Louise Erdrich

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/facesofamerica/profiles/louise-erdrich/10/

According to independent.co.uk, "[Erdrich] spent a lot of time around storytellers. Throughout her work, including in The Plague of Doves, elder figures form the bedrock of stories. They are the long memory against which current action often plays out. 'I was lucky to have grandparents around,' Erdrich says – she listened to their stories, and asked questions, something she continues to do when she drives to North Dakota, stopping off beside the road to write down ideas. There is a comically literal character [named Evelina] in The Plague of Doves who constantly badgers Mooshum and his siblings for 'the real story,' to get the timeline of events straight. I ask Erdrich if she ever feels like this woman and she shoots back, 'all the time,' though this doesn't seem to bother her. 'I still feel like I listen more than I tell.'"

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Louise Erdrich's Ethnic Background

According to the eBook publishing company Odyssey Editions:
"Louise Erdrich was born in Little Falls, Minnesota in 1954. Her father, Ralph Erdrich, was of German descent, and her mother, Rita Gourneau, of French and Chippewa Indian descent. The oldest of seven children, she grew up in Wahpeton, North Dakota. At an early age Erdrich was encouraged by her parents, both of whom taught at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, to write stories."

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