In this next installment of our Local Authors Series we’re talking to Rudi Kraft. In case you’ve missed what we’re up to here, we’ve learned that there are nearly two dozen authors locally here in town. But, there doesn’t really seem to be a way to easily find the books they’ve written or any local source for them to promote their work. We created this series to share the authors stories and to let all of you – perspective readers – get to hear about their works. (If you’ve missed either of our previous columns, we’ve got links for you at the bottom of this page.)
Please share a short bio to introduce yourself.
I was born in 1934 in Rotterdam, Holland but moved to the Hague in 1943 and then on to Dusseldorf, Germany in 1946. Attended High School, graduated. Did one year of college. Trained as a chef. Took a trip to Canada with $80 in my pocket in 1956, and stayed for five years in Montreal and Toronto. Drove across Canada to Vancouver, BC. when there was no paved road at the time across Canada. Worked in logging camps/saw mills/paper mills in British Columbia. Bought a VW bus and traveled for eight months through the U.S. and Mexico, with again, no paved road after Rosarito. Loaded the bus on a boat to get across the Sea of Cortez. Traveled up and down Old Mexico. Moved to the U.S., first to San Francisco, then to L.A., after that to Reno, NV. Finally settled in L.V. Worked as a chef in major hotels on the strip. I am retired now. Moved to B.C. about 15 years ago. I like to paint, acrylics and abstracts mostly. I sing in choir and I tap/jazz dance at Whitney Ranch. I have a lot of fun doing Karaoke once a week at the Senior Center. I highly recommend it to all seniors. I also like to attend art shows where I can show my work and creations.
Please tell us about the book(s) you’ve written and a short synopsis.
I have written three books. Two of them are coloring books for kids and adults:
- Let’s color Hoover Dam
- Let’s Color the Grand Canyon
- I have written and illustrated a book about Nevada, called Nevada: A Strange State.
What inspired you to write it?
Why I did it is an interesting question. I have lived in Nevada since about 1965, the exact date escapes me. During that time I traveled up and down the state, from West to East, from North to South. Always looking for interesting places and interesting people.
During that time I also started a website http://lasvegasvisitor.com. In order to make the website more interesting for visitors I started to add short vignettes about Las Vegas and also the state. A few years later I looked at my website one day because I wanted to update and make it more current. I noticed all the material I had about the state and concluded that from all that material a book could easily be published.
I set about to draw a lot of pictures that had relevance to the material, and, with the help of my wife who did all the proof reading I had a 135 page book. I then contacted “CreateSpace” which is the publishing arm of Amazon, and had them publish the book, which you can find HERE. That was about five years ago. Since then my book is being sold locally at Bella’s Marketplace, at the various craft show in Boulder City and Las Vegas, at the Amazon website, and at my website. I also donate books for fundraisers.
What do you hope your readers experience or learn from reading your work?
My main objective was to acquaint my readers with all that is odd and strange about this state. From its huge size, the emptiness, the endless deserts, and above all the interesting people who populate those spaces. The small towns, or better, settlements, where a few people hang on in once thriving cities.
When and how did you publish it?
Published through CreateSpace.
What events in your life contributed to your becoming an author?
As I explained above, it was sort of by accident.
Did you take any formal or informal classes or seminars in writing? What would you say to other would-be authors about the process of writing?
I never had any formal training as an author. I just write from the heart, I write what I feel.
How long have you lived in Boulder City? What do you like most about living here?
I love the small town ambiance, the lovely people it is my privilige to meet, the low, or better, the non existent, crime rate. I can honestly say that I have never met a single person in B.C. I didn’t like.
Any other thoughts you’d like our readers to know about you or your work?
I recently also posted a video on YouTube about a very odd town in Nevada called Pickhandle Gulch. It can be found on YouTube by asking for “Pickhandle Gulch” . It is very interesting for “Nevadaphiles”. But that is my opinion.
My parting thought would be: let’s all work together to keep B.C. the lovely place it is now and make it even better. We can do it, the people that came before us laid the groundwork. We can build upon that. It does not have to happen overnight. All we need to do is to do it slowly and steadily. And let’s stay away from over-development. In that case B.C. will be just another Henderson.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this visit with Dale! If you’ve missed either of our other interviews in this series you can see both of these authors stories here:
