 24. Her 20-30 minute talk is candid, filled with warmth and love, and yet very informative. Consider that the question/answer session went on for an hour following her concise talk! The audience was captivated to say the least. Ms. Olson brought signed copies of her book which quickly disappeared, and we took orders for many more.

Librarian, Whitehall, WI

Anna Dee Olson was invited to speak at our Women’s ELCA Cluster 8 fall gathering. Historically we have about 150-200 participants for this event, however, I believe the speaker and the subject resulted in over 300 in attendance, plus we did cut off the registration due to over capacity. Anna’s presentation was informative, sincere, and inspiring. If you want a higher attendance for your next event you must consider hiring Anna Dee Olson

Marlys Jackson, Cluster Treasurer

Anna Dee Olson has become well known thru her writing and speaking engagements in our region. Combined with the natural curiosity many people have regarding Amish culture, her sincere and engaging style of speaking draws many in to hear the inspirational story of her journey. The attendance to our meeting was much higher than usual, to the point of where our capacity limits were exceeded.

Karen Thompson, Underwood MN

We have a great group coming to hear you speak. We have over 200 registered. Normally we have about 130.

Sue Ellwanger, Calvary Lutheran Church, Perham MN

Thank you for your enlightening presentation yesterday. You did a wonderful job answering all of the questions that people had.

Alan Goldberg, Northern Exposure to Life Long Learning, Clearbrook MN

Thank you so much for such a wonderful program last night!

Erin Smith, Children's Librarian, Fergus Falls Public Library