library - Friends of the Idaho Falls Public Library

Thanks to The : Museum of Idaho. Did you know the novel *Where the Red Fern Grows* was written in Idaho Falls? Wilson Rawls had always wanted to be a writer, bu...t had little formal education in the Ozarks, and had terrible spelling and grammar. Rawls moved to Eastern Idaho in 1956, first to Mud Lake, then 11th Street in IF. In 1958, he burned his manuscripts out of embarrassment so his fiancee Sophie Styczinski would never see them. When he confessed to this after their wedding, she implored him to re-write one, which he did from memory in three feverish weeks. Sophie edited it and prepared it for publication. That book, *Where the Red Fern Grows,* has sold millions of copies and is now required reading in many American schools. You can learn more about Rawls at the wonderful Idaho Falls Public Library, where this statue stands in his honor. Rawls would have turned 105 years old today. Born and raised in Oklahoma in poverty and with little access to formal education, Wilson Rawls resolved to become a writer after his mother taught him to read. He went on to work for the Atomic Energy Commission in Idaho in the 1950s and published Where the Red Fern Grows (1961) and Summer of the Monkeys (1976). He and his wife, Sophie Ann Styczinski, a budget analyst for the Atomic Energy Commission, lived in Idaho Falls, Idaho, until 1975, nearly 20 years. As a public speaker, he spent much of his time in schools inspiring students to read and write. Rawls died on this day in 1984.

February 7 & 8 (Friday and Saturday) Come out and see what we have.

Romances on Sale Feb 6 and 7!