Carol Franks grew up on a farm in the Badlands area of North Dakota. After graduating from the University of North Dakota in 1970, she taught secondary English and German in North Dakota, Minnesota, and Montana until she moved to Portland, Oregon, in 1979. Since then, she has been teaching writing at Portland State University.

What Ever Happened to Chris Olsen? is a personal essay exploring the implications of one man’s need for good neighbors and public health care coverage. The thesis is that there are “too many Chris Olsens” in the United States, people who are living on the margins of poverty in situations that can, ultimately, cost them their lives. What Ever Happened to Chris Olsen? is among a set of essays in a manuscript exploring great losses that are often overlooked.

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