SHEPHERD OF THE HILLS/HAROLD BELL WRIGHT, Ozarks, Branson town life

Description: SHEPHERD OF THE HILLS/HAROLD BELL WRIGHT, A.L. BURT edition c.1907 vintage book in VG+ condition from the 1912-1914 period, as the facing ad page lists Their Yesterdays ( released 1912), but not The eyes of the World ( released 1914). Nice cover illustration and 4 illustrations within by F. Graham Cootes. See also the John Wayne movie of the same title. The earliest editions were first released from the Book Supply Company, but Burt did widely distributed quality reprints. This is a nice subsequent A.L. Burt edition. The Shepherd of the Hills is a book written in 1907 by author Harold Bell Wright and illustrated by Frank G. Cootes. It depicts a mostly fictional story of mountain folklore and forgiveness, and has been translated into seven languages since its release.Wright began visiting the Ozark Mountains in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas in 1898 at the bidding of his physician, who recommended two vacations a year in a more suitable climate for health reasons. In following his doctor's advice, he became acquainted with John and Anna Ross, known locally as Old Matt and Aunt Mollie. The people he encountered during his eight summers spent camping on the Rosses' land were the inspirations for his characters in the book.The main story surrounds the relationship between Grant "Old Matt" Matthews Senior and Dad Howitt, an elderly, mysterious, learned man who has escaped the buzzing restlessness of the city to live in the backwoods neighborhood of Mutton Hollow. Howitt spends his time alone, acting as a mediator and friend to the mountain people, and trying to recover from his tragic past, which includes the prior deaths of his wife and children, and the later presumed madness and subsequent suicide of his only surviving child, his artist son (later referred to as "Mad Howard").Howitt's reclusiveness has earned him the moniker "The Shepherd of The Hills", yet he befriends the Matthews clan (the strongest and most respected family in the area) who come to love and trust him. Old Matt and the Shepherd's common history (which only The Shepherd knows at the outset) involves Old Matt's daughter, who died while giving birth to her son (and Old Matt's grandson), Pete Howard: unbeknownst to the Matthews, Mad Howard is Pete's father, and thus The Shepherd is Pete's grandfather.Harold Bell Wright (May 4, 1872 – May 24, 1944) was a best-selling American writer of fiction, essays, and nonfiction.[1] Although mostly forgotten or ignored after the middle of the 20th century, he is said to have been the first American writer to sell a million copies of a novel and the first to make one million dollars from writing fiction. Many movies were made from Wright's stories, including Gary Cooper's first major movie, The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) tJohn Wayne's The Shepherd of the Hills (1941).  Wright became a minister for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Pierce City, Missouri, and accepted other pastorships in Kansas, and in Redlands, California before leaving the ministry for writing.

Price: 52.5 USD

Location: Buena Park, California

End Time: 2025-01-15T02:24:35.000Z

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