I first encountered her work in 1988, when my then-wife was captivated by The Greenlanders. We’d both just read Roland Huntford’s Scott and Amundson and were susceptible to things polar. My favorite remains A Thousand Acres, but I’m proud to live in a country where I needn’t choose between them.

• •  Person: Marguerite of Navarre
  •  Place: Pike Place Market in Seattle
  •  Thing: California license plate
  •  Randy’s Person: Yvor Winters