Books That Influenced Me
Adams, Richard. Watership Down. Scribner, 1972.
In this fictional fantasy adventure, a group of rabbits behave much as humans would, with their own language, proverbs, poetry and mythology established. Even though they live in dens, their story is one with epic themes of destruction, great peril, temptation and new beginnings. I read this book in my early teens at a time when I was devouring all the fiction books I could find relating to animals. As someone who has always had a close relationship with nature and its creatures, this story fed into my own ideas that they are very much like us, possessing their own thoughts and emotion.
Anderson, Clarence William. Billy and Blaze. Collier Books, 1936.
C.W. Anderson wrote a great number of fictional children’s books about a boy named Billy and the pony he received as a birthday gift. This is the first one in the series and it revolves around meeting his pony for the first time and how to take care of him properly. The author was also an illustrator, and his books are filled with beautiful charcoal and ink drawings of Billy and Blaze’s life lessons. Although very young when I read it, it inspired me to have adventures with my own pony and honed my responsibilities. As a budding artist, I very much looked up to Anderson and his gift with both the written word and drawing. For the majority of my life, I have wanted to write and illustrate my own children’s book, a desire instilled in me by C.W. Anderson.
Bagnold, Enid. National Velvet. William Morrow, 1935.
In this fictional story set in the 1920’s, a 14-year old girl named Velvet Brown rides her horse to victory in the Grand National steeplechase. This was a remarkable feat for the times, as women were not allowed to participate in the sport. Velvet is a shining example of a strong female lead who risks her life and reputation to enter into the contest under a false name (and sex). Her gender is discovered after she falls off her horse in exhaustion at the conclusion of winning the grueling race. Being about the same age as Velvet when I read this book, I was greatly influenced by her independence and love for horses.
Brannaman, Buck and William Reynolds. Believe: A Horseman’s Journey. First Lyons Press, 2004.
This book is a collection of nonfiction stories based on the experience of 13 horse owners whose lives were changed by working with Buck Brannaman, a real-life horse whisperer, who is not only a trainer but also a mentor for his students. Brannaman has faced his share of challenges with horses and in life and transfers what he has learned to those who will take the time to listen. He feels there are no problem horses, only problem people. For me, this collection inspired hope and confidence when working with my own “problems.”
Caplow, Florence and Susan A. Cohen. Wildbranch: An Anthology of Nature, Environmental, and Place-based Writing. University of Utah Press, 2010.
This nonfiction collection is a powerful assortment of mostly unpublished essays and poetry by well-known nature writers as well as new authors in the genre. While I was assigned to read parts of this book for a Nature Writing class, I found myself keeping it for my own personal library and it is a collection I find myself gravitating towards whenever I need inspiration for my own writing or an escape from a fast-paced world. I particularly value it for introducing me to authors I did not yet know, like Janisse Ray and Susan Futrell.
Gilbert, Elizabeth. Eat, Pray, Love. Penguin Books, 2006.
This book is a memoir that chronicle’s Gilbert’s year-long trip around the world following her divorce and a general falling out with life. The author spent four months in Italy eating and enjoying life, followed by three in India learning how to meditate and finding her spirituality, and concluded in Bali, where she fell in love with a businessman from Brazil while looking for a balance between eating and praying. I read this at a time when I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life and it inspired me to change my path and focus on what mattered most - finding my own meaning in life and focusing on a career that I love.
Goble, Paul. The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses. MacMillan Publishing, 1986.
This children’s picture book tells a story of a young Native American girl with a deep love for horses. The caretaker of her tribe’s herd, she is with them when a thunderstorm stampedes them far from their home. The girl meets the leader of all wild horses, a spotted stallion who invites her to come and live with them. After a year with the wild horses, her family tries to bring her back home with them, but she misses the horses and falls ill. They agree to return her to the horses and legend has it she becomes one of them herself. Although this book was published when I was a teenager, my mother gifted it to me for Christmas because she said the girl reminded her of me. The author was also the illustrator, which again inspired me to do the same with my photography.
Gudis, Catherine. Sweet and Bitter Bark: Selected Poems by Robert Frost. The Nature Company, 1992.
