Author Dan Woll, a retired educator, school administrator and superintendent, likes to re-imagine certain events in time.
His novel, “Death on Cache Lake,” is set in the time of Sterling Hall bombing on the UW-Madison campus and uses that setting as an anchor.
Dan spoke to the Waunakee Rotary Club during its Aug. 6 virtual meeting about the book, which has been re-released. He is also the author of “Paperclip” and two anthologies, “Further” and “North of Highway 8,” containing previously published shorter pieces.
He has also co-authored children’s books with his daughter.
“Death on Cache Lake” was co-authored by Dan’s lifelong friend, John Lyon. Dan said in the 1980s, he was young and doing crazy things like mountain climbing. He had an idea to write a vignette, a mystery. He sent it to John and received in return an entire manuscript. John had taken Dan’s vignette and wrapped a murder mystery around it, Dan said.
He said it was good, but the plot device was a drug deal gone awry, which Dan called cliche.
In 2000, after the two had worked on it, Dan thought it wasn’t getting any better.
Then, at a reunion with college friends, the topic of Sterling Hall and Leo Burt, who was indicted for the bombing and has been a fugitive since, came up.
“I realized in a novel, you can re-imagine these things,” Dan said.
He used that as the plot device, noting that was the intent, not to exploit the tragedy. Instead, the book imagines a time when the bombing occurred, when you could walk into any small-town cafe and begin a conversation with other people there.
John passed away in 2011, Dan said, after a hard life, some of which was his own doing but some was simply circumstance.
In September of that year, Dan’s mother had passed away, and John gave him funds to see the book published.
Eventually, the two had the book published by a vanity press, and John passed away a week before. He said John was in a trailer on Lake Wisconsin and was found with the manuscript on his lap.
Describing the plot, Dan said is it set in the 1970s. One protagonist is a teacher who moves away, an adventuresome type, who hears his friend is in trouble in Northern Ontario, so he takes off for Canada.
“It’s about being young. It’s about having nothing to lose and exploring Northern Wisconsin,” Dan said.
“Death on Cache Lake” is available on Amazon, as are Dan’s other books.

 

Other News:

-The board of directors met and will review the budgets for the foundation and the club, said President Tom Kennedy. Tom said there are some potential new members and leads on some others.

 

-Phil Willems said a workday is planned on Aug. 15 at 9 a.m. at the pier at the Village Center Pond.

 

Birthdays: Aug. 11, Corey Randl; Aug. 12, Scott Cochems; Aug. 13, Kathy Cefalu; Aug. 14, William Erickson; Aug. 17, Andrew Hovde.

 

Anniversaries: Aug. 13, Danny and Yvonne Paul; Aug. 14, Randy and Amy Guttenberg; Aug. 16, Kevin and Kathy Kearney.

 

Programs: Aug. 13 - Stay tuned!