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Early Years
Jane grew up near Mondovi, Wisconsin, a little town not far from the Mississippi River. Her older sister Judy and younger brother Craig helped on the family dairy farm. Dozens of cousins lived within 50 miles providing the privilege of extended family memories. Most of the "Rutschow" clan remained in the Wisconsin-Minnesota area. Jane moved to Oregon in 1974 after completing her master's degree in social work. She worked in the disabilities field, became the director of the mental health program in Deschutes County.
Homsteading & Family
Eventually, Jane "retired" to homestead and begin a new adventure in writing, working on the reservation, growing watermelons, and attempting to grow grapes, alfalfa and cattle. In 2007, they sold the cows, again; and now raise alfalfa they sell to neighboring ranches.
The Kirkpatrick's new life has included "clearing sagebrush and wrestling wind and rattlesnakes" while "homesteading" land on the John Day River in a remote part of Oregon known locally as Starvation Point. She and her husband Jerry still live there today. "It's our 'rural 7-Eleven' since our home sits seven miles from the mailbox and eleven miles from the pavement" notes the author. Additionally, she worked for seventeen years as a mental health and educational consultant on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in Central Oregon with both Native American and non-Indian communities a position she left in 2002. Jane has two step-children. Kathleen lives in Florida with her family and youngest granddaughter, Madison. Matt lives in Wasco and works on the ranch full time when not looking after his family including granddaughter, Mariah.
Speaker & Philosophy
A lively and humorous speaker, Kirkpatrick is a frequent keynote presenter for conferences, women's retreats, and workshops. In addition to her historical fiction which dramatizes pioneer life, Homestead relates, with love and laughter, her own family's modern-day struggle to catch a dream in the Oregon Territory.
Jane believes that our lives are the stories that others read first and she encourages groups to discover the power of their own stories to divinely heal and transform. Visit her blog for more information about her current projects and the joys of living on Starvation Lane.
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