ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Richard E. Olson was born in Eau Claire, WI, in 1952. He was churched in a small Lutheran congregation in the verdant rolling hills nearby. As he grew up, the church held many smorgasbords much like the one he describes in this book. He attended a small school in Elk Mound, where he graduated with a class of about forty students, most of which he started first grade with. He was an avid reader from early on, and he still has certificates from grade school listing the books he had read. He spent his childhood in the country, amid duck ponds, a trout stream, and countless trees to climb. 

After high school, he attended the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, where he earned degrees in Journalism and Spanish. His plan to be a foreign correspondent changed when he decided to go into education. He taught Spanish at the public high school in Stevens Point, WI, for thirty years and then at the North Central Technical College for four years. The best part about being retired from teaching, he says, is that he can now go to the bathroom whenever he wants to. 

Richard has travelled and studied in Spain, Ecuador, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Mexico. He earned a Master of Arts in Hispanic Literature in Guadalajara, Mexico. For the past three years he had been studying Brazilian Portuguese, either with small groups online or with a private tutor. He now claims he speaks Spanish with a Portuguese accent and Portuguese with a Spanish accent. 

Richard has also traveled to England, Italy, and Germany. He was in Germany just after the Berlin Wall was breeched, and he still has a piece of that wall which he never hesitates to show others. 

Richard’s love of reading didn’t stop after grammar school. Ignoring college textbooks, he read Kurt Vonnegut, Leon Uris, Gore Vidal, and many others. He is fond of saying “no two people read the same book.” But after reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance in the 1970s and then again in 2023, he now adds “nor does one person ever read the same book twice”. 

When he graduated from college, his parents gave him luggage. Whether it was a hint or a premonition, he wasn’t sure. But, as it turned out, it was the perfect gift for some who would wear that luggage out in no time. In fact, as he sometimes jokes, his luggage has travelled to more places than he has.  

He spends his retirement years reading, doing crossword puzzles, gardening, and cooking. He is active at The Landing, a senior center in Wausau, WI, where he has taught Spanish and facilitated presentations on Spain, Mexico, Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, Georgia O’Keeffe, and History of the United States through visual arts. His high school students often accused him of being a closeted art teacher, as he used art extensively as a tool for language acquisition.  

He and Ray, his partner of 36 years, have taken many road trips over the years, mostly to the South to be with family. 

Richard motto in life is, “You’ve got to leave the party when you’re still having fun,” which he did when he left teaching.   

Contact the Author at: contact@thelastreprisal.com