Maya Linder loves to watch asthe wild horses of Assateague Island off the shores of Maryland and Virginia are rounded up and driven into the water sothey can swim during slack tide , heads straining forward , salt water dancing in their manes , tothe nearby island of Chincoteague for auctioning . “ The horses were calm ,” Linder , a sixth-grader inHoboken , recalls of past family visits to the annual Pony Penning Days hosted bythe islands each July .“ One horse had abird on its back , but didn ’ t care .” The scene , as brief at5-10 minutes as it is thrilling , isthe same one that moved Lettie Teague , anauthor and award-winning wine columnist for The Wall Street Journal , asachild — when she read adepiction ofthe ceremony in the bestselling book Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry . Teague grew up in Indiana , Ohio , and North Carolina , pining for her own horse for years . Her mother encouraged her love ofhorses inpart by buying her Henry ’ sbooks .
“ The one that really resonated for me was Henry ’ s Born to Trot ,” says Teague , who lives inMontclair with her husband . The true story isabout ayoung boy with tuberculosis whose father , afamous harness racer and trainer , gives him a filly tohelp him recover .
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NO HORSING AROUND ( Above ) Teague with her favorite horse Tenderly . ( Opposite ) Teague with her latest book , Dear Readers and Riders .
Four years ago , Teague began looking for information onHenry ’ s life . She was shocked tofind that no one had written Henry ’ s biography . “ Henry wrote 59books , and somany ofthem were bestsellers ,” she says . “ How is it possible that this woman who did so much and somemorably , who resonated sodeeply with readers , and whose 1947 book , Misty of Chincoteague , still sells 50,000 copies ayear , does not have abiography ?”
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With the encouragement ofher agent , Alice Martell , Teague traveled to the University ofMinnesota , where Henry ’ spapers are housed , and Wayne , Illinois , where Henry spent most of her life . The trips left Teague inspired , but hesitant .“ Ithought , this is crazy , I ’ m awine columnist , Iwrite wine books ,” says Teague .“ Theoretically , Ihave no right towrite abiography ofa children ’ s author , but on the other hand , why not ?”
Martell , Teague ’ s agent , was supportive . “ I ’ m always happy when clients do something completely different ,” she says . Teague took the leap , and on May 21 , her book Dear Readers and Riders : The Beloved Books , Faithful Fans , and Hidden Private Life of Marguerite Henry , will be released by Trafalgar Square Books .
Researching and writing Henry ’ s biography took nearly three years , complicated bythe fact that Henry was very private and left little ephemera . She was , however , adiligent researcher . “ For The White Stallion ofLipizza , she wrote to alibrarian in Vienna to learn about the sound aclock made ,” Teague says .“ She took multiple trips to Skiatook , Oklahoma , to stand in the fields and see what it felt like to be in the Osage grass .”
Henry , who published books from 1940 until her death in1997 atage 95 , wrote back toevery child who sent her afan letter .“ We ’ re talking tens of thousands ofletters over the years ,
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PROVIDED BY BRUCE JAFFE |
20 MAY 2024 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE |