When one door closed, another opened for Indio teacher-turned-author L.D. Lauritzen
It’s a privilege to interview local authors in person and gain insights into their published works. I had a picture of Larry Lauritzen, but had never met him. When the moment finally came, in walked the quintessential cowboy: tall, strong and wearing a Stetson and bollo tie.
I already felt emersed in his Western/mystery novels. The public can revel in this same experience when they attend his presentation from 1 to 2:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 16 at the Riverside County Library in Desert Hot Springs.
Although Lauritzen was born in North Dakota, his family moved around. His father was in big-time construction, which included building the Eisenhower Hospital in the 1970s. This was Lauritzen’s first encounter with the desert. However, he did not stay, instead opting to work in Arizona and Utah on cattle ranches raising heifers. Later, he traveled all over California and Mexico as a beekeeper.
After graduating from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, he decided to further his education at Cal State San Bernardino. As fate would have it, he walked into the wrong course, which turned out to be an education class. He liked what the instructor was saying, and decided to become an agriculture teacher.
Lauritzen went on to teach agricultural classes at Indio High School, where he fell in love and married Nancy, a horticulture teacher. Together, the pair settled down and raised a family. During his 28 years at Indio High School, the couple expanded the agricultural program and inspired many students to become leaders in the field.
An ulcer caused Lauritzen to retire in 2013, beginning a new phase of his life. But not before looking to previous chapters.
Lauritzen began his love of writing in the third grade when his teacher, Mrs. Larson (yes, he remembered her name), had the class draw a picture and write a story about it. He won a Press Enterprise Award for his first story, “Tom Turkey’s Thanksgiving.”
Retirement gave him the opportunity to join a writing group. With the group and Nancy’s encouragement, he started with short stories. Drawing on his own life experiences, his storytelling spans a wide spectrum from Westerns and mysteries to a little science fiction.
In 2019, Lauritzen published his first novel, "Regardless of the Consequences." The main character is Sheriff Lance Tallbear, a half-Apache man who has problems identifying with both the white and Apache worlds. He is further compromised with a troubled FBI partner, Brad Hanley, as they face a myriad of obstacles in solving a mysterious plan wreck in the Superstition Mountains. This book is available on Amazon in e-book, print or audiobook form, and received the Audio Book Review Action Thriller Award in 2022.
"The Killing Ground," the second in the Lance Tallbear series, will be released soon. It involves smuggling drugs — and people — across the border. It took longer for Lauritzen to write this book, he said, because the nature of the research was so dark, he had to take a break before finishing it. The Lance Tallbear prose contain many characters and multiple viewpoints for the reader to relate to. Lauritzen always wraps up his writings with an end point, some humor and entertainment, so expect nothing less with his latest novel.
If you go: L.D. Lauritzen will be at the Friends of the DHS Library Author Series 1-2:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, at the new Desert Hot Springs Library, 14-380 Palm Drive, Desert Hot Springs. The event is Free and open to the public. For more information, call 760-329-5926.
Sally Hedberg is the curator of the Friends of the DHS Library Author Series.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Former Indio teacher L.D. Lauritzen to discuss new book at DHS library
