NATIONAL BESTSELLER &bull\; \;The #1&n bsp\;New York Times \;bestselling author of \;The Perfect Horse&nb sp\;and \;The Eighty-Dollar Champion \;presents a &ldquo\;heartwar ming [and] engaging folk-hero biography&rdquo\; (Kirkus Reviews) of a woma n who fulfilled her lifelong wish to see the Pacific Ocean by riding her h orse across America.
\n&ldquo\;[Letts] vividly portrays an audacious woman whose optimism\, courage\, and good humor are to be marveled at and admired.&rdquo\;&mdash\;Booklist\, starred review
\nIn 1954\, sixty -three-year-old Maine farmer Annie Wilkins embarked on an impossible journ ey. She had no money and no family\, she had just lost her farm\, and her doctor had given her only two years to live. But Annie wanted to see the P acific Ocean before she died. She ignored her doctor&rsquo\;s advice to mo ve into the county charity home. Instead\, she bought a cast-off brown gel ding named Tarzan\, donned men&rsquo\;s dungarees\, and headed south in mi d-November\, hoping to beat the snow. Annie had little idea what to expect beyond her rural crossroads\; she didn&rsquo\;t even have a map. But she did have her ex-racehorse\, her faithful mutt\, and her own unfailing beli ef that Americans would treat a stranger with kindness.
\nAnnie\, Ta rzan\, and her dog\, Depeche Toi\, rode straight into a world transformed by the rapid construction of modern highways. Between 1954 and 1956\, \;the three travelers pushed through blizzards\, forded rivers\, climbed m ountains\, and clung to the narrow shoulder as cars whipped by them at ter rifying speeds. Annie rode more than four thousand miles\, through America &rsquo\;s big cities and small towns. Along the way\, she met ordinary peo ple and celebrities&mdash\;from Andrew Wyeth (who sketched Tarzan) to Art Linkletter and Groucho Marx. She received many offers&mdash\;a permanent h ome at a riding stable in New Jersey\, a job at a gas station in rural Ken tucky\, even a marriage proposal from a Wyoming rancher. In a decade when car ownership nearly tripled\, when television&rsquo\;s influence was expa nding fast\, when homeowners began locking their doors\, Annie and her fou r-footed companions inspired an outpouring of neighborliness in a rapidly changing world.
\nParticipation is limited to 15 people.
\nDes cription courtesy of Amazon.
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