Roy R. Behrens Shares Unusual Iowa History in 'Dreams of Fields'

In Dreams of Fields: Memory Traces of Iowa’s Past, Roy R. Behrens, a former Professor and Distinguished Scholar at the University of Northern Iowa, takes readers deep into the Midwest as he delves into the people associated with Iowa’s rich history. Filled with twenty-five personal essays, Behrens’ book features prominent Iowans, as well as those who are loosely connected with the state. A native Iowan himself, his interest in Iowa stems from his experience of being raised in The Hawkeye State. He reflected, “…I grew up here and I have memories… and I have a, kind of, idealized, dream-like notion of Iowa. I think it’s very false, probably, but I probably made a lot of stuff up in my mind, and like a lot of people, I’m not very happy with what has happened to it in terms of environment, health, and that kind of thing…”

While there are many notable figures that are famously associated with Iowa including talk-show host Johnny Carson, music conductor Glenn Miller, and Oscar-winning actress Donna Reed, Behrens’ book focuses on lesser-known people tied to the state such as Salvador Dali, Mark Twain, and Buffalo Bill. Although Behrens’ initial intention wasn’t to write about these individuals specifically, he was able to, by chance, find information about them as he was exploring other topics. According to Behrens, “I was wanting to write about people who were born here and who are largely unknown, but whose accomplishments are worth spotlighting. What I didn’t want to do was to write about the ones who most people already know about… it’s ‘Field of Dreams,’ whereas I wanted to do Dreams of Fields. That’s a pretty good description of my memories of Iowa.”