This is the text of the article they published in my hometown newspaper Easter Sunday, minus the photographs. It gives credit to my friends on Mudcat, especially those of you around this table although no one is mentioned by name. One of the mudcatters who was most encouraging was my friend Miriam Hospodar, aka Elemr Fudd. Aka... sounds like a cat coughing up a hairball...

Some people know Jerry Rasmussen as a songwriter, who first starting penning verses about Janesville during the folk explosion of the early 1960s.
Now the 73-year-old hopes people will enjoy his new book as much as his homegrown lyrics.
Just in time for Easter, Jerry has written, "The Gate of Beautiful: Stories, Songs and Reflections on Christian Life." His book is a strong affirmation of his Christian faith, but it is not just for Christians.
"I have friends, who are atheists, agnostics, Jews and Muslims, who are reading it," Jerry says. "They are not offended by my faith because I am not judgmental."
A Janesville native, Jerry lives in Derby, Conn., and is retired from museum work. For decades, he has written and sang original and traditional songs of rural America and has recorded five CDs.
His new book is an outgrowth of a lifetime of letter writing and, more recently, the posting of stories online for the folk music community.
"People enjoyed them so much that I started to believe I had the ability to write a book," Jerry says. "Then the stories really started to flow."
One of the chapters relates to Easter.
In it, Jerry talks about how "a cross once topped every steeple in the country as a reminder of the price Christ paid for our sins."
"We were taught that our salvation came through the cross," Jerry says. "Yet, these are hard times for the cross…In some of the largest contemporary churches, a cross is nowhere to be found."
He calls the cross central to his faith and the faith of all Christians.
"It is a reminder of the victory Christ won for us by his death," Jerry says.
Earlier this year, Jerry published his book through Outskirts Press of Denver. He shares insights about the handiwork of God through the stories of a weary traveler on a Greyhound bus, rambling hoboes and one-eyed dogs.
Jerry was born and raised on Caroline Street in Janesville. He graduated from Janesville High School in 1953 and worked summers at the Fisher Body plant to pay his way through the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Later, he moved to Greenwich Village, where he began writing folk songs.
"I was separated from Janesville and my family," Jerry recalls. "I missed them, and my way of going home was writing songs about Janesville."
One popular tune featured the Silver Queen, a boat that plied the Rock River at Janesville during the 1940s. Jerry has boyhood memories of watching World War II soldiers home on leave fox-trotting with their sweethearts on a floating dance floor.
He also wrote songs about the Rock County 4-H Fair and a former tavern on Main Street, called the Bear Trap Bar. His rich baritone and knack at writing catchy choruses have made him a popular fixture in the folk music world for decades. To date, some 20 recording artists have performed his songs, including the enduring Art Thieme.
When Jerry was not singing and accompanying himself on guitar or banjo, he worked at the Stamford Museum & Nature Center in Stamford, Conn., for 30 years. He retired in 2000.
His ties to the Midwest remain strong, and most of his family still lives in Janesville, including his two sisters. When he visits the city, Jerry performs at Cedar Crest, where both of his parents lived for many years.
He is proud of the fact that the editor of his book did not find a single mistake in language usage.
"I think back to my English teacher at Janesville High School, and how she pounded grammar into us," he says.
"It is still in there all these years later."
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Anna Marie Lux is a columnist for The Janesville Gazette. Her columns run Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Call her with ideas or comments at (608) 755-8264, or e-mail amarielux@gazettextra.com.
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WHERE TO GET BOOK
Jerry Rasmussen's book, "The Gate of Beautiful: Stories, Songs and Reflections on Christian Life" is available from www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com. It is also available for $17.90 by writing to the author at 95 Hillcrest Ave., Derby, Conn. 06418. Contact him at: geraldrasmussen@sbcglobal.com/lists

Jerry