May Breakfast Meeting

Title: The Gift of Laughter
Speaker: Janet Letnes Martin

Janet Letnes Martin grew up in Hillsboro, ND where the words ‘Norwegian and Lutheran” were synonymous.  It was no surprise she graduated from Augsburg College, in Minneapolis, MN and married Neil Martin, a 100% Scandinavian-Lutheran man from Newfolden, Minnesota.

Janet started writing books in 1983. She has authored five books, co-authored three books with Allen Todnem, and one with her sister, Ilene Lorenz, (MRW member)before she teamed up to write and perform with a college friend, Suzann Nelson. Suzann and Janet have written 10 books relating to their Norwegian-Lutheran-rural background. Their book, Growing Up Lutheran, What Does This Mean?  won the Minnesota Book Award for humor, the Minnesota Independent Publisher’s Award, and is the inspiration for all nine Church Basement Ladies musical comedies.

In 2007 Janet ‘switched gears’ and teamed up with author/artist, David W. Cook II to write a fabulous, humorous, book entitled, Lemonade for the Lawnboy: The Executives’ Wives’ Cookbook Committee.  The book was turned into the musical entitled Lemonade for the Lawnboy -The Musical.

Janet has been speaking to churches and organizations for 30 years. She often teams up with her co-author Suzann Nelson to perform a comedy routine entitled ‘those Lutheran Ladies.’  She believes in the healing gift of laughter.

Janet lives in Hastings, MN and is the mother of three daughters, 5 granddaughters, and two grandsons. Her husband, Neil passed away in 2006.

Registration closes on Thursday, May 2 at 9:00 p.m.