Sunday Favorites: The Author and the Stallion

Black Beauty is arguably the most famous horse of the last century. Did you know Walter Farley, the author of the equestrian series lived much of his life in Venice, Florida? Here's the story of the man behind the beloved novels.

Walter Farley (1915-1989) grew up in Syracuse, New York, then moved to New York City at an early age. As a child he was obsessed with horses, he never owned one of his own, but his uncle was a professional horseman and Farley spent much of his time learning from him. Farley was amazed by the animal s ability to run, jump and trot on command, but he also admired its wild spirit, according to his website.

As a child, he always wanted to be a writer and his love of horses seemed like the perfect inspiration for his first book. He began writing The Black Stallion while he was still a student at Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn where his English teacher encouraged him to become an author. It took years to perfect his craft, and the book remained unfinished until he was a grad student at Columbia University. The Black Stallion was published by Random House when Farley was just 26 years old. His editor told him,  Don t figure on making any money writing children s books, but he disagreed. After all, he spent his childhood fascinated by his uncle s horses. He proved his point by developing The Black Stallion into a series with a cult following. His Black Stallion adventure stories were international sensations, selling millions of copies. The Black Stallion was adapted into a movie in 1979. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, it received two Academy Award nominations. Disney produced another movie from one of his books, The Young Black Stallion, in 2003. Farley and his wife Rosemary raised four children, Pam, Alice, Steve, and Tim, on a farm in Pennsylvania. After WWII, they purchased a beach house in Venice. Fla, and began to split their time between the two locations. Farley wrote many of his books while living in Venice and was an active member of the community. Farley was part of a group of local authors that met every Friday in downtown Sarasota to discuss literature over a friendly game of poker. They called themselves