First published in 1963, this is a special 55th anniversary edition of Forever the Wild Mare, with a foreword by the author's daughter and photographs of the real-life counterparts who inspired some of the characters in the book-including the wild mare and members of Congress. This exciting, award-winning, groundbreaking, all-age story has helped to stimulate interest in natural habitat zoos, endangered species, Buddhism, prehistoric cave paintings, ways to curb juvenile crime, and respect for nature and animals. Set in the nation's capital, the book makes excursions into Central Asia and prehistoric Europe. Jebby Andrews, a transplanted junior high student, tries to reconnect with his rural Shenandoah County, Virginia, roots by becoming friends with the lonely Mongolian wild horse at the close-by National Zoo. An endangered species (Equus przewalski), this ancient breed has remained unrideable since days of the prehistoric cave paintings at Lascaux, France. Jebby wants to liberate the mare from her barren paddock and also ride her despite warnings from a wise Tibetan lama and kilted Scottish Central Asian explorer who fear for the boy, who is already being harassed by a gang of delinquent classmates. Jebby continues to seek his twin goals, leading to exciting midnight adventures at the Zoo and Washington's famed Rock Creek Park. This involves a U.S. senator, his young daughter, a Mongolian yurt, and a Bactrian camel. This fast-paced, well-researched prophetic novel has a timeless, close-to-nature quality. It has brought enthusiastic response from readers of all ages. Its author was a founder of the Friends of the National Zoo and a well known nature and animal protection writer.
About the Author: Ann Cottrell Free was born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1916. A graduate of Barnard College, she became the first woman Washington correspondent for the New York Herald Tribune, Newsweek, and The Chicago Sun, where she covered First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and wartime-Washington. After the war she served in China as a special correspondent for the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration and in Europe for the Marshall Plan. She later wrote for the North American Newspaper Alliance and was a contributing columnist for The Washington Post, The Washington Star, other newspapers and syndicates. In 1963 she received the Albert Schweitzer Medal from the Animal Welfare Institute for her investigative animal reporting. The publication of Forever the Wild Mare brought her many other honors, including the Dodd, Mead Boys' Life Writing Award. She initiated the establishment of the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge and presented testimony on numerous animal protection issues to Congressional committees. She was also a founder of the Friends of the National Zoo. She authored Animals, Nature and Albert Schweitzer, Since Silent Spring: Our Debt to Albert Schweitzer and Rachel Carson and a volume of poetry, No Room, Save in the Heart. She received the Rachel Carson Legacy Award in 1988 and in 1996 was inducted into the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame. Her oral histories are in the collections of Columbia University and the National Press Club. In 2004 she died at the age of 88 in Washington, D.C. A year later, the National Press Club Ann Cottrell Free Animal Reporting Award was established to inspire and encourage other journalists to follow in her footsteps. More information can be found at AnnCottrellFree.org