While Tabor's father was the robust well-respected dominating parent who easily provided what his family needed, Hungarian-born Jacob Ferber was frequently ill and had been unsuccessful as a businessman in Kalamazoo, Chicago and Ottumwa, Iowa before settling his family in Appleton. The Ferber "My Store" on College Avenue was only marginally successful and what success it experienced, Edna attributed to the efforts of her mother. The Ferbers were Jewish and Ferber said not a day went by that her family didn't experience anti-Semitism in some form.

After graduating from the Ryan High School, she wanted to attend Northwestern University in Chicago, but her father would not let her. She briefly attended Lawrence College before taking a job as a reporter for the Appleton Crescent - an unusual occupation for a woman in those times. She later worked as a reporter for the Milwaukee Journal. While recovering from ill health during her years in Milwaukee, she began writing novels. In 1925, she won a Pulitzer Prize for her book "So Big."

Several of her books were adapted for the stage and the screen. Among these are "Ice Palace," "Show Boat," "Giant," and "Saratoga Trunk." The movie version of "Cimarron" received an Oscar.

Her novels tended to spotlight strong women who overcome adversity. She moved to New York City early in her career as a novelist and became a member of what was known as "The Algonquin Round Table" - a collection of artists who by many were considered the elite of their professions.

A Peculiar Treasure - in 1939, Ferber wrote �A Peculiar Treasure,� an autobiography in which her years in Appleton play a featured part.

Unlike Tabor's books about Appleton, I have not read the entirity of "A Peculiar Treasure." This was not because it didn't hold my attention, but because I began reading it in the Appleton Public Library and somehow just never got around to locating another copy after forced to leave at closing that day.

Ferber's style of writing is quite different from Tabor's. With a Tabor book, you feel as if you are sitting with an old friend and discussing shared events. In contrast, with the Ferber book, the reader feels as if he or she is in the presence of someone important who is sharing some big event to which the reader is a spectator.