August 23, 2009 at Danish Immigrant Museum Elk Horn, Iowa: Author Joy Ibsen signs books “Unafraid” and “Songs of Denmark” and everyone enjoys Genuine Danish Open-Faced Sandwiches among the treats

Author Joy Ibsen of Trout Creek, MI signs her book “Unafraid” during an August 23, 2009 reception at the Danish Immigrant Museum in Elk Horn, Iowa. (Photo by Kevin Nelson, reporter for the Danish Villages Voice newspaper)
Video shot on August 23, 2009 by Donald Lenef at the Danish Immigrant Museum Elk Horn, Iowa

In the video, Author Joy Ibsen signs books Unafraid and Songs of Denmark.” It was a truly Danish event as poular and tasty genuine Danish open-faced sandwiches were among the treats

Author Joy Ibsen holds her book “Songs of Denmark” while sitting at Victor Borge’s first piano on August 23, 2009 at the Danish Immigrant Museum in Elk Horn, Iowa. The piano was restored for the Victor Borge Centennial Celebration. (Photo by Kevin Nelson, a reporter for Danish Villages Voice newspaper)

(Elk Horn, Iowa) – The sounds of Danish American entertainer and pianist Victor Borge’s piano filled the air as Michigan author Joy Ibsen led a late summer songfest at the Danish Immigrant Museum in Elk Horn, Iowa.

About 70 people sang at the 30-minute songfest on August 24 that was followed by a PowerPoint presentation and a reception for Ibsen to present her latest book Unafraid.

What a thrill to play Victor Borges piano, Ibsen said. What an incredibly rich sound.

The event was co-sponsored by the Danish Immigrant Museum and Danish Brotherhood Lodge #341.

Lovingly called the Clown Prince of Denmark, the piano donated by Borge was restored this past winter after falling silent for 22 years.

The piano, the first owned by Borge, was restored through a gift from Iowa Danish Royal Consul Lowell Kramme and his wife Marilyn. Lowell Kramme is Ibsen’s second cousin.

The Victor Borge centennial celebration at the museum runs through March 8, 2010. Before being donated to the museum, the piano was severely damaged in a hurricane at the Borge home in St. Croix.

Ibsen could feel the spirit of the comedian known as the Unmelancholy Dane.

I felt like falling off the piano bench like Borge did but decided not to try it,’ Ibsen joked.

Songs included Evening Star, Han Skal Leve, Up Little Hans and Theres No Grandma Just Like Mine.

Everyone had a great time singing favorite Danish songs ranging from folksongs to children’s songs, said Ibsen who served 1999-2005 on the museum board of directors and as president in the final year.

For those who do not know the Danish songs, their lyrical simplicity make them easy to learn and they are so beautiful, said Ibsen, who spent her childhood in nearby Kimballton, IA. We ended by singing the Danish hymn, ‘Unafraid,’ which inspired the naming of my book, and I was so glad to hear several sing it in Danish, ‘Altid Frejdig.’

In his introduction of Ibsen, Danish Immigrant Museum Executive Director Dr. John Mark Nielsen said Ibsen’s love for Danish history and wide-ranging career including being a teacher and a development director brought her to the attention of the board in the late 90s.

Ibsen said she was thrilled to attend the museum event that included a book signing. She read portions of Unafraid that take place when the Ibsens lived in Kimballton.

Refreshments included delicious Danish open-faced sandwiches, wine and cookies, Ibsen said.

What a treat that many of my childhood friends are still here and remember me and my family, she said. Im so proud of the museum and all it has accomplished in preserving the Danish Heritage.

Presenting my book ‘Unafraid’ at the Danish Immigrant Museum was especially meaningful for me, because I lived in nearby Kimballton as a child ages 2-8, said Joy Ibsen,who is a writer, lay minister, and musician in the tiny northern Michigan hamlet of Trout Creek.

When I come back to the (Kimballton) area, I feel a little like a little kid again, Ibsen said. This was where I learned to read and roller skate.

Unafraid is co-authored by her late father Rev. Harald Ibsen, who pastored six small churches in four Midwest states including six years (1942-1948) at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Kimballton.

At her mother’s home, Ibsen rescued the sermon notes that had Danish symbols and letters because her father used an old Danish typewriter.

The 225-page paperback book is published by Wipf and Stock Publishers of Eugene, OR.

Each of the 36 chapters in Unafraid starts with one of her father’s sermons written during the 1940s, 50s and 60s followed by autobiographical and fictional account how Rev. Ibsen’s message affected parishioners and their lives.

Both Ibsen’s are graduates of Grand View College (now Grand View University) in Des Moines, IA.

Born in South Dakota, Harald Ibsen moved to Denmark at the age of six (1904) with his mother Mathilda, siblings after the death of his father Lars from tuberculosis.

While living in Denmark for 20 years, Harald Ibsen was a member of the Danish Royal Guard stationed at Amalienborg Palace.

Rev. Ibsen’s forthright sermons – delivered in a time often called everything from the Golden to the Atomic ages – reflect the community-first messages of N.F.S. Grundtvig, a 19th century philosopher-theologian.

Several of the sermons featured in the book were given by my father at the Immanuel Lutheran Church, she said.

Well-known Christian author Dr. Walter Brueggemann of Cincinnati, OH, and others who have read Unafraid, have commented on how the post-depression issues that Rev. Ibsen preached are amazingly similar to issues in the 21st Century including the bad economy, war, child-rearing difficulties, terminal illness, death of spouse, career choice, marital problems and loss of faith.

Brueggemann described Ibsen’s father as fresh in his thought, puckish in his style and grounded in faith during his endorsement of Unafraid.

We may thank the daughter for letting us know her remarkable father, Brueggemann wrote. Harald was unafraid as an (Danish) immigrant who lived in a venturesome way.

The hymn Unafraid appears in her first book Songs of Denmark that has 48 songs in both Danish and English.

Published in July 2005, Songs of Denmark was presented to Danish Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary by Grand View University President Kent Henning during a ceremony in March 2009, according to an article in the Des Moines Register.

Ibsen is the editor and columnist for Church and Life, a publication of the Danish Interest Conference through the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

The hymn Unafraid was sung in the Danish Resistance during World War Two a time of terrible danger, said Ibsen, an original member of the interfaith Upper Peninsula EarthKeeper environment group in northern Michigan.

Nevertheless one can live with confidence, and hope, said Ibsen, who holds arts and humanities degrees from Grand View College and Shimer College in Chicago. Today’s society is bombarded by all kinds of fears and we need to learn to live unafraid.

Other endorsements of Unafraid were written by St. Olaf College (Northfield, MN) religion professor L. DeAne Lagerquist and Danish-American Bishop Emeritus Harry Andersen of the ELCA Northern Great Lakes Synod.

I am mightily moved and impacted by the insightful sermons and the stories that follow, Rev. Anderson wrote.

Anderson stated Unafraid is a powerful testimony to the richness of each individuals unique spiritual journey.

Anderson stated “Unafraid” is a powerful testimony to the richness of each individuals unique spiritual journey.

Lagerquist wrote that pastor Harald Ibsens sermons demonstrate that Grundtvigian happiness was not blind to sorrow or suffering or social ills, but neither was it defeated by such trials.

Reflections from his hearers bring the gospel into the realities of farm life, child rearing, marriage, and disease, Lagerquist stated.

Joy Ibsen contact info:

Joy Marie Ibsen
P O Box 43
Trout Creek, MI
49967

Call:

906-852-3479

email Author Joy Ibsen

Author Joy Ibsen official website

Joy Ibsen social and photograph websites:

Author Joy Ibsen on Facebook

Author Joy Ibsen on Twitter

Author Joy Ibsen on myspace

Author Joy Ibsen on Word Press blog

Author Joy Ibsen on bliptv

Author Joy Ibsen on youtube

Author Joy Ibsen on Flickr

Author Joy Ibsen on Photobucket


Wipf & Stock Publishing: Unafraid by Joy Ibsen and Rev. Harald Ibsen

Wipf and Stock: Author Joy Ibsen bio

Wipf and Stock: Harald Ibsen bio

Joy Ibsen, Editor of “Church and Life”

Joy Ibsen bio on “Church and Life“


Danamerica is the official website of Ibsen’s first book Songs of Denmark: Songs to Live By with color photographs by National Geographic photographer Sisse Brimberg. Produced 70 minute CD by the Grand View College Kantorei

Nikolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig:

Joy Ibsen writes about four principles of Grundtvigianism

Nikolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig aka

N.F.S. Grundtvig, Danish bishop and poet info on Wikipedia and Britannica websites:

Pine Mountain Music Festival:

Joy Ibsen serves as vice president of the Pine Mountain Music Festival board of directors
—
Media coverage 2006-2010:

Omaha World-Herald Preview story on 8-21-09 about Author Joy Ibsen talk to the Danish Immigrant Museum in Elk Horn IA

L’Anse Sentinel newspaper preview story on Author Joy Ibsen book signing on July 30, 2009 at North Wind Books in Hancock, MI

Superior Chronicle story on Unafraid on 6-18-09

Iron Mountain Daily News brief on upcoming book signing at Finn Fest 2009 in Covington, MI

Joy Ibsen honored in her childhood home newspaper Yankton Press-Dakotan in July 2008 during annual Danish Days festival for first book Songs of Denmark“

Joy Ibsen first book Songs of Denmark is mentioned in story by Des Moines Register because book was presented to Danish Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary by Grand View University President Kent Henning during a March 2009 ceremony. The story “Danish royalty pay visit to Grand View” by Cynthia Reynaud appeared on 3-25-09 (requires subscription to read)

The book Unafraid is sold online by publisher and numerous Windows Booksellers website and other sites:

Target

Tower Books

Boone Bridge Books

Amazon.com UK

Amazon.com UK: Harald Ibsen listing

Amazon.com UK: Joy Ibsen listing

Amazon.com UK: “Unafraid” listing

New & Used copies of the book “Unafraid“ on Amazon.com

Cokesbury

Kirjasana

Antiqbook

Biblio

Internet BookShop (IBS)

Other websites related to Denmark, Author Joy Ibsen or information in the story:

Danish Imigrant Museum

Danebod Family Camps & Folk School

Danish American Heritage Society publication “The Bridge”

Danish Royal Family on Wikipedia

Danish Royal Family on Danish Royal Watchers blog

Grand View University, (formerly Grand View College) a four-year, liberal-arts college affiliated with the ELCA in Des Moines

Grand View University on Wikipedia

Shimer College

University of Chicago

Paul Tillich, German-American theologian, Christian existentialist philosopher on Wikipedia

Paul Tillich on theology website

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)

Wikipedia page on the ELCA

Friends of Author Joy Ibsen:

Rev. Dr. Lynn Hubbard and Rev. Dr. George Cairns founded the nonprofit Turtle Island Project in 2007 to foster respect for indigenous people and cultures and to promote what they can teach us about caring and repairing the environment.

Rev. Hubbard is the executive director of the ELCA-related Navajo Lutheran Mission in Rock Point, Arizona. Rev. Cairns is a Chicago Theological Seminary professor who founded the nonprofit Celtic Christianity Today.

Read the Spirit, an online spiritual magazine with inspirational stories and book reviews created by David Crumm, the longtime religion editor for the Detroit Free Press
.
Crumm established ten pinciples for his work that all people with a religion should read.

The many interfaith and youth-related environment projects founded by Rev. Jon Magnuson of Marquette, MI under the nonprofit Cedar Tree Institute.

