The "rural lifestyle" is rapidly vanishing. Small, family farms are disappearing or taken over by large corporations, more and more women have jobs outside the home and it's now normal for children to leave home, go to college and not come back home.

As a way to preserve the stories, the pranks and the mishaps that come with growing up in rural America, author Jim Heynen writes stories based mostly on his experiences growing up on a small farm in Iowa.

Wednesday, Heynen, who is currently the writer in residence at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., came to Austin to discuss an anthology of short stories he edited called "Fishing for Chickens." He talked to sixth grade students at Ellis Middle School and with patrons of the Austin Public Library, including members of one of the young adult book clubs who read "Fishing for Chickens" this month.

Maggie Snow, community services librarian at the Austin Public Library, says she chose the book because she read some positive book reviews about it and liked the stories she read when she browsed through it. She says she also considered it for the book club because "we had been reading mostly novels and I wanted something different."

She says part of the book's appeal was that Heynen lives so close to Austin. "I thought it would be a really neat experience to read a book and then meet the person who wrote, or in this case, edited it."

Heynen says he chose stories for "Fishing for Chickens," that were written for adults, but were still simple enough for children to read and enjoy.

His goal in writing or, in the case of "Fishing for Chickens," editing, is always "to delight them … and I'm hoping to keep alive a way of life that is dying," he says.

Even though his stories focus on rural life, Heynen says "they vary. Some are like parables and make you think twice … they take you out of your comfort zone. You think you're reading something easy when suddenly, it's not easy anymore."

While he tours to discuss his writings and whatever else his audience wants to talk about, he says "I do these as much out of curiosity as generosity."

That's especially true of his visit with the sixth graders. "I want to find out where they're at, see if I'm still in touch with them," he explains. "I hope to give them a sense of story, a sense of a way of life and remind them of their relationship with the land."

Fortunately, he says, "I know I'm still in touch with them because I still like them. I think if you take them seriously and show them respect, you get respect back."

Heynen says he believes being respected "is a special feeling for young people because I think they've gotten a bad reputation in the last 15 years. I think of what kids are getting criminalized for today and if I had been criminalized for many things when I was growing up, I'd still be in jail … just for things like tipping privies … letting air out of tires. I have a nephew in the first grade who was taken to the office for sexual harassment for blowing a kiss at a girl. There are all kinds of pressures put on young people today that are just stupid."

He hopes his stories alleviate some of those pressures from children and at the same time, educate them about life and about the country's rural roots.

An understanding of what "rural" means, was one of the reasons Sari Snater, 12, came to the discussion at the library. "I got to understand more about the rural community. I've been trying to understand that word. I live just outside of Austin and I wasn't sure if it was considered rural because it's so close to town."

After listening to Heynen's tell "stories of where he came from and stories his mom told," and hearing about his rural childhood, Snater says "it helped me understand what that was. I think I am rural because we have a few farmers around our place and there are fields of soybeans and corn … and across the road … a woman raises horses."