2025 Speakers’ Biographical Information
11 am Speaker: Susan Howe Young: “Virginia Sorensen’s Manti Childhood as Reimagined in her Book of Short Stories Where Nothing is Long Ago“
Sue Young was a BYU English professor for twenty-eight years, during which time she did extensive research on Virginia Sorensen. She retired in 2015. She had the opportunity to take Virginia Sorensen back to her Manti home a year before Sorensen passed away.
12 pm Speaker: Cless Young: “Ephraim Historical Highlights: The Ephraim Tabernacle”
Cless Young worked and taught at Snow College for 40 years, as Director of
Counseling and then as a faculty member teaching psychology and geography. He also had a parallel career as a chaplain for the Utah Air National Guard. Since moving to Ephraim in 1979 he has had a strong interest in local history, particularly the Scandinavian influence on Sanpete culture and customs. In 2000, he presented a paper at the Mormon History Association in Copenhagen Denmark entitled “Sanpete County’s Danish Saints: Immigration and Adaptation”. He and his wife Susan live in Ephraim.