There’s something about dead women who were once strong, passionate and kind that lights a fire under Lana Holden.
She seems to grab hold of these women’s stories long buried in history books and turn them into relatable characters set in the times in which they lived.
Holden, a language arts teacher at Sweet Home Junior High, recently shared her first book, “Catalyntje Trico: A Life in New Amsterdam,” at the second annual Oregon Author Fair in Lebanon on Feb. 22, and has started a second book about a Viking explorer.
“Catalyntje Trico” follows the true story of one of the first settlers of the Dutch colony on America’s east coast in the 1600s.
“She’s the only European to last the entirety of the colony,” Holden explained. “The Dutch colony of New Netherland only lasted for 40 years until the English crowded them out. She was on the first ship, but by the time the colony was taken over, everyone else had died but her. She was the only one.”
Holden’s eight-years worth of knowledge on the subject became evident as she shared Trico’s story with people who stopped by her table.
“I became obsessed with her, so I just read everything I could find,” she said. “I read over a hundred books, maps, land deeds, documents. (Writing about Trico) wasn’t very hard because I studied so much about her, I just knew her.”
During her time settling in what would later become New York, Trico raised 11 children, traded with Native Americans and helped many people until her death at age 83. Holden described her as a hard worker, helpful and one who was not afraid to speak her mind.
A visiting missionary met Trico when she was 74 and described her as “worldly minded, with mere bonté (human kindness),” one who lived with her whole heart and body, and dwelled independently among her progeny, which extended beyond 145 people at that time.
“If you’re 74 years old and you have had 11 kids and you have settled a country, you could just be a grumpy old woman, honestly, but she was kind to the end,” Holden said.
The historian noted she didn’t know how to write a book, but after beginning the process she learned from a writing seminar that she was already doing it the correct way. For historical fiction, she explained, you gather the background information and then place your characters within it.
“You get to know the characters so well that you think, ‘This would be the decision she would make, this would be how she would react,’” Holden said. “I love history and I’ve fallen in love with writing, so I had fun researching.”
Her book was self-published in June 2024 and can be purchased on her website at HistoricalSlant.com/shop/, or through Amazon, IngramSpark.com and Barnes & Noble.
The educator now has three new book ideas brewing in her mind. One of them, in fact, has already been started, which follows the same theme, “a strong woman who is kind.”
Her work-in-progress will be another historical fiction piece about Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir, a Viking explorer who sailed from Iceland to Vinland (believed by some to be present-day Nova Scotia) some time around early 1000 AD. Thorbjarnardóttir is believed to be the first European to give birth in the Americas (aside from Greenland).
Holden is also thinking about publishing an anthology of her short stories on Oregon history, as well as a compilation of short stories about Trico.
Holden credits her job as a teacher as the impetus for writing about Trico, because when she was teaching the subject to her students, she thought Trico was “too cool” to be relegated to just the history books.
“This is the most amazing woman you’ve never heard of” Holden said. “She’s wonderful.”