Sprague, Helen McNeny (1908-?). Cather's Red Cloud acquaintance. Helen McNeny was the only child of Bernard and Helen (Nellie) McNeny. She graduated from the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Omaha, NE, and attended the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, where she met Leon Sprague, whom she married after her graduation in 1930. He practiced law with her father, and they lived in Red Cloud, NE, where she was a member of the Literature and Art Department of the Red Cloud Women’s Club. They had three children, born in 1932, 1934, and 1938.

Westermann, Louise Schoular (1878-1928). American Teacher. Born in Illinois, Louise taught before her 1902 marriage to Max Westermann. After their children Emma and John entered school, Louise returned to teaching, first at the University of Nebraska, and then, after she was widowed in 1924, at Lincoln High. Cather, who had known Max Westermann and his family (whom she portrayed as the Ehrlich family in One of Ours [1922]) when she was a student at the University of Nebraska, occasionally stayed with Max and Louise Westermann when she visited Lincoln, and autographed a photograph of herself to them.

Lindbergh, Anne Morrow (1906-2001). American author and aviator. Born in Englewood, NJ, to Dwight Morrow and Elizabeth Cutter Morrow, Anne Morrow graduated from Smith College in 1928 with a degree in English. She married aviator Charles Lindbergh in 1929 and became his copilot. Cather met the Lindberghs in 1931, when both she and Charles Lindbergh were given honorary degrees by Princeton University. On March 1, 1932, the Lindberghs first child, Charles Jr., was kidnapped; the crime and the discovery of the boy’s body ten weeks later were a media sensation. Cather admired Anne Lindbergh’s first book, North to the Orient (1935), which recounted her 1931 journey with Charles to Asia via the great circle route in 1931. Lindbergh’s best-known book is Gift from the Sea (1955), an inspirational meditation on modern life and particularly the challenges facing women, which has sold more than three million copies.

Lindbergh, Charles Augustus (1902-1974). American aviator. Born in Detroit, MI, to parents of Swedish descent and raised in Minnesota, Charles Lindbergh wanted to become a flyer in World War I but was too young. After three semesters studying engineering at the University of Wisconsin, he left to become a barnstorming pilot and later enlisted in the Army Air Service and became a captain in the Missouri National Guard. Lindbergh’s 1927 nonstop flight from New York to Paris piloting the Spirit of St. Louis made him an international celebrity. In 1929 he married Anne Cutter Morrow, who became his copilot. Cather met the Lindberghs in 1931, when both she and Charles Lindbergh were given honorary degrees by Princeton University. On March 1, 1932, the Lindberghs first child, Charles Jr., was kidnapped; the crime and the discovery of the boy’s body ten weeks later were a media sensation. In 1939 Charles Lindbergh advocated against American involvement in World War II, and although he eventually supported the war, his non-interventionist stance tarnished his reputation. His bestselling book about his pioneering flight, The Spirit of St. Louis (1953), was awarded a Pulitzer Prize.

Sprague, Bernard (1932-1999). Red Cloud lawyer. Born in Hastings, NE, son of Leon and Helen McNeny Sprague, Bernard grew up in Red Cloud, NE; he attended the University of Nebraska and earned his law degree at the University of Denver (CO). In 1955 he married Barbara Flanagan, and they had four children. He served as Assistant United States Attorney in Lincoln, NE, from 1961 to 1963, then returned to Red Cloud to practice, serving, like his father, as Red Cloud City Attorney and Webster County Attorney, and then as District 10 judge.