Island Years

by Mark Odegard

Overview

In 1973, Mark Odegard and his first wife moved to northern Minnesota to caretake a remote island lodge near the Canadian border. Three years later, they joined the Peace Corps and left for the Fiji Islands in the South Pacific, where both discovered their life's work, and a turn of events that would pull them apart. Happening upon the Fiji Museum on a random walk through the city of Suva, Mark soon found himself its art director, researching and designing exhibits on Fijian culture. His journey eventually led back to Minnesota, where fortune again brought him to a museum waiting for someone with his skills to step inside the door. As told by the author, the day-to-day pleasures and setbacks of a Peace Corps volunteer, circa 1976, are interspersed with a series of unexpected adventures that would shape the rest of his life.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940162774631
Publisher:	Mark T Odegard
Publication date:	03/27/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	15 MB
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About the Author

Born in Minneapolis in 1944, Mark Odegard graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in studio arts. He then served in the U.S. Army, a tour that included a year in Vietnam in 1967. In 1976, he joined the Peace Corps and was assigned to the Fiji Islands, where he became the art director of the Fiji Museum. After his return, he spent many years as a designer at the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul. In 2007, Mark and his wife Elizabeth taught English in Shanghai, then moved to Thailand where Mark consulted on an educational exhibit for UNESCO. The following year, he worked at Lock and Dam No. 1 on the Mississippi River in the Twin Cities. In addition to Island Years, Mark is the author of One Soldier’s Tale, a memoir of his experiences in Vietnam.