Elizabeth Letts is author of “The Ride of Her Life.” Photo by Ted Saunders
Lincoln County Historical Association plans to host a Zoom presentation with New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Letts at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 16.
Letts’s recent book, “The Ride of Her Life,” profiles the true story of Annie Wilkins, her horse, and their last-chance journey across America. This presentation is one of many programs related to Women Writers of Lincoln County offered by the association this year.
Submitted photo
Determined to see the Pacific Ocean before she died, Annie ignored her doctor’s advice to “take it easy,” choosing instead to purchase a cast-off horse named Tarzan, dress in men’s dungarees, and with her faithful mutt, Depeche Toi (French for “hurry up”) in tow, head south in mid-November of 1954, hoping to beat the snow, according to a news release from the Wiscasset-based association.
Personifying the American spirit — determination, grit, bravery, adventure, good humor — Annie and her four-legged companions captured the hearts (and media attention) of people everywhere. In a decade when car ownership nearly tripled, television’s influence was quickly expanding, rotary phones became widely embraced by the masses, and when homeowners began locking their doors, this motley crew inspired an outpouring of kindness and hospitality in a rapidly changing world, the association notes.
Later, Wilkins wrote of her adventures in “The Last of the Saddle Tramps,” then retired to Whitefield.
To register, visit lincolncountyhistory.org, navigate to “events” and find it listed under “upcoming events.”
A form will request email addresses, and registrants are given the option to make a donation.
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