Beth Staas
Beth Staas
Poet & Writer
 

Books

It’s all about people taking time to make a friend, form an opinion, or understand an event, savoring chapters the way we savor each morning.

 
Sepia tone archival photo of young couple, Uncle Otto and Aunt Sophie, circa 1929.
Beside the Golden Door, book cover with archival family photo, Stature of Liberty in the background.

Beside the Golden Door

It is the end of World War I and Germany is struggling to survive. This book tells the story of one family from the late 1920s to the end of World War II as some immigrate to America, alternating with the three siblings who have remained behind. Read more »


Ministers for Breakfast book cover

Ministers for Breakfast

Worthington, a small town expanding due to highway access, is a compilation of Midwest Americana with old-fashioned values and adherence to the local lodge and the comfort of status and neighborly rank. Amity church is also expanding, having just hired Neville Leighton as their new minister. At first all goes well with congregational growth on track. But his new innovations of sensitivity training that invite the expression of hidden feelings more open that customary, make people feel uncomfortable. Read more »