Staff photo by Fritz Busch Hanska children’s book author Courtney Hanson reads her book “My Dad Hung the Moon” to children at the New Ulm Public Library Monday.

NEW ULM — A Jefferson Elementary School Special Education Paraprofessional said the title of her self-published book, “My Dad Hung The Moon,” was inspired by a deeply personal moment with her father.

“I was accompanying him to one of his chemotherapy treatments. Afterward, he suggested we go out for lunch. During our meal, he turned to me and said ‘Courtney, you think I hung the moon, but I didn’t,’ Courtney Hanson told children and her parents at the New Ulm Public Library Friday.

“His words stayed with me. Two days later, as I sat watching a cardinal at my bird feeder, the inspiration to write a book struck me,” she said.

Hanson said the story reflects her admiration and love for her father, Robert David Clark of Mankato, a Vietnam War veteran, writer and author.

“The book is a tribute to him, especially as he bravely battled stage four cancer. It’s dedicated to him, as a symbol of the bond we share and the lessons he taught me over the years. The book is about not holding your feelings about cancer inside forever,” she said.

Hanson, a Mankato native who has lived in Hanska for 10 years with her husband and two children, said she wrote the book last summer. She designed it herself. The book was published by On Press Printing of New Jersey.

Hanson’s book can be ordered by emailing c.hansonauthor@yahoo.com. It is available for checkout at the New Ulm, Hanska and Mankato Public Libraries.

Hanson said her father wrote a book, “Flowers of the Dinh Ba Forest,” a paperback published Jan. 1, 2006 by Livingston Press.

The fictional book is a novel of war, love, camaraderie, and betrayal. Clark writes about a search for a rare orchid in the height of the Vietnam War. His characters, male and female Vietnamese and Americans, know that nothing makes sense in the war, so one may as well search for a deep jungle orchid. The 186-page book is available on Amazon.

Clark was drafted into the Army in 1968 and served a Vietnam War tour as an infantryman. He later enrolled at Mankato State University and won a fiction book writing award.

The author of a short story, “I Was There Last Night,” about the Vietnam War, Clark has been published in the Minnesota River Review, High Ground Magazine and Indiana Review. He worked at the Mankato Telephone Company for 40 years.