These are stories of old Kentucky, set in the late 1700s or early 1800s, at about the same time that Daniel Boone was making his reputation. It was a time when people from the eastern states could move into the Kentucky territory and stake a claim on land, provided that they built a shelter, cleared some land, and raised a crop.

This set of books, of which there will eventually be four, are historical novels, which means that the history and setting are accurate but the people are fictional. The dialect used reflects the language style that was spoken by the early settlers in Kentucky.

It should be noted that while there is adventure in these books, there is a minimum of descriptive violence and an absence of sexual content.

The text of each book has been written for young people of middle-school age (grades 6 through 8, approximately) or for older students who may enjoy a book of high interest and lower vocabulary levels.

Elizabeth Durbin is a retired teacher. She was born in Wisconsin and because her father was an army officer the family moved often, settling finally in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where Betty earned both Bachelor's and Master's degrees in education at Western Kentucky University.

After teaching at the university for a year, Betty began a series of assignments at military bases, first at Fort Knox, Kentucky and then at Mannheim, Germany.

Returning to the States, she taught in California and back in Kentucky for the last 24 years of her career. Her specialties were Art and English.

A mother of six, Betty first told stories then committed them to writing so her children could read them.

She lives full-time in Bowling Green but spends summers at a cabin at Barren River Lake, Kentucky, a home she built from the ground up.
top

Ernest Matuschka, a Nebraskan, grew up in a small town, which afforded him the opportunity to hunt and fish throughout his youth.

Shortly after graduation from college, he entered the U.S. Air Force - during the Korean war, where he served as an intelligence officer.

Following his military service, he taught school in Colorado, in California and in Paris, France, where he was a guidance counselor, and later moved to Germany, where he served as Director of Guidance at the Mannheim American School.

It was in Germany that he met his writing partner, Elizabeth Durbin. The Durbins and the Matuschkas had ten children between them, and they (and their families) became fast friends during the two years they were together.

The Matuschkas returned to California at the end of their German experience, and, a few years later, Ernest applied for a leave of absence to complete work on his Ph.D. in clinical psychology. When he earned that degree, he and his family returned to Nebraska, where Ernest took a teaching position at the University of Nebraska at Kearney and opened a small, private practice.

Ernest has written a number of professional articles for peer review psychology journals, authored two books on genealogy, and translated a book from German to English.

He retired from teaching and from practice in 1990. With their children grown and gone, the couple has spent the last decade living half time in Nebraska and half-time in Chandler, Arizona.
top