University of Minnesota Press
I read widely across genres, but I rarely pick up a biography. It is even rarer that I am drawn to one about someone I know nothing about. Yet, as a lover of the woods, the title of David Hakensen’s upcoming release, Her Place in the Woods: The Life of Helen Hoover, immediately caught my attention.
There was a sense of kinship I felt very quickly with Hoover. Like her, I had moved up north and found myself writing about life in the woods, observing the rhythms of the wilderness and the creatures that call it home.
An award-winning public relations executive who has served on several nonprofit boards, Hakensen also felt a connection when he first encountered Hoover’s writing 25 years ago. He and his wife were gifted A Place in the Woods by friends while searching for a cabin of their own, and he was immediately drawn into her world.
“It’s kind of a book about people who buy a cabin and then all the challenges they face adapting to cabin life,” Hakensen said. “I thought, well, she’s really a fascinating writer, I wonder what else she’s written. So, I read her other books.”
Hakensen’s curiosity about Hoover didn’t stop at simply reading her work. He wanted to understand the person behind the stories, the experiences, choices, and perspectives that shaped her writing. That interest set him on a path to uncover more about Hoover’s life and eventually led him to pursue the idea of writing a biography.
“Her books are somewhat autobiographical in that they weave a lot of her personal life along with experiences and along with the nature writing that she’s doing. I figured somebody had written a biography, I’d like to read her biography,” he said. “But I couldn’t find one.”
Undeterred, Hakensen, who once served as board president for the Minnesota Historical Society, kept digging. His research led him to an unpublished master’s thesis biography about Hoover on file with the society. Footnotes in the thesis pointed to a larger trove of Hoover’s papers donated to the University of Minnesota Duluth. Intrigued, Hakensen made the trip north from his home in Corcoran, Minnesota, ready to dive into the materials himself.
“They had this whole trove of her personal papers, correspondence, business records, lots of writing files, drafts from her books, and manuscripts,” he said. “It was a real treasure trove of stuff and I went up to Duluth and just kind of got absorbed in looking at it. I felt like I can tell this person’s story and write a book about it.”
Since 2007 or 2008, Hakensen has explored countless Helen Hoover rabbit holes, poring over correspondence from publishers, friends, colleagues, fans, and Hoover herself. The result is a meticulously researched and thoughtfully crafted biography.
“I was able to get these long rambling letters from Helen to her science fiction writer friend that talked about the challenges she had with her publisher and sort of observations of day-to-day things. That was fascinating to read, as well, and it really helped give me a picture of who Helen was beyond what I know about her from reading her books,” said Hakensen. “There was a variety of correspondence sources that I read that allowed me to get this sort of mosaic idea of who Helen is and what she was all about.”
Hoover, as the biography description notes, “defied convention.” She left a corporate career at International Harvester in Chicago, where she worked in the metallurgical field, and moved with her husband to a small cabin on Gunflint Lake. They lived largely without electricity, had no running water, and did not hunt or fish for their own food. In fact, they sometimes fed the local animals better than themselves.
Hakensen’s biography explores the couple’s social encounters, hardships, and enduring resilience. As they adjusted to off-grid life, Hoover began selling stories to magazines and journals before moving on to novels about their time in the woods and the animals they cherished.
“They were living pretty thinly there in the early years,” said Hakensen. “They needed to find some ways to make ends meet.”
Hoover not only made ends meet, she built a writing career that brought her national attention. Beginning in the early 1960s, she published a string of books with Alfred A. Knopf, including A Place in the Woods, The Long-Shadowed Forest, The Years of the Forest, and her most celebrated work, The Gift of the Deer. That book, inspired by the winter-long survival of a starving buck that came to their cabin, became a bestseller and cemented her reputation as one of the Northwoods’ most distinctive voices.
Her husband, Ade, an accomplished illustrator, often contributed artwork that complemented her writing, helping bring their shared vision of life in the woods to readers.
Her mix of memoir, natural history, and environmental insight appealed to readers far beyond Minnesota. Hoover’s words offered an intimate view of life lived close to the land, where every deer, chickadee, and squirrel had a story. Her books stayed in print for decades, drawing a devoted readership and influencing a generation of nature writers with their careful observation, heartfelt storytelling, and quiet advocacy for the natural world.
Hakensen notes that Hoover’s reputation stretched beyond simple nature writing. He points to her curiosity, intellect, and independence as qualities that made her a woman ahead of her time, someone whose work continues to resonate with readers and nature enthusiasts alike.
Hakensen said there is still more to explore in Hoover’s life, and he hopes to continue sharing her story with readers.
Readers can hear more about Her Place in the Woods: The Life of Helen Hoover at several upcoming Northland events. Hakensen will speak on Thursday, September 18, at 7 PM in the Kathryn A. Martin Library Rotunda, Room 460, at the University of Minnesota Duluth, where much of his research originated.
On Saturday, September 20, Hakensen will visit the Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center at 2 PM, sharing insights into Hoover’s life and work with attendees.
Hakensen will also be in Grand Marais on Wednesday, September 24, to speak at the Grand Marais Public Library at 6 PM, offering another chance for readers to hear more about Hoover’s remarkable story.
Finishing Hakensen’s book left me feeling as if I had made a new friend, someone I wished I could have met in person. I found myself missing Hoover, mourning the fact that she had passed and that her lively presence and keen observations were gone from the world. Hakensen’s thoughtful writing made me feel deeply connected to her, capturing her spirit in a way that made her come alive on the page.
Fortunately, Hakensen’s biography served as a gateway, piquing my curiosity and making me eager to dive into Hoover’s own writings. I haven’t read all her works yet, but I already feel drawn to circle back and follow the rabbit holes Hakensen uncovered trails of letters, drafts, and insights that give life to her experiences in the woods.
Hakensen’s biography doesn’t just chronicle Hoover’s life. It reintroduces her to a new generation of readers. For those who’ve ever felt the pull of the woods, the quiet companionship of wildlife, or the challenge of living deliberately, Hoover’s story is more than history. It’s an invitation.
For more information on Hakensen and Her Place in the Woods, visit the University of Minnesota Press website at www.upress.umn.edu.
