Oscar Olson

Was it Like? Memories of Youth, Family & Career What Was it Like? Farm life in Minnesota in the 1920Õs . . . going to school in a one-room schoolhouse . . . drifting during the Great Depression . . . new opportunities opened up by a college education . . . the decision to move a young family to India in 1955 . . . the exciting challenges of a 25-year career spent mainly overseas in India, Italy, and Africa. . . a new life in retirement near family and friends in Davis, California.

These colorful and often inspiring stories were written by Russell Olson over a 4-year period from 1994 through 1998, after many pleas from his family to record memories of his youth and career.

From his descriptions of a farm boy growing up in a large family in rural Minnesota during the Depression, to his recollections of college, career and family, these stories refl ect the joy, wonder and optimism with which Russ experienced life, and his abiding interest and genuine concern for the many people around the world that he had the good fortune to meet.