FAIRMONT–Lowell “Zeke” Ziemann grew up on a farm in Fairmont and has a list of accolades ranging from being a part of several athletic halls of fame, a businessman at a Wall Street Firm in Arizona, and a western novelist.

Ziemann played baseball and basketball at Fairmont High School and became part of the Fairmont Cardinals Hall of Fame in 1992. Ziemann went on to play baseball and basketball at Augsburg University. He was captain of the men’s basketball team his senior season and for baseball, he was a starting pitcher on the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship team during his junior season. Ziemann was inducted into the Augsburg Sports Hall of Fame in 1986.

Ziemmann graduated as a mathematics major with a physical education minor. He went on to teach math and coach in Paynesville, Minnesota from 1960 to 1964 and Marshall, Minnesota from 1964 to 1976. Two of his teams made it to the State Tournament in 1970 and 1974. Ziemann is part of the Marshall Sports Hall of Fame as a coach.

“The great thing is the older you get, the more you appreciate that,” Ziemann said.

Ziemann always had an interest in writing and started his professional writing by writing short western stories on websites and in magazines and really started writing more after he retired. From there he came into contact with Dusty Saddles Publishing in England.

Ziemann chose to go by a pen name A.L. Shane. A.L. stands for Albert Louis, which was his father’s initials. Shane comes from the 1983 western movie Shane which Ziemann considers to be his favorite movie of all time.

Ziemann wrote historical novels named Bruno Grant, Mountain Man, and Bruno Grant Warrior that tells the story of a man from Fort Fairmont who became an explorer and later fought in the Civil War at Gettysburg with the 1st Minnesota Volunteers.

“I tried to stick to historical facts and wrap my character into them,” Ziemann said.

To find Ziemann’s novels you can google A.L. Shane and they can be found on Amazon and other sites. If you would like an autographed copy you can email Ziemann at zekeziemann@reagan.com.

Ziemman said to aspiring writers in Fairmont is to know the history of the town. Ziemann mentioned the chain of lakes and Fort Fairmont being integral parts of the town’s history and when it came to Western settlers.

Ziemann still lives in Arizona and is asked about how he deals with the heat and he said that you don’t have to shovel the heat. Ziemann wanted to let the readers and community know that Fairmont is a nice and pretty town while also being a great place to live.

“When you move away from there, you find that out with the lakes and the beauty that’s around there and people are friendly,” Ziemann said. “I love the town and have thought often about getting a place up there for the summer.”