A collection of classic poems written by Robert Frost that have the common theme of nature threaded throughout, divided by the topics of pasture, woods and weather. Influenced early in life by Frost’s work, I am particularly taken by Two Roads Diverged in a Wood and Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. His reflections of the experiences of nature still my mind and bring me peace. I often find the lines of his poetry scrolling through my mind when I am on my own walk in the woods. “The only other sound’s the sweep, of easy wind and downy flake. The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep. And miles to go before I sleep” (Frost).
Henry, Marguerite. Misty of Chincoteague. Rand McNally, 1947.
This is a fictional adventure based on a real place and pony who became a celebrity because of it. It’s a great coming of age story about two children, Paul and Maureen, who live on the island of Chincoteague. They have a dream to adopt their own wild pony from the annual round up held on neighboring Assateague Island. After finding the one they want, they are outdrawn in the bidding by another boy. But fate intervenes and they get their young pony they name Misty. This is the first book I remember reading as a child and even now it tugs at my heart. As a child of seven or eight, I wrote a letter to Marguerite Henry and told her how much I loved her story. I also complimented her on the artwork within, not understanding John Wesley Dennis was the illustrator. She wrote back on a postcard with the image of the real life Misty and explained that she could not take the credit for the drawings but was happy I enjoyed her book. I remember feeling so honored that she wrote back to me herself. The story instilled in me the dream to adopt my own wild horse some day.
Kidd, Sue Monk. The Secret Life of Bees. Penguin Books, 2003.
A wondrous fictional story about growing up, coping with the pain life throws at you and the powerful relationships between women in the form of divine female power. Lilly is a young girl trying to find her way in life after losing her mother. She is taken in by an eccentric trio of African American sisters possessing a strong zest for life as well as beekeeping. The characters are complex, strong and wise. Kidd’s quirky and often perceptive portrayal of life in the deep South reflects the serious issues of racism and religion with reverence and humor. I enjoyed reading this story because it renewed my faith in the goodness of people.
Lewis, C.S. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Geoffrey Bles, 1950.
A fiction novel written for children and teens, the first of seven that make up the Chronicles of Narnia series. Most of the story is set in Narnia, a land filled with mythical creatures and talking animals. This place is accessed by four English children through the back of an old wardrobe in their uncle’s country house. The siblings seem to fulfill an old prophecy and are soon trying to save Narnia and their own lives. This book sparked my imagination as a child, and, like Watership Down, fed into my belief that there is much more to animals than meets the eye. Even now when I write about animals, there is an emotional, even spiritual connection to them that comes through.
Marmon Silko, Leslie. Ceremony. Penguin Group, 1977.
In this fictional book, Silko writes about Tayo, a World War II veteran of mixed ancestry, returns to the Laguna Pueblo Reservation. He is deeply scarred by his experience as a prisoner of the Japanese and further wounded by the rejection he encounters from his people. Only by immersing himself in the Indian past can he begin to regain the peace that was taken from him. Masterfully written, filled with the somber majesty of Pueblo myth, Ceremony is a work of enduring power. Ceremony is a very unique story that gave a beautiful and complicated point of view of Native American culture and folklore. I very much enjoyed the intertwining of Tayo's present, past, and the Native American myths and legends. For me, this was a tale of healing and understanding and finding your place in the world.
O’Hara, Mary. My Friend Flicka. Dell, 1941.
This nonfiction story centers on Ken McLaughlin, the young son of Wyoming ranchers and his relationship with a wild horse he captures and gentles. Flicka is seriously injured while trying to get away but she and Ken grow close while he attends to her wounds and helps her heal. In the process of saving his filly, Ken becomes gravely ill, but recovers when he hears Flicka is still alive. The boy saves the horse and the horse returns the favor. This book implanted in me the desire to see wild horses and rescue my own someday. Because of Mary O’Hara, I had a longing for Wyoming and its wild creatures long before I ever made the pilgrimage there myself.
Rawls, Wilson. Where the Red Fern Grows. Doubleday, 1961.
This classic fictional novel is a timeless coming of age story about a boy, Billy, who saves his money for two years to buy and train two Coonhound hunting dogs in the forested region of the Ozark Mountains near his home. It is a powerfully emotional testament to love, hard work, family and the beauty of nature. In describing his joy at picking up his two pups at the train station, “I knelt down and gathered them into my arms. I buried my face between their wiggling bodies and cried. The stationmaster, sensing something more than two dogs and a boy, waited in silence” (Rawls). One night Old Dan and Little Ann tree a mountain lion, and defend Billy when the cat attacks. Eventually, they kill the mountain lion, but Old Dan is badly wounded and dies late that night. Little Ann stops eating, and dies of a broken heart a few days later on Old Dan's grave. Months later, Billy goes to visit the graves of his dogs and finds a red fern growing between them. According to Native American legend, only an angel can plant one. The loss of Old Dan and Little Ann brought tears to my eyes and an ache that was felt in my heart.
