Warning, readers. This is a longer post than usual, but I
hope you’ll find it’s worth every word.
This advice, like much advice, is simple on the surface
but more complicated when it comes to real life. I support organizations that have
proven to be successful in accomplishing things globally by
providing services and support locally.
Sustainable, life-changing support.
Some examples are:
Click on any of the above to learn more about their
approaches, although I suspect most of you are already familiar with these
organizations. I invite you to suggest others in the comments.
Atheneum Books for Young readers, 2001 |
My awareness of Heifer International began when I read a picture
book, featuring one real girl and her family. BEATRICE’S GOAT, written by Page
McBrier and illustrated by Lori Lohstoeter, released in 2001. It’s a winning
story of how Heiffer International programs change lives and provide the
catalyst for communities to change themselves. Here’s a link to learn more
about how Beatrice seized her opportunities and used them to the maximum.
I’ve supported this organization ever since, always
knowing their person-to-person programs make the most of the limited dollars I
could contribute.
Recently I learned about the origin story that was totally
unknown to me. And again, it reached me through a picture book. In this case,
it’s THE SEAGOING COWBOY, written by Peggy Reiff Miller and illustrated by Claire
Ewart (Brethern Press, 2016).
Brethren Press, 2016 |
An inspired midwest community decided to provide donated
breeding stock to farmers whose land and lives had been left in ruins. But
their valuable horses and heifers needed to arrive in good condition.
Knowledgeable “cowboys” volunteered to tend the pregnant cows and horses on
their voyage from the United States to Poland and other countries most in need.
These men dealt with seasickness, storms, and the delivery
of a calf named HOPE during their passage. Upon arrival they were met with a landscape of
devastation and faces of hopefulness. The illustrations capture the mood,
setting, and challenges described in Miller’s simple rhythmic text. The author
included back matter (text and archival photos) that reveal further details of
life aboard ship and accounts of other voyages by some surviving volunteer cowboys.
Her author’s note provides context for the needs addressed and the impact of
those initial efforts, as well as her resources for assuring authenticity in her story. She continues to post interviews with various “Seagoing Cowboys” on her blog, here.
I’m very pleased that Peggy was willing to answer some questions
for me about the origins of her origin story in this debut picture book.
Welcome, Peggy, and
congratulations on the March, 2016 release of THE SEAGOING COWBOY.
PRM: Thank you!
Your website header
says you’re a writer and historian. You also indicate you’ve been writing for
many years, producing manuscripts for a variety of audiences and outlets. Why
did you choose picture book format rather than a longer form to share this
particular history?
PRM: I actually chose a longer format first. I had started out writing a YA novel about a 16-year-old seagoing cowboy to Poland, which did get written, revised, and rewritten a few times after major workshops, such as a Highlights Foundation workshop and the Big Sur Children's Writing Workshop. But the market for straight historical fiction for young adults without a fantasy or romance element went south. So it's resting. While I was working on the novel, I went to an SCBWI conference and had the opportunity to submit a nonfiction manuscript to one of the editors there. So I drafted a nonfiction picture book manuscript about the seagoing cowboys, which was rejected. A couple of revisions and a couple of years later, it was picked up by Brethren Press and through the editing process turned into the historical fiction story of The Seagoing Cowboy.
Few people have
heard of the post-WWII origins of the Heifer Project on which your
fictionalized book is based. How did you learn about the seagoing cowboys?
PRM: I grew up in the Church of the Brethren, which
started the Heifer Project in 1942. Most all involved members knew about the
project and participated in some way or other--raising heifers, donating money,
or transporting animals. So I had heard about seagoing cowboys as a kid, but I
didn’t know that my Grandpa Abe had been one of them. After Grandpa died, my
father gave me an envelope of pictures from his trip to Poland in 1946. Those
pictures beckoned to me for a long time and became the impetus for my novel and
the resulting research.
With so much
research and so many personal stories collected, what shaped your decisions
about the narrator and the cowboy in your book?