Magnuson’s CTI co-founded the EarthKeeper Initiative, and founded the Earth Healing Initiative, Manoomin Project and the Zaagkii Wings & Seeds Project.

Zaagkii Wings & Seeds Project –

Native American and Marquette area teens protecting pollinators project:

Zaagkii TV on youtube

Zaagkii Project Story Part 1 Indian Country Today newspaper

Zaagkii Project Story Part 2 Indian Country Today newspaper

Zaagkii Project hailed as success by U.S. Forest Service

Zaagkii Project blog on wordpress

Non-profit Interfaith

Earth Healing Initiative: Numerous environment projects across the Great Lakes Basin in cooperation with the EPA, American Indian Tribes and local governments

Earth Healing TV on youtube

Earth Healing TV on bliptv

Earth Healing Initiative was part of the first EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge with youtube and bliptv videos.

EarthKeeper TV on youtube has EarthKeeper and Manoomin Project videos including stories and a Manoomin Project music video & more

Manoomin Project story in Indian Country Today

Manoomin Project Story in World Magazine

Author Joy Ibsen encourages everyone to live their life “Unafraid”

August 2009 Danish Immigrant Museum Elk Horn, Iowa: Author Joy Ibsen plays late great comedian Victor Borge’s restored piano

Author Joy Ibsen of Trout Creek, MI signs her book “Unafraid” during an August 23, 2009 reception at the Danish Immigrant Museum in Elk Horn, Iowa. (Photo by Kevin Nelson, reporter for the Danish Villages Voice newspaper)
Video shot on August 23, 2009 by Donald Lenef at the Danish Immigrant Museum Elk Horn, Iowa

In the video, Author Joy Ibsen plays late great Danish comedian and pianist Victor Borge’s restored piano

Author Joy Ibsen holds her book “Songs of Denmark” while sitting at Victor Borge’s first piano on August 23, 2009 at the Danish Immigrant Museum in Elk Horn, Iowa. The piano was restored for the Victor Borge Centennial Celebration. (Photo by Kevin Nelson, a reporter for Danish Villages Voice newspaper)

(Elk Horn, Iowa) – The sounds of Danish American entertainer and pianist Victor Borge’s piano filled the air as Michigan author Joy Ibsen led a late summer songfest at the Danish Immigrant Museum in Elk Horn, Iowa.

About 70 people sang at the 30-minute songfest on August 24 that was followed by a PowerPoint presentation and a reception for Ibsen to present her latest book Unafraid.

What a thrill to play Victor Borges piano, Ibsen said. What an incredibly rich sound.

The event was co-sponsored by the Danish Immigrant Museum and Danish Brotherhood Lodge #341.

Lovingly called the Clown Prince of Denmark, the piano donated by Borge was restored this past winter after falling silent for 22 years.

The piano, the first owned by Borge, was restored through a gift from Iowa Danish Royal Consul Lowell Kramme and his wife Marilyn. Lowell Kramme is Ibsen’s second cousin.

The Victor Borge centennial celebration at the museum runs through March 8, 2010. Before being donated to the museum, the piano was severely damaged in a hurricane at the Borge home in St. Croix.

Ibsen could feel the spirit of the comedian known as the Unmelancholy Dane.

I felt like falling off the piano bench like Borge did but decided not to try it,’ Ibsen joked.

Songs included Evening Star, Han Skal Leve, Up Little Hans and Theres No Grandma Just Like Mine.

Everyone had a great time singing favorite Danish songs ranging from folksongs to children’s songs, said Ibsen who served 1999-2005 on the museum board of directors and as president in the final year.

For those who do not know the Danish songs, their lyrical simplicity make them easy to learn and they are so beautiful, said Ibsen, who spent her childhood in nearby Kimballton, IA. We ended by singing the Danish hymn, ‘Unafraid,’ which inspired the naming of my book, and I was so glad to hear several sing it in Danish, ‘Altid Frejdig.’

In his introduction of Ibsen, Danish Immigrant Museum Executive Director Dr. John Mark Nielsen said Ibsen’s love for Danish history and wide-ranging career including being a teacher and a development director brought her to the attention of the board in the late 90s.

Ibsen said she was thrilled to attend the museum event that included a book signing. She read portions of Unafraid that take place when the Ibsens lived in Kimballton.

Refreshments included delicious Danish open-faced sandwiches, wine and cookies, Ibsen said.

What a treat that many of my childhood friends are still here and remember me and my family, she said. Im so proud of the museum and all it has accomplished in preserving the Danish Heritage.

Presenting my book ‘Unafraid’ at the Danish Immigrant Museum was especially meaningful for me, because I lived in nearby Kimballton as a child ages 2-8, said Joy Ibsen,who is a writer, lay minister, and musician in the tiny northern Michigan hamlet of Trout Creek.

When I come back to the (Kimballton) area, I feel a little like a little kid again, Ibsen said. This was where I learned to read and roller skate.

Unafraid is co-authored by her late father Rev. Harald Ibsen, who pastored six small churches in four Midwest states including six years (1942-1948) at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Kimballton.

At her mother’s home, Ibsen rescued the sermon notes that had Danish symbols and letters because her father used an old Danish typewriter.

The 225-page paperback book is published by Wipf and Stock Publishers of Eugene, OR.

Each of the 36 chapters in Unafraid starts with one of her father’s sermons written during the 1940s, 50s and 60s followed by autobiographical and fictional account how Rev. Ibsen’s message affected parishioners and their lives.

Both Ibsen’s are graduates of Grand View College (now Grand View University) in Des Moines, IA.

Born in South Dakota, Harald Ibsen moved to Denmark at the age of six (1904) with his mother Mathilda, siblings after the death of his father Lars from tuberculosis.

While living in Denmark for 20 years, Harald Ibsen was a member of the Danish Royal Guard stationed at Amalienborg Palace.

Rev. Ibsen’s forthright sermons – delivered in a time often called everything from the Golden to the Atomic ages – reflect the community-first messages of N.F.S. Grundtvig, a 19th century philosopher-theologian.

Several of the sermons featured in the book were given by my father at the Immanuel Lutheran Church, she said.

Well-known Christian author Dr. Walter Brueggemann of Cincinnati, OH, and others who have read Unafraid, have commented on how the post-depression issues that Rev. Ibsen preached are amazingly similar to issues in the 21st Century including the bad economy, war, child-rearing difficulties, terminal illness, death of spouse, career choice, marital problems and loss of faith.

Brueggemann described Ibsen’s father as fresh in his thought, puckish in his style and grounded in faith during his endorsement of Unafraid.

We may thank the daughter for letting us know her remarkable father, Brueggemann wrote. Harald was unafraid as an (Danish) immigrant who lived in a venturesome way.

The hymn Unafraid appears in her first book Songs of Denmark that has 48 songs in both Danish and English.

Published in July 2005, Songs of Denmark was presented to Danish Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary by Grand View University President Kent Henning during a ceremony in March 2009, according to an article in the Des Moines Register.

Ibsen is the editor and columnist for Church and Life, a publication of the Danish Interest Conference through the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

The hymn Unafraid was sung in the Danish Resistance during World War Two a time of terrible danger, said Ibsen, an original member of the interfaith Upper Peninsula EarthKeeper environment group in northern Michigan.

Nevertheless one can live with confidence, and hope, said Ibsen, who holds arts and humanities degrees from Grand View College and Shimer College in Chicago. Today’s society is bombarded by all kinds of fears and we need to learn to live unafraid.

Other endorsements of Unafraid were written by St. Olaf College (Northfield, MN) religion professor L. DeAne Lagerquist and Danish-American Bishop Emeritus Harry Andersen of the ELCA Northern Great Lakes Synod.

I am mightily moved and impacted by the insightful sermons and the stories that follow, Rev. Anderson wrote.

Anderson stated Unafraid is a powerful testimony to the richness of each individuals unique spiritual journey.

Anderson stated “Unafraid” is a powerful testimony to the richness of each individuals unique spiritual journey.

Lagerquist wrote that pastor Harald Ibsens sermons demonstrate that Grundtvigian happiness was not blind to sorrow or suffering or social ills, but neither was it defeated by such trials.

Reflections from his hearers bring the gospel into the realities of farm life, child rearing, marriage, and disease, Lagerquist stated.

Joy Ibsen contact info:

Joy Marie Ibsen
P O Box 43
Trout Creek, MI
49967

Call:

906-852-3479

email Author Joy Ibsen

Author Joy Ibsen official website

Joy Ibsen social and photograph websites:

Author Joy Ibsen on Facebook

Author Joy Ibsen on Twitter

Author Joy Ibsen on myspace

Author Joy Ibsen on Word Press blog

Author Joy Ibsen on bliptv

Author Joy Ibsen on youtube

Author Joy Ibsen on Flickr

Author Joy Ibsen on Photobucket


Wipf & Stock Publishing: Unafraid by Joy Ibsen and Rev. Harald Ibsen

Wipf and Stock: Author Joy Ibsen bio

Wipf and Stock: Harald Ibsen bio

Joy Ibsen, Editor of “Church and Life”

Joy Ibsen bio on “Church and Life“


Danamerica is the official website of Ibsen’s first book Songs of Denmark: Songs to Live By with color photographs by National Geographic photographer Sisse Brimberg. Produced 70 minute CD by the Grand View College Kantorei

Nikolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig:

Joy Ibsen writes about four principles of Grundtvigianism

Nikolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig aka

N.F.S. Grundtvig, Danish bishop and poet info on Wikipedia and Britannica websites:

Pine Mountain Music Festival:

Joy Ibsen serves as vice president of the Pine Mountain Music Festival board of directors
—
Media coverage 2006-2010:

Omaha World-Herald Preview story on 8-21-09 about Author Joy Ibsen talk to the Danish Immigrant Museum in Elk Horn IA

L’Anse Sentinel newspaper preview story on Author Joy Ibsen book signing on July 30, 2009 at North Wind Books in Hancock, MI

Superior Chronicle story on Unafraid on 6-18-09

Iron Mountain Daily News brief on upcoming book signing at Finn Fest 2009 in Covington, MI

Joy Ibsen honored in her childhood home newspaper Yankton Press-Dakotan in July 2008 during annual Danish Days festival for first book Songs of Denmark“

Joy Ibsen first book Songs of Denmark is mentioned in story by Des Moines Register because book was presented to Danish Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary by Grand View University President Kent Henning during a March 2009 ceremony. The story “Danish royalty pay visit to Grand View” by Cynthia Reynaud appeared on 3-25-09 (requires subscription to read)

The book Unafraid is sold online by publisher and numerous Windows Booksellers website and other sites:

Target

Tower Books

Boone Bridge Books

Amazon.com UK

Amazon.com UK: Harald Ibsen listing

Amazon.com UK: Joy Ibsen listing

Amazon.com UK: “Unafraid” listing

New & Used copies of the book “Unafraid“ on Amazon.com

Cokesbury

Kirjasana

Antiqbook

Biblio

Internet BookShop (IBS)

Other websites related to Denmark, Author Joy Ibsen or information in the story:

Danish Imigrant Museum

Danebod Family Camps & Folk School

Danish American Heritage Society publication “The Bridge”

Danish Royal Family on Wikipedia

Danish Royal Family on Danish Royal Watchers blog

Grand View University, (formerly Grand View College) a four-year, liberal-arts college affiliated with the ELCA in Des Moines

Grand View University on Wikipedia

Shimer College

University of Chicago

Paul Tillich, German-American theologian, Christian existentialist philosopher on Wikipedia

Paul Tillich on theology website

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)

Wikipedia page on the ELCA

Friends of Author Joy Ibsen:

Rev. Dr. Lynn Hubbard and Rev. Dr. George Cairns founded the nonprofit Turtle Island Project in 2007 to foster respect for indigenous people and cultures and to promote what they can teach us about caring and repairing the environment.

Rev. Hubbard is the executive director of the ELCA-related Navajo Lutheran Mission in Rock Point, Arizona. Rev. Cairns is a Chicago Theological Seminary professor who founded the nonprofit Celtic Christianity Today.

Read the Spirit, an online spiritual magazine with inspirational stories and book reviews created by David Crumm, the longtime religion editor for the Detroit Free Press
.
Crumm established ten pinciples for his work that all people with a religion should read.

The many interfaith and youth-related environment projects founded by Rev. Jon Magnuson of Marquette, MI under the nonprofit Cedar Tree Institute.

Magnuson’s CTI co-founded the EarthKeeper Initiative, and founded the Earth Healing Initiative, Manoomin Project and the Zaagkii Wings & Seeds Project.

Zaagkii Wings & Seeds Project –

Native American and Marquette area teens protecting pollinators project:

Zaagkii TV on youtube

Zaagkii Project Story Part 1 Indian Country Today newspaper

Zaagkii Project Story Part 2 Indian Country Today newspaper

Zaagkii Project hailed as success by U.S. Forest Service

Zaagkii Project blog on wordpress

Non-profit Interfaith

Earth Healing Initiative: Numerous environment projects across the Great Lakes Basin in cooperation with the EPA, American Indian Tribes and local governments

Earth Healing TV on youtube

Earth Healing TV on bliptv

Earth Healing Initiative was part of the first EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge with youtube and bliptv videos.

EarthKeeper TV on youtube has EarthKeeper and Manoomin Project videos including stories and a Manoomin Project music video & more

Manoomin Project story in Indian Country Today

Manoomin Project Story in World Magazine

Author Joy Ibsen encourages everyone to live their life “Unafraid”

August 23, 2009 Danish Immigrant Museum Elk Horn, Iowa: Author Joy Ibsen reads Kimballton “Unafraid” chapter

Author Joy Ibsen of Trout Creek, MI signs her book “Unafraid” during an August 23, 2009 reception at the Danish Immigrant Museum in Elk Horn, Iowa. (Photo by Kevin Nelson, reporter for the Danish Villages Voice newspaper)
Video shot on August 23, 2009 by Donald Lenef at the Danish Immigrant Museum Elk Horn, Iowa

In the video, Author Joy Ibsen reads a part of a chapter from Unafraid and gives a presentation in which she explains the book’s Kimballton connection

Author Joy Ibsen holds her book “Songs of Denmark” while sitting at Victor Borge’s first piano on August 23, 2009 at the Danish Immigrant Museum in Elk Horn, Iowa. The piano was restored for the Victor Borge Centennial Celebration. (Photo by Kevin Nelson, a reporter for Danish Villages Voice newspaper)

(Elk Horn, Iowa) – The sounds of Danish American entertainer and pianist Victor Borge’s piano filled the air as Michigan author Joy Ibsen led a late summer songfest at the Danish Immigrant Museum in Elk Horn, Iowa.

About 70 people sang at the 30-minute songfest on August 24 that was followed by a PowerPoint presentation and a reception for Ibsen to present her latest book Unafraid.

What a thrill to play Victor Borges piano, Ibsen said. What an incredibly rich sound.

The event was co-sponsored by the Danish Immigrant Museum and Danish Brotherhood Lodge #341.

Lovingly called the Clown Prince of Denmark, the piano donated by Borge was restored this past winter after falling silent for 22 years.

The piano, the first owned by Borge, was restored through a gift from Iowa Danish Royal Consul Lowell Kramme and his wife Marilyn. Lowell Kramme is Ibsen’s second cousin.

The Victor Borge centennial celebration at the museum runs through March 8, 2010. Before being donated to the museum, the piano was severely damaged in a hurricane at the Borge home in St. Croix.

Ibsen could feel the spirit of the comedian known as the Unmelancholy Dane.

I felt like falling off the piano bench like Borge did but decided not to try it,’ Ibsen joked.

Songs included Evening Star, Han Skal Leve, Up Little Hans and Theres No Grandma Just Like Mine.

Everyone had a great time singing favorite Danish songs ranging from folksongs to children’s songs, said Ibsen who served 1999-2005 on the museum board of directors and as president in the final year.

For those who do not know the Danish songs, their lyrical simplicity make them easy to learn and they are so beautiful, said Ibsen, who spent her childhood in nearby Kimballton, IA. We ended by singing the Danish hymn, ‘Unafraid,’ which inspired the naming of my book, and I was so glad to hear several sing it in Danish, ‘Altid Frejdig.’

In his introduction of Ibsen, Danish Immigrant Museum Executive Director Dr. John Mark Nielsen said Ibsen’s love for Danish history and wide-ranging career including being a teacher and a development director brought her to the attention of the board in the late 90s.

Ibsen said she was thrilled to attend the museum event that included a book signing. She read portions of Unafraid that take place when the Ibsens lived in Kimballton.

Refreshments included delicious Danish open-faced sandwiches, wine and cookies, Ibsen said.

What a treat that many of my childhood friends are still here and remember me and my family, she said. Im so proud of the museum and all it has accomplished in preserving the Danish Heritage.

Presenting my book ‘Unafraid’ at the Danish Immigrant Museum was especially meaningful for me, because I lived in nearby Kimballton as a child ages 2-8, said Joy Ibsen,who is a writer, lay minister, and musician in the tiny northern Michigan hamlet of Trout Creek.

When I come back to the (Kimballton) area, I feel a little like a little kid again, Ibsen said. This was where I learned to read and roller skate.

Unafraid is co-authored by her late father Rev. Harald Ibsen, who pastored six small churches in four Midwest states including six years (1942-1948) at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Kimballton.

At her mother’s home, Ibsen rescued the sermon notes that had Danish symbols and letters because her father used an old Danish typewriter.

The 225-page paperback book is published by Wipf and Stock Publishers of Eugene, OR.

Each of the 36 chapters in Unafraid starts with one of her father’s sermons written during the 1940s, 50s and 60s followed by autobiographical and fictional account how Rev. Ibsen’s message affected parishioners and their lives.

Both Ibsen’s are graduates of Grand View College (now Grand View University) in Des Moines, IA.

Born in South Dakota, Harald Ibsen moved to Denmark at the age of six (1904) with his mother Mathilda, siblings after the death of his father Lars from tuberculosis.

While living in Denmark for 20 years, Harald Ibsen was a member of the Danish Royal Guard stationed at Amalienborg Palace.

Rev. Ibsen’s forthright sermons – delivered in a time often called everything from the Golden to the Atomic ages – reflect the community-first messages of N.F.S. Grundtvig, a 19th century philosopher-theologian.

Several of the sermons featured in the book were given by my father at the Immanuel Lutheran Church, she said.

Well-known Christian author Dr. Walter Brueggemann of Cincinnati, OH, and others who have read Unafraid, have commented on how the post-depression issues that Rev. Ibsen preached are amazingly similar to issues in the 21st Century including the bad economy, war, child-rearing difficulties, terminal illness, death of spouse, career choice, marital problems and loss of faith.

Brueggemann described Ibsen’s father as fresh in his thought, puckish in his style and grounded in faith during his endorsement of Unafraid.

We may thank the daughter for letting us know her remarkable father, Brueggemann wrote. Harald was unafraid as an (Danish) immigrant who lived in a venturesome way.

The hymn Unafraid appears in her first book Songs of Denmark that has 48 songs in both Danish and English.

Published in July 2005, Songs of Denmark was presented to Danish Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary by Grand View University President Kent Henning during a ceremony in March 2009, according to an article in the Des Moines Register.

Ibsen is the editor and columnist for Church and Life, a publication of the Danish Interest Conference through the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

The hymn Unafraid was sung in the Danish Resistance during World War Two a time of terrible danger, said Ibsen, an original member of the interfaith Upper Peninsula EarthKeeper environment group in northern Michigan.

Nevertheless one can live with confidence, and hope, said Ibsen, who holds arts and humanities degrees from Grand View College and Shimer College in Chicago. Today’s society is bombarded by all kinds of fears and we need to learn to live unafraid.

Other endorsements of Unafraid were written by St. Olaf College (Northfield, MN) religion professor L. DeAne Lagerquist and Danish-American Bishop Emeritus Harry Andersen of the ELCA Northern Great Lakes Synod.

I am mightily moved and impacted by the insightful sermons and the stories that follow, Rev. Anderson wrote.

Anderson stated Unafraid

Rare 1946 color movies of Kimballton, Iowa by late Rev. Harald Ibsen, co-author of “Unafraid” with daughter Joy Ibsen

Rare 1946 color movies of Kimballton, Iowa by late Rev. Harald Ibsen, a Danish-American pastor and co-author of “Unafraid” with daughter Joy Ibsen.

Author Joy Ibsen is sharing her father’s home movies because very few people took color home movies in the 1940s.

Her father, Rev. Harald Ibsen, took hours and hours of rare color and black and white movies in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.

The movies were taken at locations across the midwest including six churches in four Midwest states at which he was pastor (The Diamond Lake Lutheran Church in Lake Benton, MN; Hope Lutheran Church, Ruthton, MN; Immanuel Lutheran Church, Kimballton, IA; Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, Viborg, SD; Trinity Lutheran Church, Gayville, SD and St. John Lutheran Church, Marquette, NE.), plus Yellowstone National Park and in Denmark.

Sermons used in Unafraid were given by Rev. Harald Ibsen at Christmas, New Year, Epiphany, Lent, Good Friday, Easter, Pentecost, Trinity, and Advent.

Rev. Ibsen belonged to the American Evangelical Lutheran Church (AELC), formerly the Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church, that merged into the American Lutheran Church (ALC) in 1962 that merged into the ELCA in 1987.

Joy Ibsen manages Danamerica, a Danish-American website about her first book Songs of Denmark.

Photographs in Songs of Denmark are by National Geographic photographer Sisse Brimberg and a 70-minute CD of the songs was produced by the Grand View College Kantorei.
Harald Ibsen was an athletic, outdoor person who loved to hunt, fish, hike, play golf, and always had an amazing garden, Joy Ibsen said.

