Urdahl started teaching in the New London-Spicer school district in 1971. In 2006 he retired from the district's middle school where he was teaching American history. He also coached, leading the high school girls' varsity cross-country team to three consecutive state championships in 2000, 2001, and 2002. An author, Rep. Urdahl, has written books about great Minnesotans, including Touching Bases with Our Memories, a history of the Minnesota Twins; and Lives Lived Large: Minnesotans in the Public Eye. Rep. Urdahl recently finished writing Uprising, a book of historical fiction set in Minnesota in 1862 which is about the U.S.-Dakota Conflict, also known as the Sioux Uprising or the US Dakota War. Rep. Urdahl's family helped settle Litchfield Township in 1856, two years before Minnesota became the 32nd state. The Sioux conflict started across the lake from Rep. Urdahl's home, and his great-grandfather buried the conflict's first five victims. In his spare time, Rep. Urdahl enjoys reading, playing softball and basketball, and occasionally participating in Civil War reenactments. |
