Q: Has anyone from the La Crosse area won a Pulitzer Prize, and, if so, what are their names and what category did they win in?

A: If the “La Crosse area” is limited to La Crosse County, the La Crosse Public Library Archives staff is aware of five people who have won a Pulitzer Prize.
Noted author Hamlin Garland, who called West Salem, Wis., his hometown, won a Pulitzer Prize for biography in 1922 for his book “A Daughter of the Middle Border.”

Howard Mumford Jones, who moved to La Crosse when he was 9 years old, graduated from La Crosse High School and attended La Crosse Normal School, won a Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction in 1964 for his book “O Strange New World.” Jones also worked as a typist for Hamlin Garland during the summer of 1912.

John Toland, who was born in La Crosse in 1912 and lived in the city until he was about 7 years old, won a Pulitzer Prize in 1971 for general nonfiction for his book “The Rising Sun.”

William Mullen, a 1962 graduate of Central High School, won two Pulitzer Prizes for journalism while working for the Chicago Tribune, one in 1972 and one in 1974.

David Umhoefer, a 1979 graduate of Aquinas High School, won a Pulitzer Prize in 2008 for local reporting. He works for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

Q: Does anyone know whatever happened to Petey the Pelican, the young pelican who forgot to migrate during the fall of 2003 and spent the winter of 2003-04 in the Onalaska, Wis., area?

A: After Petey the Pelican appeared to become attached to a concrete pelican statue in the backyard of Karl Melnik and Debbie Mosling of Onalaska, he failed to migrate south in the fall of 2003. By January 2004, Petey had become very weak and sick and was captured and taken to the Coulee Region Humane Society. Thanks to the work of Mary Samuelson and others at the humane society, Petey was nursed back to health and released in the Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge in May 2004.

Despite nearly four months of captivity, Petey’s natural instincts seemed to kick in as soon as he was released. He was not tagged in anyway, so there’s really no way of identifying him. Hopefully, Petey is out there somewhere doing what pelicans like to do.

Correction: The Oak Grove Cemetery greenhouses were razed in 1987. Last week’s “Ask the Tribune” gave an incorrect year.

In cooperation with the La Crosse Public Library, the Tribune invites readers to call or e-mail questions of local interest. We’ll try to find the answers and publish them. The phone number for Ask the Trib is (608) 791-8450. Send questions by e-mail to news@lacrossetribune.com.

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