1962-Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1962 June Voice | Page 7
Voice of the Tennessee Walking Horse
5
Mrs. Green was introduced to the
Tennessee Walking Horse at the 1961
Celebration. She was transplanted
from the quiet rural community in
Greene County, Alabama, directly
into the whirl of the Celebration
which featured 56,000 attendance in
six nights.
"When I saw those beautiful horses
I could understand why Ben loved
them so much and why folks all over
the United States write to us with
magazine subscriptions, book orders
and questions galore. They seem to
think Ben is a horse himself, because
only a horse could know the answers
to some of their questions,” says Mary
Frances.
Was Offered Stationery
Ben Greens At Work In Their “Office”
. . . Former Tuscaloosa Newsman. Wife In Tennessee
Ex-Tuscaloosan, Wife Keep
Shelbyville P.O. Walking7
Reprinted From the Tuscaloosa (Ala. News.)
SHELBYVILLE, Term.—An un
usual couple—married eight months
ago “to start new lives at 60’’—has
suddenly become one of the major
personal mail patrons of the Shelby
ville post office, according to post
master William R. Payne.
It’s all because of a book, a bro
chure and a breed magazine dealing
with the Tennessee Walking Horse—
for which Shelbyville is famous due
to the Tennessee Walking Horse Na
tional Celebration, Aug. 26-Sept. 1.
Payne says Ben A. Green, news
paperman of 37 years experience, and
his wife—Mary Frances Neville Green,
former postmaster at a fourth class
office in Knoxville, Ala., near Tusca
loosa—have deluged his office with
letter and package mail since early
December, 1961.
Green, former editor of The Tusca
loosa News, left Tuscaloosa about 10
years ago after having worked on the
paper more than 20 years.
Green in 1960 with a second edition
in 1961. The Greens operate from a
crowded small “office” in the home,
but often overflow into the dining
room and kitchen.
They average 20 to 30 letters a day
of incoming and outgoing mail.
The books sell for $7.50 everywhere
except Bedford County, where Green
slices the price one-third. His monthly
36-page magazine, Voice of the Ten
nessee Walking Horse, started publi
cation in March. Already it shows
2,000 paid subscribers.
The new Mrs. Green is happy de
spite all this hubbub.
"I’m Ben’s secretary,” she says, “but
it's hard to keep up with him.”
Knew Each Other
The two were married Aug. 17,
1961, in Tuscaloosa, but had known
each other 40 years. Their first mates
had died more than a year previously.
Mrs. Green says she inherited three
fine sons and four grandchildren by
the marriage—twin sons, 25, are Epis
Cars Parked in Weather
copal ministers in Tennessee and their
The Greens live in a modest home oldest brother, 31, is an associate pro
at 1110 S. Brittain St., but have to fessor at Western Reserve University,
park their cars in the weather because Cleveland, Ohio, with a doctor’s de
their carport is full of 6,000 books. gree in physics, Mrs. Green has a
They are “The Biography of the Ten foster daughter and a grandson who
nessee Walking Horse,” written by live in Tuscaloosa.
Shortly after the horse show Green
began work on a 20-page Celebration
brochure with a color picture of
world's champion Major Wilson
(crowned in 1961) on the front.
While talking with a friend about
printing the brochure, the friend of
fered Green enough stationery to mail
letters to 10,000 persons asking if they
wanted to subscribe to a breed maga
zine.
He and his wife got names from
several sources, took their last $500 in
the book fund (designed to pay ofE
book debts) and mailed the 10,000
letters during early December. Mrs.
Green became ill—but she got well in
a hurry when 75 letters brought $508
in the first return mail.
“We really do not worry about
those 6,000 books, but I’ll be glad
when we can put at least one car in
the garage and forget about the mort
gage on the house,” said Mary
Frances. “My biggest worry is trying
to slow Ben down. He had a serious
cancer operation almost three years
ago, spent 38 days in the hospital, and
is now on cancer probation.
"He also works at the Shelbyville
Times-Gazette, often day and night,
and I do not see how he can keep up
this pace.
She Wants A Honeymoon
"One other thing would make me
quite happy. I would like to catch up
with work, clean this house real good
for the first time in eight months and
take a few days for a honeymoon.
When we were married the honey
moon lasted only two days, then we
headed for Shelbyville because Ben
needed to help the paper get ready for
the Celebration.
“It’s all been hectic but fun," she
said, “and certainly unlike life down
home.”