Lancaster Author Tells An Amazing Story At EMU This Friday

Allan Shirk, as a history major at Eastern Mennonite College (now EMU) back in 1964,  needed a topic for his required senior research paper.

A native of New Holland, Pennsylvania, Allan (who later became my brother-in-law) decided to write a history of the New Holland Machine Company located in his home town. This widely known farm implement manufacturer became known internationally for having produced and marketed the first successful self-tying hay baler.

From the first, Allan knew he would need to speak to its inventor, Ed Nolt, a  modest Old Order Mennonite farmer with only an eighth grade education. Nolt agreed to an interview with the understanding that Allan would not draw undue attention to him, a man who had achieved a level of fame he never sought and would have never dreamed of.

Growing up on a farm myself, I have fond memories of the model 900 baler pictured on the cover of the book Allan published in 2015.

You can hear more from the author, who will speak at EMU's Suter Science Center in Room 104 this Friday, April 12.