Joy Ibsen contact info:

Joy Marie Ibsen
P O Box 43
Trout Creek, MI
49967

Call:

906-852-3479

email Author Joy Ibsen

Author Joy Ibsen official website

Joy Ibsen social and photograph websites:

Author Joy Ibsen on Facebook

Author Joy Ibsen on Twitter

Author Joy Ibsen on myspace

Author Joy Ibsen on Word Press blog

Author Joy Ibsen on bliptv

Author Joy Ibsen on youtube

Author Joy Ibsen on Flickr

Author Joy Ibsen on Photobucket


Wipf & Stock Publishing: Unafraid by Joy Ibsen and Rev. Harald Ibsen

Wipf and Stock: Author Joy Ibsen bio

Wipf and Stock: Harald Ibsen bio

Joy Ibsen, Editor of “Church and Life”

Joy Ibsen bio on “Church and Life“


Danamerica is the official website of Ibsen’s first book Songs of Denmark: Songs to Live By with color photographs by National Geographic photographer Sisse Brimberg. Produced 70 minute CD by the Grand View College Kantorei

Nikolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig:

Joy Ibsen writes about four principles of Grundtvigianism

Nikolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig aka

N.F.S. Grundtvig, Danish bishop and poet info on Wikipedia and Britannica websites:

Pine Mountain Music Festival:

Joy Ibsen serves as vice president of the Pine Mountain Music Festival board of directors
—
Media coverage 2006-2010:

Omaha World-Herald Preview story on 8-21-09 about Author Joy Ibsen talk to the Danish Immigrant Museum in Elk Horn IA

L’Anse Sentinel newspaper preview story on Author Joy Ibsen book signing on July 30, 2009 at North Wind Books in Hancock, MI

Superior Chronicle story on Unafraid on 6-18-09

Iron Mountain Daily News brief on upcoming book signing at Finn Fest 2009 in Covington, MI

Joy Ibsen honored in her childhood home newspaper Yankton Press-Dakotan in July 2008 during annual Danish Days festival for first book Songs of Denmark“

Joy Ibsen first book Songs of Denmark is mentioned in story by Des Moines Register because book was presented to Danish Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary by Grand View University President Kent Henning during a March 2009 ceremony. The story “Danish royalty pay visit to Grand View” by Cynthia Reynaud appeared on 3-25-09 (requires subscription to read)

The book Unafraid is sold online by publisher and numerous Windows Booksellers website and other sites:

Target

Tower Books

Boone Bridge Books

Amazon.com UK

Amazon.com UK: Harald Ibsen listing

Amazon.com UK: Joy Ibsen listing

Amazon.com UK: “Unafraid” listing

New & Used copies of the book “Unafraid“ on Amazon.com

Cokesbury

Kirjasana

Antiqbook

Biblio

Internet BookShop (IBS)

Other websites related to Denmark, Author Joy Ibsen or information in the story:

Danish Imigrant Museum

Danebod Family Camps & Folk School

Danish American Heritage Society publication “The Bridge”

Danish Royal Family on Wikipedia

Danish Royal Family on Danish Royal Watchers blog

Grand View University, (formerly Grand View College) a four-year, liberal-arts college affiliated with the ELCA in Des Moines

Grand View University on Wikipedia

Shimer College

University of Chicago

Paul Tillich, German-American theologian, Christian existentialist philosopher on Wikipedia

Paul Tillich on theology website

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)

Wikipedia page on the ELCA

Friends of Author Joy Ibsen:

Rev. Dr. Lynn Hubbard and Rev. Dr. George Cairns founded the nonprofit Turtle Island Project in 2007 to foster respect for indigenous people and cultures and to promote what they can teach us about caring and repairing the environment.

Rev. Hubbard is the executive director of the ELCA-related Navajo Lutheran Mission in Rock Point, Arizona. Rev. Cairns is a Chicago Theological Seminary professor who founded the nonprofit Celtic Christianity Today.

Read the Spirit, an online spiritual magazine with inspirational stories and book reviews created by David Crumm, the longtime religion editor for the Detroit Free Press
.
Crumm established ten pinciples for his work that all people with a religion should read.

The many interfaith and youth-related environment projects founded by Rev. Jon Magnuson of Marquette, MI under the nonprofit Cedar Tree Institute.

Magnuson’s CTI co-founded the EarthKeeper Initiative, and founded the Earth Healing Initiative, Manoomin Project and the Zaagkii Wings & Seeds Project.

Zaagkii Wings & Seeds Project –

Native American and Marquette area teens protecting pollinators project:

Zaagkii TV on youtube

Zaagkii Project Story Part 1 Indian Country Today newspaper

Zaagkii Project Story Part 2 Indian Country Today newspaper

Zaagkii Project hailed as success by U.S. Forest Service

Zaagkii Project blog on wordpress

Non-profit Interfaith

Earth Healing Initiative: Numerous environment projects across the Great Lakes Basin in cooperation with the EPA, American Indian Tribes and local governments

Earth Healing TV on youtube

Earth Healing TV on bliptv

Earth Healing Initiative was part of the first EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge with youtube and bliptv videos.

EarthKeeper TV on youtube has EarthKeeper and Manoomin Project videos including stories and a Manoomin Project music video & more

Manoomin Project story in Indian Country Today

Manoomin Project Story in World Magazine

Author Joy Ibsen encourages everyone to live their life “Unafraid”

Danish Days 2009 Viborg, SD: Impressive Young Danish Folk Dancers

Viborg, South Dakota native and author Joy Ibsen returned home for Danish Days 2009 to present her new book “Unafraid” that includes a slice of Viborg life

Michigan Author Job Ibsen visits Bethania Cemetery aka West Cemetery near Viborg, South Dakota where several generations of her family are buried including grandfather, great-grand parents

Photo by Don Lenef

Author Joy Ibsen visits Turkey Ridge, SD location where her great-grandfather Mads Ibsen homesteaded after 1893 Depression

Photo by Don Lenef

Young Danish Folk Dancers from Author Joy Ibsen’s late father’s Sunday School performed traditional dancing

Photo & videos by Don Lenef

(Viborg, South Dakota) – Michigan Author Joy Ibsen returned to her childhood hometown during Danish Days 2009 to present her latest book “Unafraid” that includes a slice of Viborg life.
From a great-grandfather forced to live in a local cave during a depression in the 1890s to a father who pastored two area churches after a stint protecting Danish royalty, Ibsen’s Viborg heritage is as colorful as the bright red and white Danish flag.

Author Joy Ibsen’s books: “Unafraid” and “Songs of Denmark”

During Danish Days, Ibsen lead a Songfest on Saturday, July 18, 2009 using her popular first book “Songs of Denmark: Songs to Live By” that was followed by a PowerPoint presentation about her book “Unafraid” and then sign her books for friends, former neighbors and local residents.
“I read a chapter from Unafraid and explained its Grundtvigian philosophy,” said Ibsen, whose presentation included her family history and stories based in Viborg.

A 1958 graduate of Viborg High School, Joy’s new book “Unafraid” has many stories about the years she lived in Viborg.

The late Rev. Harald Ibsen (left) relaxes in his Viborg study; Our Savior’s Lutheran Church (center) in Viborg; Our Savior’s Danish Gymnasium Hall (right) in Viborg circa 1925

“Unafraid” is co-authored by her late father Harald who served Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Viborg and the Trinity Lutheran Church in Gayville, SD (near Meckling) from 1948 to 1960.
Ibsen died in 1972 at age of 74.
“The book is co-authored by my (late) father because the sermons are the basis of the book and the thoughts and ideas are his and they are very relevant to today’s world,” Ibsen said.
Joy Ibsen brought “some of the Danish influence” and organizers were“excited to have her back again this year,” said Danish Days co-chair Julie Hartmann.
“My mom grew up in her dad’s church,” said Hartmann adding many of her relatives attended Harald Ibsen’s Viborg services.

Danish Folk Dancers on July 18, 2009 in Viborg High School

Photo by Don Lenef

Young Sunday school students from her Rev. Ibsen’s one-time church (Our Savior’s Lutheran Church ) comprise the Danish Folk Dancers performed traditional dances at Viborg High School during Danish Days just prior to Ibsen’s appearance.
While going through an old wooden file cabinet in her mother’s home, Ibsen rescued her late father’s sermon notes. The sermons were given in small town and rural churches in four Midwest states with his longest service in Viborg.
Her stories in “Unafraid” are fiction but begin with autobiographical stories mainly from Viborg.
The 225-page paperback book is published by Wipf and Stock Publishers of Eugene, Oregon.
Each of the 36 chapters in “Unafraid” starts with a portion of her father’s sermons followed by the thoughts of parishioners and what is going on in their lives. Transcribing her father’s sermon notes was a challenge, because they were in note form and created on an old Danish Royal typewriter with its Danish symbols and letters.
After graduating from Viborg High School, Ibsen received arts and humanities degrees from Grand View College in Des Moines and Shimer College in Chicago. Ibsen is now a writer, piano teacher, musician, lay minister in the tiny northern Michigan hamlet of Trout Creek.
“Unafraid” is on sale at the Viborg Museum. “Songs of Denmark” is available along with CD by the Grand View College Kantorei for $39.95.

The CD alone is $10.

The 1890s homestead (left, center) of Mads Ibsen in Turkey Ridge; Author Joy Ibsen visits West Cemetery to visit graves of her grandfather Lars Ibsen and great-grandparents Mads and Margrethe Ibsen

Photos by Don Lenef

During her visit to the Viborg area, Joy Ibsen visited her great-grandfather Mads Ibsen’s old homestead and visited her family plots at the West Cemetery.
“I consider Viborg my hometown because that’s where I grew up from third grade through high school,” Ibsen said. “I always visit the West Cemetery where my great-grandparents, grandfather and many other relatives are buried.”
The Ibsen family’s deep South Dakota roots include her great-grandfather Mads Ibsen who settled in Viborg (formerly Danneville) in 1889 which then had a population of 50 families.

Joy Ibsen’s great-grandfather Mads (left); Joy Ibsen’s book “Unafraid” (top left, right collage) that’s co-authored by her late father Rev. Harald Ibsen; Author Joy Ibsen (collage top right) of Trout Creek, MI; (collage bottom left) Author Joy Ibsen’s grandparents Lars and Mathilda Ibsen, and Joy’s father Harald Ibsen, Age 4 in South Dakota. His parents are holding sister Ingeborg; and (bottom right) the Harald and Asta Ibsen Family (Joy’s parents) in Viborg, SD in 1957, and author Joy Ibsen (right sitting on grass), her parents Rev. Harald Ibsen and Asta Juhl Ibsen, and her brother (standing right) David (now of Portland, OR) and sister (left sitting on grass) Karma (now of Urbana, IL). Father Harald Ibsen died in 1972. Mother Asta Juhl Ibsen died in 1993.

During Danish Days, Joy Ibsen visited her great-grandfather’s homestead on 100 acres of unplowed prairie that included a small stream near Turkey Ridge where he built an 8 by 12 foot wooden shack with a slanted roof.
“He bought the farm for $600 by making small payments to a former homesteader who was losing her rights to the property,” Ibsen said.
Ibsen hopes to one day find the cave near Spring Valley where her great-grandfather (Mads) and two of his sons were forced to live during the winters of 1892 and 1893 after a beleaguered railroad project’s contractors twice went broke.

Mads and Margrethe Ibsen and their Children: Back Row: Frederick, Lars, Grethe, Villads, Janus Front Row: Ida, Mads, Margrethe, Ingeborg, Jens

The Depression of 1893 was one of the worst in American history and the unemployment rate exceeded ten percent for half a decade, according to historical records
“It’s my hope to sometime find the cave,” said Ibsen.
“He had no money and would not accept charity so he dug out a cave in the side of a hill,” Ibsen said. “They only had a table, bench and a bed.”
A 50-page family history poignantly includes a story about a Methodist shoemaker celebrating Christmas in the cave with Mads and sons.
“They cooked and ate the Christmas dinner, played cards, sang and danced,” she said. “The conservative visitor forgot himself while waltzing with Mads and it dawned on him he was holy man who was not supposed to dance. He ran out of the cave like a whirlwind.”

