Beito has one more book to her credit

Gretchen Urness Beito of Thief River Falls has been involved in many book projects. She recently finished a book with Mildred Furuseth called "Furuseth in the 99th Infantry Battalion (SEP)".

The book is about Leonard Furuseth being drafted into the U.S. Army in 1942. The requirement was that the recruits be fluent in Norwegian. Leonard was a Gully native living in Thief River Falls when Gretchen first heard about his life and other information from his wife Millie Furuseth who co-authored the book. The booklet shares the experiences of the 99th Battalion  from being drafted landing on Omaha Beach in June of 1944 to May 8 when the war ended. It was printed by Richards Publishing Company in Gonvick.

Other books by Gretchen Urness Beito include, "Women of Thief River Falls at the Turn of the Century", "From Agassiz to Zeh", and "Tales of the Secret Earth River" with Diane Drake and "Coya Come Home: A Congressman's Journey." 

"Women of Thief River Falls at the Turn of the Century", is a Study of Life in a Boom Town from 1895-1905, by Gretchen Beito.  It was published by the Pennington County Historical Society, Thief River Falls, 1997.  This booklet was prepared for the class “Introduction to Research” at the University of North Dakota.  Instructor was Dr. Richard Beringer.  It contains many photographs and stories about the women living in Thief River Falls at the turn of the century.  

"From Agassiz to Zeh", "Norwegian Nisse at Christmas", and "Love to You, a Swedish Christmas." Inez Mostue,  a Scandinavian doll-maker, and Gretchen, author, teamed up to present Nordic life in pictures and words. Handmade dolls, eleven inches tall, depict women and girls in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, and Finland. Mireille Genadry was the photographer. This was the third in a series of five Nordic books. For all ages. It was printed by Maurtua Publishing in Thief River Falls. All the proceeds from those five books were donated to Northwest Regional Library.

"Tales of the Secret Earth River" was written with Diane Drake. It has many stories of the Thief River Falls area from the very beginning. The first chapter captures a canoe trip from Thief River Falls up the Red Lake River to Hudson Bay in Canada. It was published by EMg Publishing in Thief River Falls.

"Coya Come Home: A Congressman's Journey" written by Gretchen Urnes Beito. It is biography of Congresswoman Coya Knutson, the Minnesota farm wife who took Washington by storm.

After serving two terms in the state legislature (1950-1953), Knutson ran for representative in Congress. Self-determined and ready to make a difference for farmers at a national level, she ran against the DFL's endorsed candidate. Her personal campaign style and knowledge of farming persuaded Minnesota's Ninth District voters to elect her to Congress, where she served from 1955-1958.

Beito, of Thief River Falls, did  a lot of research on the Knutson book. She focused on Knutson's congressional service that included information from letters, campaign literature and newspaper clippings.

The book was published by Pomegranate Press owned by Kathryn Leigh Scott. 

She published books about the entertainment industry, including guide books, biographies, textbooks and coffee table art books. Not only was Scott a book publisher she was also a daytime drama actress. She performed on London's West End, in television series and mini series and was in feature films. She has been cast in the movie, "The 11th Green"  about President Dwight Eisenhower. Kathryn plays the role of Mamie Eisenhower. 

Gretchen is always looking for projects to do and is grateful for the many projects that she has been involved.