Ray, Janisse. Ecology of a Cracker Childhood. Milkweed Editions, 1999.
I was inspired to read more of Ray’s creative nonfiction after being transported beside a stream into her short story, the Exaltation of Elk, published in Wildbranch. This book encompasses her childhood growing up in a junkyard in Southern Georgia. She weaves together stories of her life with the descriptions of the flora and fauna of that region, “amid a beauty too reckless to return” (Ray). Her description of place and the affinity she has with it inspired me to look differently at the natural surroundings I live my life in and to observe more closely the trees and wildlife where I call home.
Sewell, Anna. Black Beauty: the Autobiography of a Horse. Henry Altemus Company, 1897.
This classic work of literary fiction tells the tale of Black Beauty, a young horse who lived in the early 1800’s. Told from the horse’s perspective, it follows his life from the time he was a young colt frolicking in idyllic country pastures to his dark days of pulling a cart on the cobble-stoned streets in London. His experience with both kind and cruel owners is an authentic depiction of the treatment of animals during the Victorian era when they were mostly viewed as dumb beasts. In the end, Beauty finds love and happiness in his last home. Anna Sewell’s first and only book showed animals in a new light, one of emotion and intelligence, and turned many minds toward laws for their welfare. It changed the world for animals and for me, a young girl who had always looked at animals the way Sewell did.
Stillman, Deanne. Mustang: The Saga of the Wild Horse in the American West. Houghton Mifflin Co., 2008.
I read this ‘literature of the horse in the American West’ as preparation and research for my journey to the wilds of Wyoming and Montana. An all-encompassing history of how wild horses returned to North America and the often tumulus relationship with humans, this book tells their story with passion and heart-rending honesty. The Mustang still runs wild in the American West, but for how long, no one knows.
Warner, Gertrude Chandler. The Boxcar Children. Albert Whitman & Co., 1942.
Originally published in 1924 and reissued in a shorter version in 1942 by Albert Whitman & Company, this fictional children’s book tells the story of four orphaned children, Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny who make a home for themselves in an abandoned railroad car they find in the forest. They eventually go to live with their grandfather, who moves their beloved boxcar to his backyard so they may use it as a playhouse. Reading this story as a child sparked my vivid imagination and fueled many “adventures” in my own woods near our home.
Williams, Terry Tempest. Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place. Vintage Books, 1991.
I read this creative nonfiction book as part of a writing course and it's still on my shelf. It’s a wonderfully written, layered story about family, nature, life and death. The only constants in nature, as in life, are change and death. Terry Tempest Williams has had her share of both. Her story resounds with the death of her mother and grandmother from cancer, tied to nuclear weapon tests conducted in the nearby Nevada desert. Woven among her account of personal devastation are her descriptions of changes in bird life at the sanctuary along the shore of the Great Salt Lake as water levels rose during the unusually wet early 1980s and threatened the nesting grounds of dozens of species. In this world of shattered eggs and drowned shorebirds, Williams reckons with the meaning of life, alternating despair and beauty.
Williams, Terry Tempest. Finding Beauty in a Broken World. Vintage Books, 2009.
In this nonfiction collection of essays, Williams’ compassionate meditation on how nature and humans both collide and connect affirms a reverence for all life. She constructs a narrative of hopeful acts, taking what is broken and creating something whole from it. Ranging from Ravenna, Italy, where she learns the ancient art of mosaic, to the American Southwest where she observes prairie dogs on the brink of extinction, to a small village in Rowanda where she joins genocide survivors to build a memorial from the rubble of war, Williams searches for meaning and community in an era of physical and spiritual fragmentation. I read this book prior to traveling out West to photograph and write about wild horses. Her narrative about the prairie dogs, or “prayer dogs” as she calls them, provided me with a new perspective on observing animals in the wild and I would have been happy if the book had simply focused on her experiences with them in Bryce Canyon. "Clay-colored monks dressed in discreet robes of fur stand as sentinels outside their burrows, watching, watching as their communities disappear, one by one, their hands raised up in prayer" (Williams).