1960 photo of 25th wedding anniversary of Rev. Harald Ibsen and Asta Juhl Ibsen in Viborg, SD. Photo by “Click Hans,” a popular Danish photographer in Viborg. “Click Hans” earned the nickname because he was always clicking photos.

Ibsen’s father Harald – the co-author of “Unafraid” – was born in Irene, South Dakota in 1898, but moved back to Denmark at the age of six (1904) with his mother Mathilda, sister and baby brother after the death of his father Lars from tuberculosis, a disease that would kill millions of Americans including many Viborg residents.
While living in Denmark for 20 years, Harald Ibsen served in the Danish Royal Guard at Amalienborg Palace. He returned to Viborg two decades later (1924), only to leave again seeking work including a stint as a construction worker at Yellowstone National Park. Ibsen graduated from Grand View Seminary in Des Moines, Iowa and became pastor of six Midwestern churches during the 40s, 50s and 60s.
Ibsen said her father did not require his children to practice his religion and encouraged them to seek their own spirituality.
“Because my Dad was a Lutheran minister, we went to church every Sunday, but when I went away to college, to my surprise he suggested that I attend other churches so that I would be exposed to different faiths,” said Ibsen.
“He wanted his children to have a religion that was chosen, real and meaningful to them because that was much more important than appearances,” said Ibsen, who did graduate work in religion and literature at the University of Chicago and completed the theological education program in Episcopal lay ministry at the University of the South school of theology in Sewanee, TN.
The mother of three grown children and two grandchildren, Ibsen says her parents “have been models for my own parenting.”
The Ibsen children were anything but the traditional “preacher’s kids” due to the unconventional child-rearing views her dad held in the conventional 1940s and 1950s. Her dad’s view of raising children was different from many fathers as shown in his comments at the weddings of Ibsen and her sister, Karma.
“We always enjoyed having Joy as a guest in our home,” said Harald Ibsen.
Joy Ibsen said “dad believed children are ‘guests’ who during their growing up years, lived with parents, who help and guide them but we were not expected to fulfill the dreams of our parents.”
“Of course, we had to comply with house rules because ‘guests’ don’t track in mud or stay out unreasonable hours,” Ibsen said of her upbringing. “Welcome ‘guests’ always lend a hand, help out, and they certainly don’t get spanked.”
Several titles for her second book were mulled over but Ibsen named it after the Danish hymn “Unafraid” one of the 48 songs in both Danish and English in her first book “Songs of Denmark.”
“Songs of Denmark” was presented to Danish Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary by Grand View University President Kent Henning during a ceremony in March 2009.
The hymn “Unafraid” was “sung in the Danish Resistance during World War Two – a time of terrible danger,” Ibsen said.
“Unafraid doesn’t mean a person is problem-free and it surely doesn’t mean to be reckless,” Ibsen said. “Today’s society is bombarded by all kinds of fears and we need to learn to live unafraid with confidence and hope.”
Well-known Christian author Dr. Walter Brueggemann described Ibsen’s father as “fresh in his thought, puckish in his style and grounded in faith” during his endorsement of “Unafraid.”
“We may thank the daughter for letting us know her remarkable father,” Brueggemann wrote. “Harald was unafraid as an immigrant who lived in a venturesome way.”
Brueggemann and others have said the book is relevant today because some of the same issues discussed by Ibsen’s congregation members are the same today including the bad economy, war, child-rearing difficulties, terminal illness, death of spouse, career choice, marital problems and loss of faith.
Endorsements of “Unafraid” were also written by St. Olaf College religion professor L. DeAne Lagerquist and retired Lutheran Bishop Emeritus Harry Andersen of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Northern Great Lakes Synod in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (U.P.).
Ibsen is currently working on two other books including “Hatchings” that describes “experiences of death and how it is similar to birthing.”
Ibsen is the editor and columnist for “Church and Life,” a publication of the Danish Interest Conference through the ELCA. An original member of the interfaith U.P. EarthKeeper environment group, Ibsen is a lay minister with the AELC Lutheran Church and an organist at Trinity Lutheran Church in Trout Creek, MI. She served as president of the Danish Immigrant Museum and is a participant at the Danebod Folk School.
Sermons used in “Unafraid” are from Christmas, New Year, Epiphany, Lent, Good Friday, Easter, Pentecost, Trinity, and Advent.
Chapters in “Unafraid” are based on Harald Ibsen’s other churches including St. John Lutheran Church (1960-1965) in the Danish village of Kronborg, NE; Immanuel Lutheran Church (1942-1948) in Kimballton, IA; and from 1936 to 1942 at the Diamond Lake Lutheran Church in Lake Benton, MN and the Hope Lutheran Church in Ruthton, MN.
Rev. Ibsen belonged to the American Evangelical Lutheran Church (AELC), formerly the Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church, that merged into the American Lutheran Church (ALC) in 1962 that merged into the ELCA in 1987.
Ibsen manages Danamerica, a Danish-American website about her first book “Songs of Denmark.”
Photographs in “Songs of Denmark” are by National Geographic photographer Sisse Brimberg and a 70-minute CD of the songs was produced by the Grand View College Kantorei.

—

Joy Ibsen contact info:

Joy Marie Ibsen

P O Box 43

Trout Creek, MI

49967

Call:

906-852-3479

email Author Joy Ibsen

—

Author Joy Ibsen official website

—

Joy Ibsen social and photograph websites:

Author Joy Ibsen on Facebook

Author Joy Ibsen on Twitter

Author Joy Ibsen on myspace

Author Joy Ibsen on Word Press blog

Author Joy Ibsen on bliptv

Author Joy Ibsen on youtube

Author Joy Ibsen on Flickr

Author Joy Ibsen on Photobucket

—

Wipf & Stock Publishing: “Unafraid” by Joy Ibsen and Rev. Harald Ibsen

Wipf and Stock: Author Joy Ibsen bio

Wipf and Stock: Harald Ibsen bio

—

Joy Ibsen, Editor of “Church and Life”

Joy Ibsen bio on “Church and Life“

—

Danamerica is the official website of Ibsen’s first book “Songs of Denmark: Songs to Live By” with color photographs by National Geographic photographer Sisse Brimberg. Produced 70 minute CD by the Grand View College Kantorei

—

Nikolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig:

Joy Ibsen writes about four principles of Grundtvigianism

Nikolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig aka

N.F.S. Grundtvig, Danish bishop and poet info on Wikipedia and Britannica websites:

—

Pine Mountain Music Festival:

Joy Ibsen serves as vice president of the Pine Mountain Music Festival board of directors

—

Media coverage 2006-2010:

Omaha World-Herald Preview story on 8-21-09 about Author Joy Ibsen talk to the Danish Immigrant Museum in Elk Horn IA

L’Anse Sentinel newspaper preview story on Author Joy Ibsen book signing on July 30, 2009 at North Wind Books in Hancock, MI

Superior Chronicle story on “Unafraid” on 6-18-09

Iron Mountain Daily News brief on upcoming book signing at Finn Fest 2009 in Covington, MI

Joy Ibsen honored in her childhood home newspaper Yankton Press-Dakotan in July 2008 during annual Danish Days festival for first book “Songs of Denmark“

Joy Ibsen first book “Songs of Denmark” is mentioned in story by Des Moines Register because book was presented to Danish Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary by Grand View University President Kent Henning during a March 2009 ceremony. The story “Danish royalty pay visit to Grand View” by Cynthia Reynaud appeared on 3-25-09 (requires subscription to read)

—

The book “Unafraid” is sold online by publisher and numerous Windows Booksellers website and other sites:

Target

Tower Books

Boone Bridge Books

Amazon.com UK

Amazon.com UK: Harald Ibsen listing

Amazon.com UK: Joy Ibsen listing

Amazon.com UK: “Unafraid” listing

New & Used copies of the book “Unafraid“ on Amazon.com

Cokesbury

Kirjasana

Antiqbook

Biblio

Internet BookShop (IBS)

Other websites related to Denmark, Author Joy Ibsen or information in the story:

Danish Imigrant Museum

Danebod Family Camps & Folk School

Danish American Heritage Society publication “The Bridge”

Danish Royal Family on Wikipedia

Danish Royal Family on Danish Royal Watchers blog

Grand View University, (formerly Grand View College) a four-year, liberal-arts college affiliated with the ELCA in Des Moine

s

Grand View University on Wikipedia

Shimer College

University of Chicago

Paul Tillich, German-American theologian, Christian existentialist philosopher on Wikipedia

Paul Tillich on theology website

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)

Wikipedia page on the ELCA

—

Friends of Author Joy Ibsen:

Rev. Dr. Lynn Hubbard and Rev. Dr. George Cairns founded the nonprofit Turtle Island Project in 2007 to foster respect for indigenous people and cultures and to promote what they can teach us about caring and repairing the environment.

Rev. Hubbard is the executive director of the ELCA-related Navajo Lutheran Mission in Rock Point, Arizona. Rev. Cairns is a Chicago Theological Seminary professor who founded the nonprofit Celtic Christianity Today.

Read the Spirit, an online spiritual magazine with inspirational stories and book reviews created by David Crumm, the longtime religion editor for the Detroit Free Press

. Crumm established ten pinciples for his work that all people with a religion should read.

The many interfaith and youth-related environment projects founded by Rev. Jon Magnuson of Marquette, MI under the nonprofit Cedar Tree Institute.

Magnuson’s CTI co-founded the EarthKeeper Initiative, and founded the Earth Healing Initiative, Manoomin Project and the Zaagkii Wings & Seeds Project.

Zaagkii Wings and Seeds Project –

Native American and Marquette area teens protecting pollinators project:

Zaagkii TV on youtube

Zaagkii Project Story Part 1 Indian Country Today newspaper

Zaagkii Project Story Part 2 Indian Country Today newspaper

Zaagkii Project hailed as success by U.S. Forest Service

Zaagkii Project blog on wordpress

Non-profit Interfaith

Earth Healing Initiative: Numerous environment projects across the Great Lakes Basin in cooperation with the EPA, American Indian Tribes and local governments

Earth Healing TV on youtube

Earth Healing TV on bliptv

Earth Healing Initiative was part of the first EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge with youtube and bliptv videos.

EarthKeeper TV on youtube has EarthKeeper and Manoomin Project videos including stories and a Manoomin Project music video & more

Manoomin Project story in Indian Country Today

Manoomin Project Story in World Magazine

Author Joy Ibsen encourages everyone to live their life “Unafraid”

Viborg Enterprise newspaper

Viborg Enterprise newspaper

Viborg Enterprise newspaper

Omaha World-Herald newspaper

L’Anse Sentinel Newspaper

Danish Days 2009 Viborg, SD: Mich. Author Joy Ibsen holds songfest, reads Viborg part of her book “Unafraid”

Viborg, South Dakota native and author Joy Ibsen returned home for Danish Days 2009 to present her new book “Unafraid” that includes a slice of Viborg life

Michigan Author Job Ibsen visits Bethania Cemetery aka West Cemetery near Viborg, South Dakota where several generations of her family are buried including grandfather, great-grand parents

Photo by Don Lenef

Author Joy Ibsen visits Turkey Ridge, SD location where her great-grandfather Mads Ibsen homesteaded after 1893 Depression

Photo by Don Lenef

Young Danish Folk Dancers from Author Joy Ibsen’s late father’s Sunday School performed traditional dancing

Photo & videos by Don Lenef

(Viborg, South Dakota) – Michigan Author Joy Ibsen returned to her childhood hometown during Danish Days 2009 to present her latest book “Unafraid” that includes a slice of Viborg life.
From a great-grandfather forced to live in a local cave during a depression in the 1890s to a father who pastored two area churches after a stint protecting Danish royalty, Ibsen’s Viborg heritage is as colorful as the bright red and white Danish flag.

