Perry fills library with people, laughter

Wisconsin author Michael Perry’s visit to Shawano finally went off without a hitch after two previous efforts to come to town were thwarted by the coronavirus pandemic.

The mastermind behind “Population: 485” and other books about rural life was well received with over 100 people crowding into the Shawano Public Library on Sept. 17 and sending staff scrambling for additional chairs. The event, sponsored by Friends of Shawano County Libraries, was originally going to take place in April 2020 in celebration of National Library Week, which was then rescheduled for the fall of that year before coronavirus cases surged nationwide.

The wait didn’t diminish the excitement — or the laughter.

“You can ask me about anything. You can ask me about writing, publishing — hair care tips,” said Perry as he motioned to his bald head.

Turning a little more serious, he told the audience that he wouldn’t be where he is today as an author if it hadn’t been for “Population: 485.” Although not one of his bestsellers, the book about meeting people through volunteering for a community fire department has continuously sold in bookstores and online, giving folks a glimpse into the people of Wisconsin.

“‘Population: 485’ is that old can-you-go-home-again book,” Perry said. “I wrote about going back home to New Auburn, Wisconsin, which is where I grew up. I grew up on a little farm six miles north of New Auburn.”

After leaving New Auburn after high school and returning 12 years later, he knew he needed to meet people again, and the solution for him was to join the fire department.

“I’m pretty much a loner. The happiest place for me is in my room, writing,” Perry said. “I don’t drink, so I don’t go to any of the taverns. I don’t bowl. I don’t play softball, and I can’t polka. So there really wasn’t much left to do, but I wanted to do something to be part of the community.”

Perry joked that people saw he still has a defibrillator in his truck when he was offloading his books and that it would be available if anyone in the audience needed it. His self-deprecating humor kept those in attendance laughing as he talked about his journey in life.

“When I left New Auburn, I was a farm boy, a good student and a fair defensive end,” Perry said. “I returned 12 years later a long-haired writer with soft hands and a nursing degree, so there was a certain amount of street cred to recover with some of my buddies in the coon hunting crowd.”

Perry also talked about the apprehension he felt the night he told his father he was planning to become a nurse, even though his mother had also been a nurse. Perry recalled that his father told him he “would make a fine nurse.” Then he remembered his father walking to the barn, turning back and adding, “I just want to be there when they pin that little white cap on you.”

Perry’s daughters also motivate him to keep writing. He noted that one is in college and the other one’s in braces.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to publish a lot of other books after ‘Population: 485,’” Perry said. “I never saw any of this stuff coming, but I do just have to keep writing.”

Perry also recalled being contacted by an editor once who asked him to write a 10,000-word essay on Wisconsin and where his mind went from there.

“Wisconsin reminds me of cows,” Perry said he wrote. “Cows remind me of milk. Milk reminds me of cheese. Cheese reminds me of cheeseheads. Cheeseheads remind me of the Green Bay Packers. The Packers remind me of the meaning of life.”

Perry’s humor has been lost on some people. He once spoke at a conference and joked that he had “functional ADD” and had a licensed clinical psychologist who sent an email the next day saying she knew he did not have that condition.

“She wrote, ‘The symptoms you described are consistent with flight of ideas, which is associated with a completely different manic depressive disorder,’” Perry said. “I though, well, whatever it takes. As someone who has been buying his own health insurance since 1992, I thought it was cool I got diagnosed for free.”

Also a columnist for the Wisconsin State Journal, Perry is often asked where he gets the ideas for the column, Roughneck Grace. He said that many times, all he has to do is wait for one of his brothers to call him.

He recalled one instance where he was two hours from his deadline and getting the “prickly failure sweats” when his brother, John, called to tell him he’d been in his shop working on a bench grinder when the stone exploded, with a chunk of shrapnel flying off and piercing his neck, just missing the carotid artery.

“It was an eighth of an inch from a memorial service to a really awesome story,” Perry said. “If you come where I come from, there’s nothing funnier than someone getting hurt. I’m just (hitting) ‘Send’ with 45 minutes to spare.”

lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com