Birkby, Evelyn

Evelyn Birkby, wife, mother, homemaker, newspaper columnist, author, and former radio personality, is one of a small number of regional women known as radio homemakers. After graduating from Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa, marrying Robert Birkby in 1946, becoming a farm wife and moving to Shenandoah, Iowa, Birkby started writing a column called, "Up a country lane" for the Shenandoah evening sentinel in 1949.

In 1950 Birkby took her column to the air on KMA radio station, changing its name to "Down a country lane." Although she stopped broadcasting in 1952 because of family obligations, in 1955 Birkby started writing for the magazine Kitchen klatter, which offered household hints and general information. Birkby also wrote two cookbooks.

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