Petite in stature but tall in spirit, Mildred Armstrong Kalish, 87, enchanted her audience at the Grossman Gallery Tuesday night during her talk on the Great Depression.

Using excerpts from her 2007 memoir, "Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression," Kalish covered expected topics such as farm work, thrift and home remedies, and unexpected topics such as the bounty of the land and the weather.

She talked about milking cows, haying ("Haying was pure hell."), using feed sacks to make clothing (the men were admonished to "choose matching feed sacks"), as well as the winter, when for 60 days the temperature ranged from 20 degrees below zero to 20 degrees above zero, followed by a summer with days on end of temperatures above 106 degrees.

Despite the apparent bleakness of these topics, Kalish frequently had the 60-plus-member audience laughing.

Whether describing the yummy aroma of a makeshift oil lamp using bacon grease, her grandmother calling the tears of a 6-month-old "character building," her grandfather's assurance that "You're not really tired, you're just tired of doing what you're doing," or getting hit in the head with a lump of manure frozen onto a cow's tail while milking the cow in 20-degree weather, Kalish managed to convey a joy and reverence for her childhood.

It was this very trait that led Kalish to Lompoc.

According to Library Director Molly Gerald, Hancock College wanted to collaborate with local public libraries on their Community Reads program, focusing on the current economic situation and the fact that October is the anniversary of the stock market crash.

"We wanted a Depression Era subject, but we didn't want a book that was too depressing," Gerald said. "Immediately this title popped up. It is life affirming and about living more simply in hard times, so it was a good fit."

Though the book was on the New York Times list of the 10 best books of 2007, Kalish said interest in the book has spiked in the past six months.

"In the last half year, there has been a big interest in the book by 'eco-moms' and people wanting to go green and simplify their lives," Kalish said.

This is due to the fact that Kalish's book is not merely a memoir; it is also a how-to and recipe book. For instance, there are descriptions of how to use eggs as an acne remedy and as shampoo, as well as how to kill and prepare a chicken for cooking.

The chapter titled "Farm Food" includes recipes for everything from succotash and pheasants to cabbage salad and apple pie.

Before the evening's talk, Kalish said she started writing the book in earnest in 2000.

"I'd been thinking about it for a long, long time," Kalish said. "The grandfather chapter, I wrote 20 years ago."

She said it was taking care of one of her granddaughters that lead her to writing the book: "As we walked Meredith to school, I started telling her farm stories," Kalish said. "It suddenly dawned on me that I wanted the other kids to know them."

She also wanted them to know about the Depression.

"You never get over it," Kalish said. "It's still with me. I think of these people and the songs we sang, the sayings, the literature we read - I can't think of a comparable situation."

So she started writing: "I just kept writing about the people, the work that was required of us and what we learned about chores, baking, nuts, gardening."

"At the same time I think we were neglected, I think we had a valuable experience," Kalish said of herself and her three siblings.

Eventually she realized that others might want to read about her experiences, too. But she didn't think she'd get a publisher.

"Each publisher, I learned, gets over 200 grandma memoirs a week," Kalish said.

So while she toyed with the idea of self-publishing or going to her alma mater - the University of Iowa Press - it was a bit of luck that sent her book to the presses.

"It was the oddest of chances," Kalish said, describing how she showed her manuscript to a cousin who is a comparative literature professor. The cousin liked the book and said she would show it to a friend. Her friend just happened to be a senior editor for Bantam Books.

"It's almost a fairy tale," Kalish said.

Back at the talk and book signing, once her 40-minute talk was over, Kalish opened the discussion up for comments and questions. Another

40 minutes later, the enthusiastic queries had to be cut short to allow time for the book signing.

One young woman, Lauren Boyer, who purchased a book at the event, said she'd come with her Bible study group: "I'm glad I did - it's awesome and so different from my generation," Boyer said. "She's got a lot of wisdom."

Like many in the audience, Nina Taylor had read the book beforehand: "It brought back a lot of stories I heard from my aunt and uncle in the Depression in Oklahoma - the home remedies were very familiar."

Others had more simple reasons for attending: "I absolutely loved the book," said Cathy Rudolph. "And she's a delight."