Susan Hvistendahl

South Dakota native Susan Hvistendahl holds a B.A. from St. Olaf College and an M.A. from Iowa State University. After working in New York as a freelance writer and assistant to The Boys of Summer author Roger Kahn, she returned to Northfield, Minn., where she assisted the Northfield Historical Society and wrote 119 “Historic Happenings” columns for local magazine The Entertainment Guide. Three books of her collected columns (on Northfield, St. Olaf and Carleton) were published in 2014 and 2015, with a new updated 2nd edition of volume one in 2021.

Her latest book, Milestones and Memories of the St. Olaf Band 1891-2018, co-authored by Jeffrey M. Sauve, was published in December 2019. See Minnesota Public Radio story about this book. She played alto clarinet in the St. Olaf Band.