PRM: As I said, I had started out writing from the
viewpoints of three grandpas telling their stories. But that was just too
cumbersome, and my editor and I realized I needed to write the story from the
perspective of one cowboy in the historical setting and not as a grandpa
looking back in time. I decided to use an unnamed narrator who would represent
“every cowboy” and add a friend so there could be a consistent companion. I’ve
always been captured by John Nunemaker’s experience of finding his own family’s
horse on his ship, so when I needed something to help create a storyline, I
borrowed his story and named the friend John.
What goals will you
use to judge your response when someone asks, “How is your book doing?”
PRM: I’ll base my response on comments I get back from
readers and not on sales numbers. Brethren Press is a small press that can’t
get into the large distribution networks, so I’m not anticipating mega-sales.
The book has had a wonderful reception so far by seagoing
cowboys and their families, as well as members of the Church of the Brethren
who share this history. Heifer International staff are excited to have this
part of their history told.
One of my main goals in getting the book published was to
offer a way for families of seagoing cowboys to be able to honor the service of
their loved ones and share the story with succeeding generations. From the
responses I’m getting, I’ve hit the mark on that one! It’s very humbling and
rewarding at the same time to receive their notes of appreciation.
The mission of Heifer International includes training and the expectation of a pay-it-forward
commitment from recipients. How are the principles of the current organization
rooted in the original Heifer Project?
PRM: The intention of the original Heifer Project
Committee and the Brethren Service Committee under which it served until
incorporation in 1953, was to provide help to the neediest of farmers without
regard to race, religion, or nationality. Heifer International continues to
operate in that vein. And they operate on the basis of their “Twelve
Cornerstones,” where each community that receives Heifer’s assistance receives
training in values such as accountabiliy, sharing and caring, gender and family
focus, improved animal management, sustainability and self-reliance, etc. But
the main cornerstone that makes Heifer so special and in tune with the original
program is “Passing on the Gift.” To participate in the program, recipients
pledge to pass on the first female offspring of their animal to another family.
This gives the original receiver the dignity of becoming a giver and expands
exponentially the outreach of the program. The “Pass On" ceremonies pictured on
Heifer’s website are very moving.
Please tell readers
about your current projects?
PRM: Always too many to get them all done! I have a
Seagoing Cowboys website that I’ve recently revamped and write a regular twice-montly
blog on it about seagoing cowboy history. I’m currently working with Heifer International
as a historical consultant, researching a book project on the shipments they
made to Germany throughout the decade of the 1950s, helping Germany in their
recovery from World War II. A writer in Germany is working on that end to find
the recipients with the information I’m feeding him, document their stories,
and write the book.
Outside of my work with Heifer, I’m independently working
on a book about the first decade of the Heifer Project, which I’d love to have
ready by Heifer’s 75th anniversary in 2019, but I have my doubts I’ll make that
deadline. I’m also working on a book for adults about the seagoing cowboy
history, and would like to do a middle grade nonfiction book on this topic, as
well. I have another historical fiction picture book manuscript drafted related
to the shipments to Germany in the 1950s, which I’m ready to start submitting.
And my novel will beckon to me at some point to try again. Not to mention
several other picture book manuscripts waiting for attention.
You indicated a
lifelong “itch” to write, and that you’ve now found your way to embrace your
writing self and find outlets to share it with readers. Do you have any advice
for others who have felt (or are just now feeling) that itch to write?
PRM: If the itch is for writing for children, I’d say join
SCBWI, the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. That was one
of the best things I ever did. It’s where I found my wonderful critique group,
and where I’ve been able to participate in conferences to learn from other
authors, editors, agents, and publishing professionals. Without the conferences
and my wonderful writers group, The TaleBlazers, I wouldn’t be where I am
today.
Thank you, Peggy. It’s
been delightful to virtually meet you here and learn more about your own voyage
to sharing these amazing stories.
I urge readers to request THE SEAGOING COWBOY at your library or
independent bookstore. Share the story on social media and help others learn
about it. When the problems of the world loom so overwhelming that hopelessness
rears its head, books like this one remind us that problems are solved one
person at a time.
For more about the early days of this organization, check
out another picture book from Brethern Press, FAITH, THE COW, written by Susan
Bame Hoover and illustrated by Maggie Sykora.
Don't hesitate to chime in on comments with suggestions of other inspiring true stories and organizations.
Don't hesitate to chime in on comments with suggestions of other inspiring true stories and organizations.
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