Author Randy R. Domer digs into quirky stories from Oshkosh's past | Lit Wisconsin
Lit Wisconsin is a sporadic series of stories in which we highlight the work of writers of Wisconsin or those with ties to the state.
Today we take a look at the work of author Randy R. Domer, who has written four self-published history books about Oshkosh's past.
About the author, Randy R. Domer
The 71-year-old Oshkosh author's history and writing career coincided with his retirement.
Domer grew up in Oshkosh, but left the city for 23 years and lived in a variety of cities across the Midwest as he pursued a career in the wholesale and retail grocery industry. When Domer retired as a executive for SuperValu, Inc., he returned to the city of his childhood.
"We moved back to Oshkosh on retirement because to us it always was home," he said.
After he moved back, he started spending Saturday mornings with a friend, reminiscing on Domer's porch about the changes they've seen in the Lake Winnebago city.
"I supplied the coffee and he brought a bag of donuts," Domer said in an email interview. "Our conversation always centered around things we remembered growing up in the 1950s and 1960s. After weeks of this, we decided we would jointly write a book."
Neither Domer or his friend had any writing experience, and after "a month or so," his friend left the effort.
"But now I was hooked," Domer said.
Around the same time Domer was having those nostalgic discussions with his friend, he joined the Winnebago County Historical & Archaeological Society. He became a member of the group's board of directors in 2010 and in was elected president in 2015 and serves in that capacity today.
About the books
Domer's first book is "Yesterday in Oshkosh ... My Hometown." It is "a reminiscent look at things I remembered growing up in Oshkosh," he said. The book highlights the people he remembers and businesses he visited such as pizza parlors, root beer stands and movie theaters.
After he completed the book, he started promoting it on social media and with newspaper articles and advertisements. He did readings in community gathering places. It sold better than he expected, just under 2,000 copies so far. That success "ignited my interest, so I wrote my next book," Domer said.
It was called "Oshkosh: Land of Lakeflies, Bubblers and Squeaky Cheese." This book and the next two, "We Shall Never Pass This Way Again: Stories from Oshkosh's Historic Past," and "It Seems Like Only Yesterday: More Stories from Oshkosh's Historic Past," Domer said, "all took on a different style as I turned to writing historical stories about people, places and events that shaped our city."
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Domer said his intent is to surprise readers. "I enjoy finding stories that have been buried in time, or stories that people may have heard, but finding new information about it," he said. One of his favorites is told in his latest book, "It Seems Like Only Yesterday." The chapter is called "Lake Winnebago or Loch Ness?" and it relates what happened when the circus came to town in 1876. "The legend claims a sea lion got lose and 'terrorized' the water of Lake Winnebago," Domer said.
Where can you buy the books?
The books cost $15.95 to $17.95 and can be purchased in Oshkosh at Carmel Crisp Corner, the Oshkosh Public Museum gift shop, Miller Clock Service & Sales and The Artful Gift. People can also order Domer's books from his website: www.oshkoshhistory.com.
Features reporter Keith Uhlig is based in Wausau. Contact him at 715-845-0651 or kuhlig@gannett.com. Follow him at @UhligK on Twitter and Instagram or on Facebook.
This article originally appeared on Oshkosh Northwestern: Oshkosh history the focus of author Randy R. Domer's books