Author Joy Ibsen’s books: “Unafraid” and “Songs of Denmark”

During Danish Days, Ibsen lead a Songfest on Saturday, July 18, 2009 using her popular first book “Songs of Denmark: Songs to Live By” that was followed by a PowerPoint presentation about her book “Unafraid” and then sign her books for friends, former neighbors and local residents.
“I read a chapter from Unafraid and explained its Grundtvigian philosophy,” said Ibsen, whose presentation included her family history and stories based in Viborg.

A 1958 graduate of Viborg High School, Joy’s new book “Unafraid” has many stories about the years she lived in Viborg.

The late Rev. Harald Ibsen (left) relaxes in his Viborg study; Our Savior’s Lutheran Church (center) in Viborg; Our Savior’s Danish Gymnasium Hall (right) in Viborg circa 1925

“Unafraid” is co-authored by her late father Harald who served Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Viborg and the Trinity Lutheran Church in Gayville, SD (near Meckling) from 1948 to 1960.
Ibsen died in 1972 at age of 74.
“The book is co-authored by my (late) father because the sermons are the basis of the book and the thoughts and ideas are his and they are very relevant to today’s world,” Ibsen said.
Joy Ibsen brought “some of the Danish influence” and organizers were“excited to have her back again this year,” said Danish Days co-chair Julie Hartmann.
“My mom grew up in her dad’s church,” said Hartmann adding many of her relatives attended Harald Ibsen’s Viborg services.

Danish Folk Dancers on July 18, 2009 in Viborg High School

Photo by Don Lenef

Young Sunday school students from her Rev. Ibsen’s one-time church (Our Savior’s Lutheran Church ) comprise the Danish Folk Dancers performed traditional dances at Viborg High School during Danish Days just prior to Ibsen’s appearance.
While going through an old wooden file cabinet in her mother’s home, Ibsen rescued her late father’s sermon notes. The sermons were given in small town and rural churches in four Midwest states with his longest service in Viborg.
Her stories in “Unafraid” are fiction but begin with autobiographical stories mainly from Viborg.
The 225-page paperback book is published by Wipf and Stock Publishers of Eugene, Oregon.
Each of the 36 chapters in “Unafraid” starts with a portion of her father’s sermons followed by the thoughts of parishioners and what is going on in their lives. Transcribing her father’s sermon notes was a challenge, because they were in note form and created on an old Danish Royal typewriter with its Danish symbols and letters.
After graduating from Viborg High School, Ibsen received arts and humanities degrees from Grand View College in Des Moines and Shimer College in Chicago. Ibsen is now a writer, piano teacher, musician, lay minister in the tiny northern Michigan hamlet of Trout Creek.
“Unafraid” is on sale at the Viborg Museum. “Songs of Denmark” is available along with CD by the Grand View College Kantorei for $39.95.

The CD alone is $10.

The 1890s homestead (left, center) of Mads Ibsen in Turkey Ridge; Author Joy Ibsen visits West Cemetery to visit graves of her grandfather Lars Ibsen and great-grandparents Mads and Margrethe Ibsen

Photos by Don Lenef

During her visit to the Viborg area, Joy Ibsen visited her great-grandfather Mads Ibsen’s old homestead and visited her family plots at the West Cemetery.
“I consider Viborg my hometown because that’s where I grew up from third grade through high school,” Ibsen said. “I always visit the West Cemetery where my great-grandparents, grandfather and many other relatives are buried.”
The Ibsen family’s deep South Dakota roots include her great-grandfather Mads Ibsen who settled in Viborg (formerly Danneville) in 1889 which then had a population of 50 families.

Joy Ibsen’s great-grandfather Mads (left); Joy Ibsen’s book “Unafraid” (top left, right collage) that’s co-authored by her late father Rev. Harald Ibsen; Author Joy Ibsen (collage top right) of Trout Creek, MI; (collage bottom left) Author Joy Ibsen’s grandparents Lars and Mathilda Ibsen, and Joy’s father Harald Ibsen, Age 4 in South Dakota. His parents are holding sister Ingeborg; and (bottom right) the Harald and Asta Ibsen Family (Joy’s parents) in Viborg, SD in 1957, and author Joy Ibsen (right sitting on grass), her parents Rev. Harald Ibsen and Asta Juhl Ibsen, and her brother (standing right) David (now of Portland, OR) and sister (left sitting on grass) Karma (now of Urbana, IL). Father Harald Ibsen died in 1972. Mother Asta Juhl Ibsen died in 1993.

During Danish Days, Joy Ibsen visited her great-grandfather’s homestead on 100 acres of unplowed prairie that included a small stream near Turkey Ridge where he built an 8 by 12 foot wooden shack with a slanted roof.
“He bought the farm for $600 by making small payments to a former homesteader who was losing her rights to the property,” Ibsen said.
Ibsen hopes to one day find the cave near Spring Valley where her great-grandfather (Mads) and two of his sons were forced to live during the winters of 1892 and 1893 after a beleaguered railroad project’s contractors twice went broke.

Mads and Margrethe Ibsen and their Children: Back Row: Frederick, Lars, Grethe, Villads, Janus Front Row: Ida, Mads, Margrethe, Ingeborg, Jens

The Depression of 1893 was one of the worst in American history and the unemployment rate exceeded ten percent for half a decade, according to historical records
“It’s my hope to sometime find the cave,” said Ibsen.
“He had no money and would not accept charity so he dug out a cave in the side of a hill,” Ibsen said. “They only had a table, bench and a bed.”
A 50-page family history poignantly includes a story about a Methodist shoemaker celebrating Christmas in the cave with Mads and sons.
“They cooked and ate the Christmas dinner, played cards, sang and danced,” she said. “The conservative visitor forgot himself while waltzing with Mads and it dawned on him he was holy man who was not supposed to dance. He ran out of the cave like a whirlwind.”

1960 photo of 25th wedding anniversary of Rev. Harald Ibsen and Asta Juhl Ibsen in Viborg, SD. Photo by “Click Hans,” a popular Danish photographer in Viborg. “Click Hans” earned the nickname because he was always clicking photos.

Ibsen’s father Harald – the co-author of “Unafraid” – was born in Irene, South Dakota in 1898, but moved back to Denmark at the age of six (1904) with his mother Mathilda, sister and baby brother after the death of his father Lars from tuberculosis, a disease that would kill millions of Americans including many Viborg residents.
While living in Denmark for 20 years, Harald Ibsen served in the Danish Royal Guard at Amalienborg Palace. He returned to Viborg two decades later (1924), only to leave again seeking work including a stint as a construction worker at Yellowstone National Park. Ibsen graduated from Grand View Seminary in Des Moines, Iowa and became pastor of six Midwestern churches during the 40s, 50s and 60s.
Ibsen said her father did not require his children to practice his religion and encouraged them to seek their own spirituality.
“Because my Dad was a Lutheran minister, we went to church every Sunday, but when I went away to college, to my surprise he suggested that I attend other churches so that I would be exposed to different faiths,” said Ibsen.
“He wanted his children to have a religion that was chosen, real and meaningful to them because that was much more important than appearances,” said Ibsen, who did graduate work in religion and literature at the University of Chicago and completed the theological education program in Episcopal lay ministry at the University of the South school of theology in Sewanee, TN.
The mother of three grown children and two grandchildren, Ibsen says her parents “have been models for my own parenting.”
The Ibsen children were anything but the traditional “preacher’s kids” due to the unconventional child-rearing views her dad held in the conventional 1940s and 1950s. Her dad’s view of raising children was different from many fathers as shown in his comments at the weddings of Ibsen and her sister, Karma.
“We always enjoyed having Joy as a guest in our home,” said Harald Ibsen.
Joy Ibsen said “dad believed children are ‘guests’ who during their growing up years, lived with parents, who help and guide them but we were not expected to fulfill the dreams of our parents.”
“Of course, we had to comply with house rules because ‘guests’ don’t track in mud or stay out unreasonable hours,” Ibsen said of her upbringing. “Welcome ‘guests’ always lend a hand, help out, and they certainly don’t get spanked.”
Several titles for her second book were mulled over but Ibsen named it after the Danish hymn “Unafraid” one of the 48 songs in both Danish and English in her first book “Songs of Denmark.”
“Songs of Denmark” was presented to Danish Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary by Grand View University President Kent Henning during a ceremony in March 2009.
The hymn “Unafraid” was “sung in the Danish Resistance during World War Two – a time of terrible danger,” Ibsen said.
“Unafraid doesn’t mean a person is problem-free and it surely doesn’t mean to be reckless,” Ibsen said. “Today’s society is bombarded by all kinds of fears and we need to learn to live unafraid with confidence and hope.”
Well-known Christian author Dr. Walter Brueggemann described Ibsen’s father as “fresh in his thought, puckish in his style and grounded in faith” during his endorsement of “Unafraid.”
“We may thank the daughter for letting us know her remarkable father,” Brueggemann wrote. “Harald was unafraid as an immigrant who lived in a venturesome way.”
Brueggemann and others have said the book is relevant today because some of the same issues discussed by Ibsen’s congregation members are the same today including the bad economy, war, child-rearing difficulties, terminal illness, death of spouse, career choice, marital problems and loss of faith.
Endorsements of “Unafraid” were also written by St. Olaf College religion professor L. DeAne Lagerquist and retired Lutheran Bishop Emeritus Harry Andersen of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Northern Great Lakes Synod in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (U.P.).
Ibsen is currently working on two other books including “Hatchings” that describes “experiences of death and how it is similar to birthing.”
Ibsen is the editor and columnist for “Church and Life,” a publication of the Danish Interest Conference through the ELCA. An original member of the interfaith U.P. EarthKeeper environment group, Ibsen is a lay minister with the AELC Lutheran Church and an organist at Trinity Lutheran Church in Trout Creek, MI. She served as president of the Danish Immigrant Museum and is a participant at the Danebod Folk School.
Sermons used in “Unafraid” are from Christmas, New Year, Epiphany, Lent, Good Friday, Easter, Pentecost, Trinity, and Advent.
Chapters in “Unafraid” are based on Harald Ibsen’s other churches including St. John Lutheran Church (1960-1965) in the Danish village of Kronborg, NE; Immanuel Lutheran Church (1942-1948) in Kimballton, IA; and from 1936 to 1942 at the Diamond Lake Lutheran Church in Lake Benton, MN and the Hope Lutheran Church in Ruthton, MN.
Rev. Ibsen belonged to the American Evangelical Lutheran Church (AELC), formerly the Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church, that merged into the American Lutheran Church (ALC) in 1962 that merged into the ELCA in 1987.
Ibsen manages Danamerica, a Danish-American website about her first book “Songs of Denmark.”
Photographs in “Songs of Denmark” are by National Geographic photographer Sisse Brimberg and a 70-minute CD of the songs was produced by the Grand View College Kantorei.

