If there's anything I have learned in life, it is thiseveryone has a story to tell.

Sometimes it takes a lot of work to get that person to tell his story. Sometimes, all it takes is a simple, "Hello."Last week while others were still boarding the plane in Albuquerque, the man across the aisle stopped a gentleman and asked if he could shake his hand and said, "Thank you very much for writing your book." They shook hands and the gentleman went on to find his seat.My little ears perked right up and I wondered if the author was someone famous."Excuse me," I said to him, "but I heard you thank that man for the book he wrote. May I ask what book?"He told me he was John Kremer, the author of "1001 Ways to Market Your Book." Kremer has authored many books on publishing and marketing and is the owner of Open Horizons in Taos, New Mexico."Cool. Did you write a book?" I asked."Yes, I did," he said as he stuck his hand out. "Hi, I'm Mel.""Hi Mel," I shook his hand. "I'm Linda."We spent the next few minutes chatting before take off. He said he was the favorite husband of his lovely wife, Rosemary, sitting next to him. They have a son and daughter and one granddaughter. He is in the process of restoring a 1953 Allard J2XR sports car and is a Freemason and a Shrine Clown. But it was while we were winging our way to Minneapolis that I learned his story and the one he felt so compelled to write.Mel was born and raised on a farm in Wisconsin and became a mechanical engineer in Madison.He told me that years ago, on his way to regularly visit relatives, he'd pass by an old neglected farm. He was "enchanted" by it and wanted to know more of its history.Being a "nosy Nellie," Mel spent 30 years compiling information about Tollef Gjermundson, an immigrant from Norway, who arrived in Koshkonong Prairie, Wisconsin in 1847 and carved out a farm. By 1937 no one in his family was left and the farm fell into neglect.One day standing on the property, Mel felt the ghosts of the hard-working family call out to him. He found himself interviewing neighbors who once knew the Gjermundson family and visiting the local library, newspaper office and courthouse to read official records of the family. He bought books about Norwegians in Wisconsin. Mel documented everything and placed the information in a salesman's sample case.In October of 2009, Mel's job was terminated. In the process of getting rid of his old files, he found the sample case. He was going to toss all of his research but decided that since he had all this new-found time on his hands, he would put everything he had about the Gjermundsons into a notebook."All of a sudden, it developed into a story," Mel said.He showed it to a Norwegian historian who said it should be taken care of. Mel was going to give it to the Stoughton library. He became concerned that if it wasn't published in a conventional book form, the files and notebook might not be maintained properly.That's how his files became a book, titled "A Return to Springen: The Legend of an 1847 Immigrant, An Anthology of Memories by a Community" by Mel Stark.He read John Kremer's book on how to go about publishing his book and it became a reality in a very short time.But there's a side note to what Mel uncovered during his research.Mel learned a granddaughter of Tollef's attended the University of Wisconsin. Tollef's daughter, Gurine, died in 1937 and she bequeathed $5,000 to the University to be used for students researching how to solve any problem or multiple problems encountered by Wisconsin farmers during his or her daily life.Guess what? Mel found out in the early 80s that UW didn't know where that money was."They assured me they didn't lose it, they just didn't know where it was," said Mel.Here's the amazing thing. Because Mel brought it to their attention and pursuing it, by 1985 a fellowship was created and now one to three fellowships are awarded to students on an annual basis, worth $2,000 each.As a contact person over the years, Mel has received thanks from several of the recipients.And because of his involvement, he might soon be working for UW.Mel also discovered that Gurine wished to have a park built on the family's 40 acres and she provided $2,000 for the project.Twice, Tollef's hometown voted "no" on a creation of a park because people didn't want one out in the country.Recently, Mel asked if he could bring in volunteers to clean up the family's cemetery. He received a letter from the town board refusing because he would need to supply insurance for the volunteers and if there was a lawsuit, Mel would be responsible to hire and pay for an attorney for the town.Mel found out the town doesn't even own the land.I don't think that story is quite finished yet.In no time at all, we were landing. Mel and I shook hands and I thanked him for helping the time go by so fast by sharing his story with me.Now I'm sharing it with you.(To learn more about Mel's book, go to

www.returntospringen.com.)