Sonja’s List is named in memory of
Sonja J. Maas.
Who is Sonja?
Sonja was the personification of enriching life with firsthand encounters and books. As a teacher and literacy advocate, she took her students on trips to attend plays in Chicago. We know that she would have made great use of this listing of Author Appearances in Southeast Wisconsin.
Born in Bergen, Norway, she immigrated to the US with her parents through Ellis Island and settled in Jamaica, New York in 1927. She moved to Washington D.C. with her father and mother in 1941 and attended the University of Maryland where she received a BA in English and Social Studies in 1945 and an MA degree in Education in 1946. She was finishing her PhD and had been offered a position in the State Department in Scandinavian Affairs when she met Duane Maas at the University of Wisconsin-Madison while taking a course to complete her dissertation. She did not finish her dissertation but instead married Duane and started her career as an educator.
Sonja was recognized as Kentucky’s Teacher of the Year in 1962. She held teaching jobs in Middleton WI, Houston TX, Peekskill NY, Owensboro KY, Plainfield IL, and Shawano WI, retiring in 1988 after 40 years of teaching. She was the head of the high school English departments in Plainfield, IL and Shawano, WI and enjoyed enriching her students’ educational experiences in many ways including taking them to plays in Chicago.
Sonja helped form the Literacy Council of Shawano County in 1993. It is still thriving today, offering services to any adult student wishing to become literate or skilled in speaking, reading and writing the English language. She also served as a board member of the Friends of the Shawano County Library. Her son, Duane Maas and his wife, Kay Maas, have supported the Southeast Wisconsin Festival of Books for several years in memory of Sonja Maas.
