Born Lucky: A Memoir by Ken Nordlund Paperback – December 12, 2025

“Nothing keeps a story alive like the telling of it.” Ken NordlundBorn in 1947, Ken shares this humorous yet poignant story of growing up on a farm in Clearbrook, Minnesota near the headwaters of the Mississippi, including tales of the precarious lives of his Scandinavian ancestors homesteading there.He tells of graduating from the University of Minnesota in 1969 with the war in Viet Nam at its peak, receiving his diploma and his military draft notice on the same day. Hoping to avoid the infantry, he enlists and trains as a Veterinary Technician. In 1970 he marries his sweetheart and three weeks later flies to Viet Nam for 365 days.Ken vividly recounts his time stationed in Long Binh where he cares for sentry dogs that guard the largest ammunition depot in the world, sprayed with Agent Orange defoliant every ninety days. He captures the rawness of emotion during this stressful time in our nation’s history. His photographs throughout enhance these recollections and introduce us to Heidi, the German Shepherd who becomes his best friend in the Nam.When his army stint ends, he uses the GI Bill to study Veterinary Medicine at the University of Minnesota, then accepts a job with the Lake Region Veterinary Center. He and Jean move to Fergus Falls, Minnesota where their family grows to include four sons within five years. Work-life imbalance begins as he accumulates half a million miles in his vet truck, yet he captures fascinating stories about his clients’ lives and finds satisfaction in his work.After 12 years in veterinary practice, Ken joins the faculty at University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Veterinary Medicine. By then he has the reputation of being one of the most innovative and influential dairy practitioners in the United States, improving cow comfort and impacting positively the lives of dairy families around the globe. He writes brilliantly about becoming a professor and the research he cares about, offering invaluable insights to practitioners in his field and laymen alike. Having shared his research via stories in over a thousand speeches, he retires in 2014 leaving an indelible legacy for the University of Wisconsin and the dairy industry.He remains married to his best friend Jean for a lifetime, like a pair of geese.Ken candidly writes about the last six years of his life, being treated at the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center for prostate cancer metastases presumably related to Agent Orange exposure while in Viet Nam. Even though he is a member of the “cancer club” for so many years, he still considers himself to be a lucky man. Read more