Alan Quam, who just released his second book of poems, “Poems For My Wife, A Hippie For Life,” through Amazon, is planning a book signing Thursday afternoon at Pop Ice Cream Shop, 275 Dakota Ave. S. The event will begin following the “Dusting Off Dakota” ribbon cutting.

“Poems For My Wife” is a book of poetry he began writing as a tribute to his late wife, Lynn, who died of cancer March 3, 2024, after 27 years of marriage.

Allowing the words and verses to pour through him was like a healing balm after losing his wife, he said.

“I just wrote what I felt,” Quam said. “People asked what I would do with all this poetry, and I said I’ll publish a book.

“It’s keeping my mind in the right space,” he added. “It’s helped me grow closer to the Lord, to people.”

Both of his books, including his first, “Inspirations,” that was released in April, were published by Best Publishing and are available on Amazon. He will have copies of his second book available for purchase on Thursday.

It was love at first sight when Quam, a native of Huron, met his wife who was “a hippie for life” at the home of a friend in California. It took some doing, but he convinced her to leave sunny California in 2002 and move with him to South Dakota. “I brought her back here to the snow where she said she would never live,” he remembers, laughing.

“Poems For My Wife” is a moving tribute to his late wife, and to the healing power of hope that can rise from the depths of grief.