Overview

Ransom ""Doc"" Wilcox's ventures began in Taber, Alberta, Canada in 1907, but he was soon whisked to the back country of Northern California where his family farmed, tended livestock, and sometimes survived via hunting and fishing-always with dogs and horses. Once, when the hunter became the prey-of a charging wild boar-Wilcox stuck a pole he was carrying into the ground and climbed up! Another time his Australian Shepherd saved him from a mad pig. Wilcox's love of animals, music, and the great outdoors flows in his nature-themed tales (fiction and nonfiction). They convey courage, devotion, and perseverance with warmth and sincerity. ""A bit of everything: adventure, melancholy, joy...common sense and pathos.... Simple language and homespun charm."" - Barbara Mojica, Top 1,000 Reviewer Explore this 42-page, tween/middle grade book with eclectic characters, a physically challenged protagonist, happy horses, and pups today (for ages 9 and up). Don't miss the online extras, and read/listen to Wilcox's International-Book-Award-winning western: To Swallow the Earth. Approximately 8,000 words edited by best-selling author and college media instructor Karl Beckstrand (Samuel Sailing: The True Story of an Immigrant Boy). Discover Beckstrand's 60 multicultural books and get free ebooks and lesson plans: PremioPublishing (worldwide rights Sept. 2013), libraries, and major book distributors. 5.25"" x 8"" soft cover YA book with images, also an ebook. JNF002000, NAT001000, NAT016000, BIO023000, PET004000, JUV039150, JUV015020; YNNH4, YNNJ24, YNNF; LCCN: 2013913405, ISBN: 978-0615856162, (ebook ISBN: 978-1301904747)

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9780615856162

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Ransom Wilcox was born in Taber, Alberta, Canada, in 1907. Because he was sickly, it was suggested that the family move to California. They bought land in Vina, north of Chico, but financial hardship forced them to move in search of work. They farmed, tended livestock, and did a lot of hunting and fishing in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Once, to escape a charging boar, Wilcox stuck a pole he was carrying in the ground and climbed up! One season the family lived in a tent while the men worked cutting hay. Another year, Wilcox joined his father and brothers in Arizona, building a school on an American Indian reservation. Many elements of Wilcox's stories come from his early experiences. In 1943 he enlisted in the army. After the war, the Great Depression, and a divorce, Wilcox finished his schooling and opened a chiropractic practice off Union Square in San Francisco. Wilcox's friends called him Ray (for R.A.) or Doc. Besides writing, Wilcox loved to walk in the great outdoors. Near the end of his life, he joked about leaving his body to science; ""I'm sure they can use my brain. It's in perfect condition-never been used."" His suspense novel, ""To Swallow the Earth,"" is available in paperback and ebook versions.

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