What are you reading?

Monthly feature coordinated by Alan Rose

By Judy MacLeod

What would you do if you had two years to live, no money, no relatives, and had lost your three-generation family farm in Maine? Annie Wilkins, 63, always dreamed of seeing the Pacific Ocean, so with a bed roll, a few supplies, an old horse named Tarzan, and a two-year old dog named Depeche Toi (French for hurry up,) she set out on a 4,000 mile trek to the west coast.

While traversing the U.S. one step at a time, she experienced blizzards, downpours, stifling heat in the Great Divide Basin and Red Desert, a flash flood, and thwarted a gas station robbery. When crossing the Rockies, she realized, “you can be so worried about the challenge in front of you that you fail to realize that you’ve been chipping away at it all day.” Sound advice for anyone facing today’s challenges.

Journalists relayed her journey as the nation opened up their hearts and homes, welcoming this hobo stranger. Letts chronicles Annie’s adventures along with interweaving local history, geography, culture, and everyday life in 1954. This is a “must read,” the heart-warming story of a proud, determined woman who embraced life in a changing America.

•••