Wilson Rawls
| Woodrow Wilson Rawls | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 24, 1913 Scraper, Oklahoma |
| Died | December 16, 1984 (aged 71) |
| Occupation | Author |
| Nationality | American |
| Genres | Children's novels |
Woodrow Wilson Rawls, (September 24, 1913 – December 16, 1984) was an American writer best known for his books Where the Red Fern Grows and Summer of the Monkeys.
Contents |
Childhood [edit]
Wilson Rawls was born on September 24, 1913 in Scraper, Oklahoma to Minzy and Winnie (née Hatfield) Rawls. He grew up on a farm in the Ozark Mountains, the setting he described in his novels. There were no formal schools in the area, and Rawls's mother taught Wilson and his sisters to read and write. The Rawls children's education was supplemented with books Rawls's grandmother purchased. The books tended to be what Rawls described as “girl books" such as Little Red Riding Hood and Chicken Little, and Rawls lacked interest in reading them.
His grandmother eventually gave Rawls a book more to his liking: Jack London's The Call of the Wild. Rawls later remarked that the book changed his life. He carried it with him wherever he went, and when he was about ten years old, Rawls decided he wanted to write a story similar to it. After sharing this desire with his family, Rawls's father told him he would need an education to become a writer. Rawls used reading as a way to educate himself, reading a large number of books, and developed an appreciation and passion for different writing styles and genres.
Rawls started writing by describing the places and surroundings of his home, scribbling on dusty country roads and sand banks along the river where he lived.
Rawls attended junior high school in Muskogee, until he was forced to leave due to the Great Depression.
Teen years and early adulthood [edit]
When Rawls was fifteen, the United States economy entered a depression, prompting his family to leave their Oklahoma home for California; however, the family's convertible broke down near Albuquerque, New Mexico, where Rawls's father found a job.
As an adult during the 1930s and 1940s, Rawls became a carpenter and traveled to South America, Canada, and Alaska. He wrote five manuscripts during this period, including Where the Red Fern Grows. Rawls's original manuscripts contained many spelling and grammar errors. Because of this, he kept the manuscripts hidden in a trunk in his father's workshop.
In the late 1950s, Rawls worked for a construction company on a guided missile range in the Southwest. Later, he transferred to a construction site near Idaho Falls to work on a contract for the Atomic Energy Commission. Rawls lived in a cabin near Mud Lake. While working there, Rawls met his future wife, Sophie Ann Styczinski, a budget analyst for the Atomic Energy Commission. The couple married on August 23, 1958.
Later adulthood [edit]
Even though Rawls's novels received much praise, he was perhaps most influential as a motivational speaker. Rawls visited 2,000 schools in twenty-two states before being diagnosed with cancer in 1983. Although Rawls and his wife had no children, he felt that he had many children in his fans. He once commented,
"Children are always asking me what advice I can give them on trying to be a writer. I always tell them to do a lot of reading, read and study creative writing, then start writing and keep writing and then they can be a writer too. Someday they will make it if they don’t give up."
The only audience of his first sand-scribbled stories was his pet, a Bluetick Coonhound.
Novels [edit]
- Where the Red Fern Grows (1961)
- Summer of the Monkeys (1976)
Awards for his novels [edit]
Where the Red Fern Grows:
- Evansville Book Award—Division III, Evansville-Vanderburgh
School Corporation (1979)
- Michigan Young Readers Award—Division II, Michigan Council of Teachers of English (1980)
- Children's Book Award for the Older Child, North Dakota (1981)
- Twelfth Annual Children's Book Award, Massachusetts (1987)
- Great Stone Face Award, New Hampshire(1988)
- Newbery Honor Award
Summer of the Monkeys:
- Sequoyah Children's Book Award, Oklahoma Library Association (1979)
- William Allen White Children's Book Award, Emporia State University (1979)
- Golden Archer Award, University of Wisconsin (1980)
- Maud Hart Lovelace Book Award, Friends of the Minnesota Valley Regional Library (1980)
- California Young Reader Medal Award (1980)
- California Reading Association (1981)
- California Library Association, California Media and Library Educators Association (1981)
- California Association of Teachers of English (1981)
- Children's Book Award for the Older Child, North Dakota (1981)
Audio Books [edit]
Where the Red Fern Grows (1988)
References [edit]
- “Childhood Memories Relived.” (1997). Retrieved from http://www.ifpl.org/index.asp?p=rawls/life
- Franson, Robert Wilfred. (2002). “Review of Where the Red Fern Grows.” Children’s Literature Review. Ed. Scot Peacock. Vol.80. Detroit: Gale. Literature Resource Center. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/start.do?p=LitRC&U=naal_aub
- Holtze, Sally. (1989). “Rawls, Wilson.” Sixth Book of Junior Authors and Illustrators. The H.W. Wilson Company. Biography Reference Bank. Retrieved from http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com.spot.lib.auburn.edu/hww/results/results_single_ftPES.jht
- Trelease, Jim. (2002). “Author Profile: Wilson Rawls.” Children's Literature Review. Ed. Scot Peacock. Vol.80. Detroit: Gale. Literature Resource Center. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/start.do?p=LitRC&U=naal_aub
- “(Woodrow) Wilson Rawls.” (2004). Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale. Literature Resource Center. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/start.do?p=LitRC&U=naal_aub
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