—

Joy Ibsen contact info:

Joy Marie Ibsen

P O Box 43

Trout Creek, MI

49967

Call:

906-852-3479

email Author Joy Ibsen

—

Author Joy Ibsen official website

—

Joy Ibsen social and photograph websites:

Author Joy Ibsen on Facebook

Author Joy Ibsen on Twitter

Author Joy Ibsen on myspace

Author Joy Ibsen on Word Press blog

Author Joy Ibsen on bliptv

Author Joy Ibsen on youtube

Author Joy Ibsen on Flickr

Author Joy Ibsen on Photobucket

—

Wipf & Stock Publishing: “Unafraid” by Joy Ibsen and Rev. Harald Ibsen

Wipf and Stock: Author Joy Ibsen bio

Wipf and Stock: Harald Ibsen bio

—

Joy Ibsen, Editor of “Church and Life”

Joy Ibsen bio on “Church and Life“

—

Danamerica is the official website of Ibsen’s first book “Songs of Denmark: Songs to Live By” with color photographs by National Geographic photographer Sisse Brimberg. Produced 70 minute CD by the Grand View College Kantorei

—

Nikolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig:

Joy Ibsen writes about four principles of Grundtvigianism

Nikolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig aka

N.F.S. Grundtvig, Danish bishop and poet info on Wikipedia and Britannica websites:

—

Pine Mountain Music Festival:

Joy Ibsen serves as vice president of the Pine Mountain Music Festival board of directors

—

Media coverage 2006-2010:

Omaha World-Herald Preview story on 8-21-09 about Author Joy Ibsen talk to the Danish Immigrant Museum in Elk Horn IA

L’Anse Sentinel newspaper preview story on Author Joy Ibsen book signing on July 30, 2009 at North Wind Books in Hancock, MI

Superior Chronicle story on “Unafraid” on 6-18-09

Iron Mountain Daily News brief on upcoming book signing at Finn Fest 2009 in Covington, MI

Joy Ibsen honored in her childhood home newspaper Yankton Press-Dakotan in July 2008 during annual Danish Days festival for first book “Songs of Denmark“

Joy Ibsen first book “Songs of Denmark” is mentioned in story by Des Moines Register because book was presented to Danish Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary by Grand View University President Kent Henning during a March 2009 ceremony. The story “Danish royalty pay visit to Grand View” by Cynthia Reynaud appeared on 3-25-09 (requires subscription to read)

—

The book “Unafraid” is sold online by publisher and numerous Windows Booksellers website and other sites:

Target

Tower Books

Boone Bridge Books

Amazon.com UK

Amazon.com UK: Harald Ibsen listing

Amazon.com UK: Joy Ibsen listing

Amazon.com UK: “Unafraid” listing

New & Used copies of the book “Unafraid“ on Amazon.com

Cokesbury

Kirjasana

Antiqbook

Biblio

Internet BookShop (IBS)

Other websites related to Denmark, Author Joy Ibsen or information in the story:

Danish Imigrant Museum

Danebod Family Camps & Folk School

Danish American Heritage Society publication “The Bridge”

Danish Royal Family on Wikipedia

Danish Royal Family on Danish Royal Watchers blog

Grand View University, (formerly Grand View College) a four-year, liberal-arts college affiliated with the ELCA in Des Moine

s

Grand View University on Wikipedia

Shimer College

University of Chicago

Paul Tillich, German-American theologian, Christian existentialist philosopher on Wikipedia

Paul Tillich on theology website

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)

Wikipedia page on the ELCA

—

Friends of Author Joy Ibsen:

Rev. Dr. Lynn Hubbard and Rev. Dr. George Cairns founded the nonprofit Turtle Island Project in 2007 to foster respect for indigenous people and cultures and to promote what they can teach us about caring and repairing the environment.

Rev. Hubbard is the executive director of the ELCA-related Navajo Lutheran Mission in Rock Point, Arizona. Rev. Cairns is a Chicago Theological Seminary professor who founded the nonprofit Celtic Christianity Today.

Read the Spirit, an online spiritual magazine with inspirational stories and book reviews created by David Crumm, the longtime religion editor for the Detroit Free Press

. Crumm established ten pinciples for his work that all people with a religion should read.

The many interfaith and youth-related environment projects founded by Rev. Jon Magnuson of Marquette, MI under the nonprofit Cedar Tree Institute.

Magnuson’s CTI co-founded the EarthKeeper Initiative, and founded the Earth Healing Initiative, Manoomin Project and the Zaagkii Wings & Seeds Project.

Zaagkii Wings and Seeds Project –

Native American and Marquette area teens protecting pollinators project:

Zaagkii TV on youtube

Zaagkii Project Story Part 1 Indian Country Today newspaper

Zaagkii Project Story Part 2 Indian Country Today newspaper

Zaagkii Project hailed as success by U.S. Forest Service

Zaagkii Project blog on wordpress

Non-profit Interfaith

Earth Healing Initiative: Numerous environment projects across the Great Lakes Basin in cooperation with the EPA, American Indian Tribes and local governments

Earth Healing TV on youtube

Earth Healing TV on bliptv

Earth Healing Initiative was part of the first EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge with youtube and bliptv videos.

EarthKeeper TV on youtube has EarthKeeper and Manoomin Project videos including stories and a Manoomin Project music video & more

Manoomin Project story in Indian Country Today

Manoomin Project Story in World Magazine

Author Joy Ibsen encourages everyone to live their life “Unafraid”

Viborg Enterprise newspaper

Viborg Enterprise newspaper

Viborg Enterprise newspaper

Omaha World-Herald newspaper

L’Anse Sentinel Newspaper

Danish Days 2009 Viborg, SD: Michigan Author Joy Ibsen revisits family heritage

Viborg, South Dakota native and author Joy Ibsen returned home for Danish Days 2009 to present her new book “Unafraid” that includes a slice of Viborg life

Michigan Author Job Ibsen visits Bethania Cemetery aka West Cemetery near Viborg, South Dakota where several generations of her family are buried including grandfather, great-grand parents

Photo by Don Lenef

Author Joy Ibsen visits Turkey Ridge, SD location where her great-grandfather Mads Ibsen homesteaded after 1893 Depression

Photo by Don Lenef

Young Danish Folk Dancers from Author Joy Ibsen’s late father’s Sunday School performed traditional dancing

Photo & videos by Don Lenef

(Viborg, South Dakota) – Michigan Author Joy Ibsen returned to her childhood hometown during Danish Days 2009 to present her latest book “Unafraid” that includes a slice of Viborg life.
From a great-grandfather forced to live in a local cave during a depression in the 1890s to a father who pastored two area churches after a stint protecting Danish royalty, Ibsen’s Viborg heritage is as colorful as the bright red and white Danish flag.

Author Joy Ibsen’s books: “Unafraid” and “Songs of Denmark”

During Danish Days, Ibsen lead a Songfest on Saturday, July 18, 2009 using her popular first book “Songs of Denmark: Songs to Live By” that was followed by a PowerPoint presentation about her book “Unafraid” and then sign her books for friends, former neighbors and local residents.
“I read a chapter from Unafraid and explained its Grundtvigian philosophy,” said Ibsen, whose presentation included her family history and stories based in Viborg.

A 1958 graduate of Viborg High School, Joy’s new book “Unafraid” has many stories about the years she lived in Viborg.

The late Rev. Harald Ibsen (left) relaxes in his Viborg study; Our Savior’s Lutheran Church (center) in Viborg; Our Savior’s Danish Gymnasium Hall (right) in Viborg circa 1925

“Unafraid” is co-authored by her late father Harald who served Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Viborg and the Trinity Lutheran Church in Gayville, SD (near Meckling) from 1948 to 1960.
Ibsen died in 1972 at age of 74.
“The book is co-authored by my (late) father because the sermons are the basis of the book and the thoughts and ideas are his and they are very relevant to today’s world,” Ibsen said.
Joy Ibsen brought “some of the Danish influence” and organizers were“excited to have her back again this year,” said Danish Days co-chair Julie Hartmann.
“My mom grew up in her dad’s church,” said Hartmann adding many of her relatives attended Harald Ibsen’s Viborg services.

Danish Folk Dancers on July 18, 2009 in Viborg High School

Photo by Don Lenef

Young Sunday school students from her Rev. Ibsen’s one-time church (Our Savior’s Lutheran Church ) comprise the Danish Folk Dancers performed traditional dances at Viborg High School during Danish Days just prior to Ibsen’s appearance.
While going through an old wooden file cabinet in her mother’s home, Ibsen rescued her late father’s sermon notes. The sermons were given in small town and rural churches in four Midwest states with his longest service in Viborg.
Her stories in “Unafraid” are fiction but begin with autobiographical stories mainly from Viborg.
The 225-page paperback book is published by Wipf and Stock Publishers of Eugene, Oregon.
Each of the 36 chapters in “Unafraid” starts with a portion of her father’s sermons followed by the thoughts of parishioners and what is going on in their lives. Transcribing her father’s sermon notes was a challenge, because they were in note form and created on an old Danish Royal typewriter with its Danish symbols and letters.
After graduating from Viborg High School, Ibsen received arts and humanities degrees from Grand View College in Des Moines and Shimer College in Chicago. Ibsen is now a writer, piano teacher, musician, lay minister in the tiny northern Michigan hamlet of Trout Creek.
“Unafraid” is on sale at the Viborg Museum. “Songs of Denmark” is available along with CD by the Grand View College Kantorei for $39.95.

The CD alone is $10.

The 1890s homestead (left, center) of Mads Ibsen in Turkey Ridge; Author Joy Ibsen visits West Cemetery to visit graves of her grandfather Lars Ibsen and great-grandparents Mads and Margrethe Ibsen

Photos by Don Lenef

During her visit to the Viborg area, Joy Ibsen visited her great-grandfather Mads Ibsen’s old homestead and visited her family plots at the West Cemetery.
“I consider Viborg my hometown because that’s where I grew up from third grade through high school,” Ibsen said. “I always visit the West Cemetery where my great-grandparents, grandfather and many other relatives are buried.”
The Ibsen family’s deep South Dakota roots include her great-grandfather Mads Ibsen who settled in Viborg (formerly Danneville) in 1889 which then had a population of 50 families.

Joy Ibsen’s great-grandfather Mads (left); Joy Ibsen’s book “Unafraid” (top left, right collage) that’s co-authored by her late father Rev. Harald Ibsen; Author Joy Ibsen (collage top right) of Trout Creek, MI; (collage bottom left) Author Joy Ibsen’s grandparents Lars and Mathilda Ibsen, and Joy’s father Harald Ibsen, Age 4 in South Dakota. His parents are holding sister Ingeborg; and (bottom right) the Harald and Asta Ibsen Family (Joy’s parents) in Viborg, SD in 1957, and author Joy Ibsen (right sitting on grass), her parents Rev. Harald Ibsen and Asta Juhl Ibsen, and her brother (standing right) David (now of Portland, OR) and sister (left sitting on grass) Karma (now of Urbana, IL). Father Harald Ibsen died in 1972. Mother Asta Juhl Ibsen died in 1993.

During Danish Days, Joy Ibsen visited her great-grandfather’s homestead on 100 acres of unplowed prairie that included a small stream near Turkey Ridge where he built an 8 by 12 foot wooden shack with a slanted roof.
“He bought the farm for $600 by making small payments to a former homesteader who was losing her rights to the property,” Ibsen said.
Ibsen hopes to one day find the cave near Spring Valley where her great-grandfather (Mads) and two of his sons were forced to live during the winters of 1892 and 1893 after a beleaguered railroad project’s contractors twice went broke.

