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Idaho Falls Public Library
457 W. Broadway
Idaho Falls, ID 83402
(208) 612-8460
fax: (208) 612-8467
Thursday, May 23, 2013 |
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W. Wilson Rawls
Dreams Can Come True
More Biographical Information
about Wilson Rawls:
Extracts from article from
Post-Register of March 17, 1974
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Wilson with James Whitmore
and Stewart Petersen
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Childhood Memories Relived
Idaho Falls author prepares to attend world
movie premier of his book
"Where the Red Fern Grows"
(Selected material from article printed in Post-Register on March
17, 1974.
The complete article is available on microfilm at the Idaho Falls Public
Library)
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"During those 10 days last fall down on the river in Oklahoma, I saw my entire
boyhood relived. It's beautiful country, fine acting, and it's a wonderful
movie. It's going to become a classic."
This is the feeling expressed by Wilson Rawls, author of one of the nation's
best-selling children's books "Where the Red Fern Grows." Rawls' book a story
recalling the days of his youth in the Ozarks, has been made into a movie.
Rawls and his wife spent a great deal of time on location in Oklahoma when the
movie was being made. For the movie, a house identical to that of Rawls' home
as a youngster was constructed by the Cherokee Indian nation and has now been
moved to an Indian village as a tourist attraction.
"It is hard to believe that all this could happen to a person like me," notes
this very personable author.
Rawls' story is as interesting as his book. When he was a young man his family
left his Oklahoma, bound for California, but only made it as far as New Mexico.
Rawls, having very little education took up carpentry as an occupation. He
recalls always having a desire hovering in the back of his mind urging him to
write. It was during his younger years that he wrote five manuscripts including
"Where the Red Fern Grows," but due to his lack of education he would feel
ashamed each time he reread them. "The spelling was bad and I know absolutely
no punctuation. I was so ashamed of my work that I burned all five
manuscripts."
In the late 1950's, he was working for a construction company on a guided
missile range in the Southwest, which obtained a contract at the AED Site west
of Idaho Falls. Rawls was then transferred to this area.
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Sophie and Wilson Rawls
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Not enjoying the long bus rides to the site, he soon obtained a cabin in the
Mud Lake area. It was in Mud Lake, that he met his wife.
After telling her of burning his five manuscripts, Mrs. Rawls convinced her
husband to start rewriting It was early in the 1960's when he completed
rewriting "Where the Red Fern Grows." She then undertook the job of editing the
book, getting it ready to send to the publishers.
"Saturday Evening Post" purchased the rights to the book and printed it in
serial form under the name "Hounds of Youth." After this, Doubleday and Company
Inc,. printed "Where the Red Fern Grows" in book form. It became an extremely
popular book for teachers who liked to read to their students in grade schools.
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When the book started to show signs of being a success Doubleday started
booking speaking engagement for Rawls in schools across the nation. "I always
take my second original manuscript of 'Where the Red Fern Grows' to show the
youngsters. I want to stress to them how important it is to learn to spell,
punctuate, and mainly how important it is for them to stay in school. They
always look at the manuscript in disbelief. I hope I have some effect on these
youngsters, I so enjoy each and every one of them."
Late in 1972, a film representative from Hollywood, Lyman Dayton, arrived on
the Rawls' doorstep, asking for the rights to the movie and vowing he would not
change the name or the version, Rawls then agreed to sell the company the
rights.
"We heard rumors about the film but nothing ever real important. I just figured
that they had decided to drop the entire matter, maybe due to high production
costs, etc.
Then one day late last summer, Mrs. Rawls and I were getting ready to go
fishing, a pastime we especially enjoy. The phone rang, it was Lyman Dayton
calling from Oklahoma, wanting us to drive down. He said there was something
down there he wanted us to see. Not having anything better to do at the time we
decided to go. Dayton had told us to drive down to the river where I was born.
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"When we arrived I'd never seen such excitement; the road to the river was
blocked for a mile or so with cars and people. We finally made our way to a
gate where a guard was posted. Still not knowing what to expect, I told the
guard I was Rawls and I thought someone was expecting us. 'They sure are,' the
guard said, and told us to walk down to the river.
It was hard to believe when we reached the river, there was my old home rebuilt
and all the actors on location.
I stayed for 10 days and relived my youth. It was wonderful.
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Rebuilt Rawls' homestead
Photo from New Era Magazine April 1971 issue
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The Rawls recently returned from Hollywood where they were shown the movie.
Also, Rawls recorded the narration for the movie. "I have never done anything
like this before; I was like a fish out of water. I am a real worrier. I even
get sick on such occasions, however, after a couple of bad starts, it went
smoothly until the end. I then had trouble and finally actor, Jack Ging came to
my rescue, calming me down and telling me to be natural. I was then able to
finish the narration." |
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This information was drawn from the materials collected by
Madelaine Love in 1997 as a part of the "Woodrow Wilson Rawls: Dreams Can Come
True" research project funded by a grant from the Idaho Humanities Council and
the Idaho Falls Public Library. The original interview tapes and transcripts,
photographs and other materials are housed in the Idaho Room of the Idaho Falls
Public Library and used with permission. Any use without permission is
expressly forbidden.
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