Category: BSLF

THANKS FOR READING!!

Horse Tales Literacy Project

Horse Tales in Belle Glade, FL

 

Ah, Spring. That time of year for showers and flowers.
And final projects, final papers and the end of school!

And the Black Stallion reading program is coming to a classroom near you!
The program has tightened up over the last few years but, like NASA – lighter, cheaper and faster!
We keep moving along.

Here’s an article from out in Oklahoma where the first grade is having a wonderful time with Little Black, a Pony.

Take a look:
https://www.stwnewspress.com/news/highland-park-first-graders-take-annual-literacy-trip-turning-point/article_6c2ccab9-1d9d-536d-96f2-dc85fc9fd7d3.html?fbclid=IwAR0St5V2URfiiyxutf9mSydVXWld8B_bnCZX5dEPCyPelPyidhiZmkGrGpY

If your school never has had the program before, maybe next year is the year. Click here; http://wildhorsetales.org/

 

Don’t forget if you need a little luck for the Preakness race this Saturday you might want to pick up a Bucephalus of your very own.
The Black Stallion hardback now on sale at 50% off during the TRIPLE CROWN races!!

as always – thanks for reading … and writing!

Walter Farley Newspaper Article

Here’s a nice article that is in the Herald Tribune newspaper today about Dad and his literary landmark at the Venice Public Library.
Hope you get to visit sometime!

NEW: Walter Farley’s legacy lives on at Venice library

Published: Wednesday, May 22, 2013 at 10:52 a.m.

Dale White
The Walter Farley Literary Landmark in the children’s wing of the Venice Area Public Library is a showcase of memorabilia about the famous author of “The Black Stallion.”

 

The popularity of most children’s book authors may come and go with each generation.

Just a few years ago, though, when Random House released a hardback reproduction of the original 1941 edition of “The Black Stallion” by the late Walter Farley, it found no shortage of eager fans.

That hardcover edition continues to sell, with new and returning readers posting enthusiastic reviews on bookselling websites such as Amazon.com.

Today an exhibit about Farley, who lived in Venice for decades, continues to be a drawing card at the Venice Public Library — which he and his wife Rosemary helped get built more than 47 years ago.

County library system director Sarabeth Kalajian worked at the Venice library and remembers Farley well.

“He was a frequent visitor to the library and would come and hang out with the kids,” Kalajian said. “He was definitely fun-loving, always inquisitive, always doing research… Young readers today still really love his stories. They are adventures that take you to far-off places. Some have an element of mystery. The relationship of a youngster and a horse is an appealing theme.”

“The books are wonderful,” Nancy Pike, a former head of the Venice library who helped create the Farley exhibit there. “The message they give of ‘follow your dream’ is a universal message that never grows old.”

Who was Walter Farley?

Growing up in Syracuse, N.Y., and New York City, Farley — the son of an assistant hotel manager — never owned a horse but had opportunities to visit the stables of his uncle, a professional horse trainer.

While still attending high school in Brooklyn, he started work on what would become his first and most popular novel. Millions became enchanted by “The Black Stallion,” the story of a boy and a horse that survive a shipwreck.

In 1941, Random House published the book while Farley was still an undergraduate at Columbia University.

After service in World War II, Farley pursued a successful career as a children’s book author — writing sequels to “The Black Stallion” and many other books.

Shortly after the war, he and his wife started splitting time between their beach home in Venice and their farm in Pennsylvania.

He died at Sarasota Memorial Hospital in October 1989 after suffering a heart attack, just a few months after the Venice Public Library unveiled an exhibit about him and shortly before the publication of his final book, “The Young Black Stallion.”

Rosemary Farley, 94, died March 6 at her Venice home.

The Hollywood versions

Farley rejected offers from Disney and others to make a movie of “The Black Stallion” because the producers wanted to alter the story.

He eventually agreed to let Francis Ford Coppola produce the popular 1979 film of the same title, which critic Pauline Kael wrote “may be the greatest children’s movie ever made.”

The TV show inspired by the book and movie, “The Adventures of the Black Stallion,” lasted 78 episodes and still sells on DVD.

In his own words

Farley, in a 1980 interview with the Herald-Tribune: “When I look back on it, writing has been the perfect career for me. As I’ve said before, I’m a professional observer and I like to put my observations on paper. I suppose if I hadn’t become a writer I would have found a career related to my interest in horses.”

A ‘Literary Landmark’

When the Venice Public Library unveiled an exhibit about Farley in its children’s wing in 1989, it called the glass-enclosed showcase the “Walter Farley Literary Landmark.”

Today, the exhibit still contains Farley’s typewriter, saddle and many personal letters and photos.

His son, Tim Farley, maintains an active website about his father’s legacy, TheBlackStallion.com, and, in his memory, oversees the Horse Tales Literacy Project, which encourages children to read.

Thanks Dale! – Enjoy the Ride!

TF

MOM – 3/6/2013

   

     

       

My Mom, Mrs. Rosemary Farley, passed away yesterday. She had reached the incredible age of 94! Can you imagine all the things she had seen and done in her life? A NY model at 16 and married to Walter Farley in her twenties! Flying to South America on a Pan Am “Clipper” (4 days) and jetting to France for the opening of the Black Stallion movie on the Concord (4 hours)!
Four kids, two dogs, two cats and too many horses!
She loved her books and the world she created for herself and blessed the people she met with her sharp insight and wonderful world view. Everyone that knew Mom will miss her and her grace with quiet strength. I know I will.
You can add any comments on Alec Ramsay’s FaceBook page  or below in “comments”.  I’ll be adding more links and information about the memorial on this blog in the days to come.
You can donate to www.HorseTales.org in lieu of flowers.
ALWAYS LOVE YOU MOM!!!

Enjoy the ride – you never know when it may end.
tim