WINONA, Minn. – Retired Judge Margaret Shaw Johnson will launch her book of Winona stories from indigence at a signing event Friday at the Winona history museum. The event is 7 to 9 p.m. at 160 Johnson Street. For the book Shaw drew from her play, “The Haunting of Potter’s Field,” which premiered locally in 2011. The book tells what Shaw calls “mostly true stories” of people buried in Woodlawn Cemetery’s potter’s field before 1940. “These were worthy people who tried hard but were not destined to achieve the American Dream,” Shaw said. “Their stories are so compelling, I’ve never been able to get them out of my mind.” One is the story of a family that lost everything during the Depression but finds hope. Another is about Chinese laundrymen who struggle to honor a deceased friend’s life thousands of miles from home.
Book: Full title: “The Haunting of Potter’s Field: Stories from The Past, Unearthed From The Grave.” Illustrated by Jared Tuttle of Minneapolis. Published by Ravens Point Press of Winona. 44 pages. Retail: $22.
Shaw. Retired from the Winona bench in 2008 after 20 years