A Lady From Colorado: I started it yesterday morning and only took "time outs" after very emotional chapters, and finished it last night around midnight.  It was very close to my heart because my own Dad and Grandparents were raised in small farming communities in Kansas, about the same time.  It really makes us stop and appreciate how easy our lives are with modern conveniences.

The Idaho Senate Majority Leader: My mother recently gave me a copy of your book.  I couldn't put it down.  I started it about three in the afternoon and finished it about a half a dozen hours later.  As I reflected upon the great losses, struggles, and faith of your parents and family, I wept.  I haven't enjoyed a book more in the last several years.  Seriously, having buried a son of my own, I related to it and was deeply touched.

Another Lady From Colorado: I finished the Potter and the Clay yesterday!  I couldn't put it down.  Now I want a road trip to Idaho -- that mountain (in the Palisades Lakes area NE of Irwin, Idaho) -- I had kind of the same experience in Green Mountain Reservoir here in Colorado.  There was a trail that took a couple of hours -- waterfalls and fields of flowers that brought me to my knees.  I want my ashes spread there.

A Retired Accountant From Nevada: I sat down to start reading it on Wednesday Evening and couldn't put it down.  I stayed up all night and finished it about 5:00 a.m.  It was a great read.

A Lady Legislator from SE Idaho: Byron Mason's tragedy struck home and hard.  Oh how I remember us gathered around the radio on that fateful Sunday afternoon, unwilling to accept what seemed inevitable.  Byron was the Pacific Fleet boxing champion.

A Banker From Utah: The book is a vivid description of rural life in Idaho in the 30's and 40's that most of us city dwellers have not experienced.  As society struggles today with honesty, integrity and ethics, people could learn much from this book.

An M.D. from Washington, D.C. now settled in Utah: The book has a John Steinbecian bent.  The landscape of the Flats was so well described that I felt like I knew the area perfectly.  I experienced the activities, emotions, hopes and fears (of the characters) with such style that before I knew it I felt like I was part of the story.  I keep recommending the book to my friends.

A Hotel Manager in Australia: The book is a priceless refreshing as to how it was in those days.  The people at that time had to work very hard physically.  Today we can hardly lift ourselves up from our TV chairs.  This book shows how precious and beautiful life is, despite tears and suffering.

A lady Executive From Boise, Idaho: I bought the book on Monday and finished it last night (Tuesday).  I had a hard time putting it down because I was so captivated.  I loved the way it weaves in the history of SE Idaho.  It's truly a magical area that will always be my home.

An Idaho Falls, Idaho Resident: It has been the cause of a few sleepless nights (and tears) because of the vivid descriptions of people, events and of the countryside of Ririe and Antelope Flats.

A Lady From California: (The seventeen year old girl's travail) reminded me of when I was told I was carrying twins, one being a very brain-damaged child, and should abort immediately.  One of the twins had cerebral palsy.  What an honor to be his mother.  He's now working on his master's degree.  What a great gift and hero he is.  I remember the Saturday baths in the round tubs and the hope that I could be the first one in the water!

A Lady From Meridian, Idaho: This is very rare for me but I could not stop thinking about the book and therefore got up in the middle of the night twice to keep reading.  I loved reading about life in Southeastern Idaho during a simpler time.  I have a big interest in WWII and that time period.  Mostly, I loved reading (about the teen-age girl).  I was intrigued with her and could tell she was special.  I will think of her often.

A Retired Insurance Executive From California: Thanks for this wonderful book.  I will try to live better because of it.  Poor times, depression, etc. provided some similar experiences of my parents and the many things they did to make ends meet - and the sacrifices made to see that we had things a little better than they.

A Retired Teacher: The book brought to mind so many childhood memories: woodstoves and bathing in a galvanized tub on the kitchen floor; the ice man delivering huge blocks of ice from a horse drawn wagon; listening to our radio housed in a beautiful wood cabinet; high school boxing matches; running across the tar paper roof of our neighbor's basement home; and hitch hiking.

A Lady University Student in Germany: I received the book yesterday and read it from cover to cover.  I laughed and I cried and could not lay it out of my hands.  It made me think much about what I have and what is important for me in life.  I also got a glimpse of how a mother and a father feel about their children, their safety, their development and everything.

A Lady CFO From Idaho Falls, Idaho: It is 3:42 a.m. and I just finished reading the book.  This story touched my soul and I am grateful for it.

Heavy Equipment Owner and Operator From SE Idaho: It brought back so many memories of my growing up.  The baths in the old galvanized tub reminded me of a sign hanging by an old bathtub in the Teton Valley Museum in Driggs, Idaho that states: "Used water 5 cents, new water 15 cents."  I couldn't put it down as it brought back so vividly to mind the great people of that era, their trials and troubles, but how they came together to work out of the depression and fight through WWII.