Dear Mad'm

By Stella Walthall Patterson

Book Overview

Dear Mad'm is the autobiographical story of Stella Walthall Patterson of her experience living alone, after age 80, with her dog Vicki on her mining claim on the Klamath River in the Siskiyou Mountains, near Happy Camp, California. She had until then lived a comfortable life in San Francisco, as a teacher, writer, and artist, but when her doctor told her she had "young legs" and good health, she vowed to spend one full year on her remote mining claim for solitude to write. Instead, she met interesting and endearing small-town characters and faced the challenges of rustic living-the story she tells humorously in Dear Mad'm. Her daily world, her zestful manner, her jaunty humor, and her fresh and original observations are detailed here with clarity and directness. Not surprisingly, at the end of her year, on her 81st birthday, she decided to continue this good life close to the soil, where she found that the people she needed also needed her.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0879611316
• ISBN13: 9780879611316
• Release Date: July 2021
• Publisher: Naturegraph Publishers
• Length: 262 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Light hearted fun read

Just the ticket to brighten up,a long winter,an 80 year old woman starts a new life and succeeds!

Inspiring and fun!

What a fun read! If you want to be inspired to live to the fullest as we age, this is the book for you! I read this a couple of years ago and it still makes me smile when I remember it. Now I purchase this for my "aging" friends and family to remind us to keep trying new things no matter what our age is!

A Wonderful Wonderful Woman!

All I can say is that I am terribly sorry that I never knew this lady. I now live not far from Happy Camp, and wish that I could encounter her ghost! Her story is charming, funny and courageous. She shows us what we might be if we only had the determination and a bit of luck. I highly recommend it to everybody---and everybody I know who has read it has loved the book, and loved Dear Mad'm, Dear Sir, Up n Up and all of the folks in it. One of a kind, and the very best!

Fantastic Read

If you are feeling old read Stella's adventures and rethink your life. Her adventures will inspire you to get up and get busy. Fantastic read for all ages.

Dear Mad'm

I first purchased this book while on a vacation trip exactly 14 years ago (1989); since then I've tried to read it at least once a year. I laugh my way through the book, and the author's courage & zest for life continues to inspire me! I only hope I am able to always view life with the same gusto & joy she had, trials & tribulations notwithstanding. She was quite a remarkable woman.

Timeless Entertainment

My grandmother gave me this book several years ago, and I have just finished reading it for the 2nd time. "Dear Mad'm" chronicles the adventures of octagenarian Stella Patterson who, realizing she has spunk and energy to spare, in addition to a great pair of "young legs", sets out to manage her placer mine in the remote wilds of northern California. With wit and style she relates an amazing year of adventurous living on the mighty Klamath river,striving with and against nature, kept company by a herd of friendly goats, her beloved dog Vicki, and a neighborly duo of miners whom she comes to love as family. I found myself enthralled with her tales and filled with admiration for this energetic and adventuresome lady who said "No!" to old age and lived out her dream in her little cabin in the wilderness. I would dearly love to learn what became of her and to read any other biographical material that is available relating to this remarkable woman.