Mads and Margrethe Ibsen and their Children: Back Row: Frederick, Lars, Grethe, Villads, Janus Front Row: Ida, Mads, Margrethe, Ingeborg, Jens

The Depression of 1893 was one of the worst in American history and the unemployment rate exceeded ten percent for half a decade, according to historical records
“It’s my hope to sometime find the cave,” said Ibsen.
“He had no money and would not accept charity so he dug out a cave in the side of a hill,” Ibsen said. “They only had a table, bench and a bed.”
A 50-page family history poignantly includes a story about a Methodist shoemaker celebrating Christmas in the cave with Mads and sons.
“They cooked and ate the Christmas dinner, played cards, sang and danced,” she said. “The conservative visitor forgot himself while waltzing with Mads and it dawned on him he was holy man who was not supposed to dance. He ran out of the cave like a whirlwind.”

1960 photo of 25th wedding anniversary of Rev. Harald Ibsen and Asta Juhl Ibsen in Viborg, SD. Photo by “Click Hans,” a popular Danish photographer in Viborg. “Click Hans” earned the nickname because he was always clicking photos.

Ibsen’s father Harald – the co-author of “Unafraid” – was born in Irene, South Dakota in 1898, but moved back to Denmark at the age of six (1904) with his mother Mathilda, sister and baby brother after the death of his father Lars from tuberculosis, a disease that would kill millions of Americans including many Viborg residents.
While living in Denmark for 20 years, Harald Ibsen served in the Danish Royal Guard at Amalienborg Palace. He returned to Viborg two decades later (1924), only to leave again seeking work including a stint as a construction worker at Yellowstone National Park. Ibsen graduated from Grand View Seminary in Des Moines, Iowa and became pastor of six Midwestern churches during the 40s, 50s and 60s.
Ibsen said her father did not require his children to practice his religion and encouraged them to seek their own spirituality.
“Because my Dad was a Lutheran minister, we went to church every Sunday, but when I went away to college, to my surprise he suggested that I attend other churches so that I would be exposed to different faiths,” said Ibsen.
“He wanted his children to have a religion that was chosen, real and meaningful to them because that was much more important than appearances,” said Ibsen, who did graduate work in religion and literature at the University of Chicago and completed the theological education program in Episcopal lay ministry at the University of the South school of theology in Sewanee, TN.
The mother of three grown children and two grandchildren, Ibsen says her parents “have been models for my own parenting.”
The Ibsen children were anything but the traditional “preacher’s kids” due to the unconventional child-rearing views her dad held in the conventional 1940s and 1950s. Her dad’s view of raising children was different from many fathers as shown in his comments at the weddings of Ibsen and her sister, Karma.
“We always enjoyed having Joy as a guest in our home,” said Harald Ibsen.
Joy Ibsen said “dad believed children are ‘guests’ who during their growing up years, lived with parents, who help and guide them but we were not expected to fulfill the dreams of our parents.”
“Of course, we had to comply with house rules because ‘guests’ don’t track in mud or stay out unreasonable hours,” Ibsen said of her upbringing. “Welcome ‘guests’ always lend a hand, help out, and they certainly don’t get spanked.”
Several titles for her second book were mulled over but Ibsen named it after the Danish hymn “Unafraid” one of the 48 songs in both Danish and English in her first book “Songs of Denmark.”
“Songs of Denmark” was presented to Danish Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary by Grand View University President Kent Henning during a ceremony in March 2009.
The hymn “Unafraid” was “sung in the Danish Resistance during World War Two – a time of terrible danger,” Ibsen said.
“Unafraid doesn’t mean a person is problem-free and it surely doesn’t mean to be reckless,” Ibsen said. “Today’s society is bombarded by all kinds of fears and we need to learn to live unafraid with confidence and hope.”
Well-known Christian author Dr. Walter Brueggemann described Ibsen’s father as “fresh in his thought, puckish in his style and grounded in faith” during his endorsement of “Unafraid.”
“We may thank the daughter for letting us know her remarkable father,” Brueggemann wrote. “Harald was unafraid as an immigrant who lived in a venturesome way.”
Brueggemann and others have said the book is relevant today because some of the same issues discussed by Ibsen’s congregation members are the same today including the bad economy, war, child-rearing difficulties, terminal illness, death of spouse, career choice, marital problems and loss of faith.
Endorsements of “Unafraid” were also written by St. Olaf College religion professor L. DeAne Lagerquist and retired Lutheran Bishop Emeritus Harry Andersen of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Northern Great Lakes Synod in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (U.P.).
Ibsen is currently working on two other books including “Hatchings” that describes “experiences of death and how it is similar to birthing.”
Ibsen is the editor and columnist for “Church and Life,” a publication of the Danish Interest Conference through the ELCA. An original member of the interfaith U.P. EarthKeeper environment group, Ibsen is a lay minister with the AELC Lutheran Church and an organist at Trinity Lutheran Church in Trout Creek, MI. She served as president of the Danish Immigrant Museum and is a participant at the Danebod Folk School.
Sermons used in “Unafraid” are from Christmas, New Year, Epiphany, Lent, Good Friday, Easter, Pentecost, Trinity, and Advent.
Chapters in “Unafraid” are based on Harald Ibsen’s other churches including St. John Lutheran Church (1960-1965) in the Danish village of Kronborg, NE; Immanuel Lutheran Church (1942-1948) in Kimballton, IA; and from 1936 to 1942 at the Diamond Lake Lutheran Church in Lake Benton, MN and the Hope Lutheran Church in Ruthton, MN.
Rev. Ibsen belonged to the American Evangelical Lutheran Church (AELC), formerly the Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church, that merged into the American Lutheran Church (ALC) in 1962 that merged into the ELCA in 1987.
Ibsen manages Danamerica, a Danish-American website about her first book “Songs of Denmark.”
Photographs in “Songs of Denmark” are by National Geographic photographer Sisse Brimberg and a 70-minute CD of the songs was produced by the Grand View College Kantorei.

—

Joy Ibsen contact info:

Joy Marie Ibsen

P O Box 43

Trout Creek, MI

49967

Call:

906-852-3479

email Author Joy Ibsen

—

Author Joy Ibsen official website

—

Joy Ibsen social and photograph websites:

Author Joy Ibsen on Facebook

Author Joy Ibsen on Twitter

Author Joy Ibsen on myspace

Author Joy Ibsen on Word Press blog

Author Joy Ibsen on bliptv

Author Joy Ibsen on youtube

Author Joy Ibsen on Flickr

Author Joy Ibsen on Photobucket

—

Wipf & Stock Publishing: “Unafraid” by Joy Ibsen and Rev. Harald Ibsen

Wipf and Stock: Author Joy Ibsen bio

Wipf and Stock: Harald Ibsen bio

—

Joy Ibsen, Editor of “Church and Life”

Joy Ibsen bio on “Church and Life“

—

Danamerica is the official website of Ibsen’s first book “Songs of Denmark: Songs to Live By” with color photographs by National Geographic photographer Sisse Brimberg. Produced 70 minute CD by the Grand View College Kantorei

—

Nikolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig:

Joy Ibsen writes about four principles of Grundtvigianism

Nikolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig aka

N.F.S. Grundtvig, Danish bishop and poet info on Wikipedia and Britannica websites:

—

Pine Mountain Music Festival:

Joy Ibsen serves as vice president of the Pine Mountain Music Festival board of directors

—

Media coverage 2006-2010:

Omaha World-Herald Preview story on 8-21-09 about Author Joy Ibsen talk to the Danish Immigrant Museum in Elk Horn IA

L’Anse Sentinel newspaper preview story on Author Joy Ibsen book signing on July 30, 2009 at North Wind Books in Hancock, MI

Superior Chronicle story on “Unafraid” on 6-18-09

Iron Mountain Daily News brief on upcoming book signing at Finn Fest 2009 in Covington, MI

Joy Ibsen honored in her childhood home newspaper Yankton Press-Dakotan in July 2008 during annual Danish Days festival for first book “Songs of Denmark“

Joy Ibsen first book “Songs of Denmark” is mentioned in story by Des Moines Register because book was presented to Danish Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary by Grand View University President Kent Henning during a March 2009 ceremony. The story “Danish royalty pay visit to Grand View” by Cynthia Reynaud appeared on 3-25-09 (requires subscription to read)

—

The book “Unafraid” is sold online by publisher and numerous Windows Booksellers website and other sites:

Target

Tower Books

Boone Bridge Books

Amazon.com UK

Amazon.com UK: Harald Ibsen listing

Amazon.com UK: Joy Ibsen listing

Amazon.com UK: “Unafraid” listing

New & Used copies of the book “Unafraid“ on Amazon.com

Cokesbury

Kirjasana

Antiqbook

Biblio

Internet BookShop (IBS)

Other websites related to Denmark, Author Joy Ibsen or information in the story:

Danish Imigrant Museum

Danebod Family Camps & Folk School

Danish American Heritage Society publication “The Bridge”

Danish Royal Family on Wikipedia

Danish Royal Family on Danish Royal Watchers blog

Grand View University, (formerly Grand View College) a four-year, liberal-arts college affiliated with the ELCA in Des Moine

s

Grand View University on Wikipedia

Shimer College

University of Chicago

Paul Tillich, German-American theologian, Christian existentialist philosopher on Wikipedia

Paul Tillich on theology website

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)

Wikipedia page on the ELCA

—

Friends of Author Joy Ibsen:

Rev. Dr. Lynn Hubbard and Rev. Dr. George Cairns founded the nonprofit Turtle Island Project in 2007 to foster respect for indigenous people and cultures and to promote what they can teach us about caring and repairing the environment.

Rev. Hubbard is the executive director of the ELCA-related Navajo Lutheran Mission in Rock Point, Arizona. Rev. Cairns is a Chicago Theological Seminary professor who founded the nonprofit Celtic Christianity Today.

Read the Spirit, an online spiritual magazine with inspirational stories and book reviews created by David Crumm, the longtime religion editor for the Detroit Free Press

. Crumm established ten pinciples for his work that all people with a religion should read.

The many interfaith and youth-related environment projects founded by Rev. Jon Magnuson of Marquette, MI under the nonprofit Cedar Tree Institute.

Magnuson’s CTI co-founded the EarthKeeper Initiative, and founded the Earth Healing Initiative, Manoomin Project and the Zaagkii Wings & Seeds Project.

Zaagkii Wings and Seeds Project –

Native American and Marquette area teens protecting pollinators project:

Zaagkii TV on youtube

Zaagkii Project Story Part 1 Indian Country Today newspaper

Zaagkii Project Story Part 2 Indian Country Today newspaper

Zaagkii Project hailed as success by U.S. Forest Service

Zaagkii Project blog on wordpress

Non-profit Interfaith

Earth Healing Initiative: Numerous environment projects across the Great Lakes Basin in cooperation with the EPA, American Indian Tribes and local governments

Earth Healing TV on youtube

Earth Healing TV on bliptv

Earth Healing Initiative was part of the first EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge with youtube and bliptv videos.

EarthKeeper TV on youtube has EarthKeeper and Manoomin Project videos including stories and a Manoomin Project music video & more

Manoomin Project story in Indian Country Today

Manoomin Project Story in World Magazine

Author Joy Ibsen encourages everyone to live their life “Unafraid”

Viborg Enterprise newspaper

Viborg Enterprise newspaper

Viborg Enterprise newspaper

Omaha World-Herald newspaper

L’Anse Sentinel Newspaper