Latest Instagram Photos
       
|
||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||
Thursday, May 03, 2018
You Don't Have to Burn A (Wild Horse) Book to Censor It I've never laid my life on the line for a story, and it's coincidence that the most recent "Of course you didn't interview BLM about wild horses" remark came on World Press Freedom Day. The reader was talking about Wild at Heart: Mustangs and the Young People Fighting to Save Them, my non-fiction book published by Houghton-Mifflin-Harcourt. The book's credibility has been honored without BLM. It's a Junior Library Guild selection, winner of the Sterling North Heritage award for Excellence in Children's Literature and has been honored by Western Writers of America, National Science Teachers Association and American Association for the Advancement of Science. For nearly a year, I negotiated and nagged for interviews about BLM's wild horse and burro program. Didn't happen. But it's important to me that you see how it didn't happen. My last correspondence before the publication of this book is posted below. 
Tom
Gorey, Senior Public Affairs Specialist July
23, 2014
Bureau
of Land Management
1849
C. Street NW
Washington,
D.C. 20240
Dear Tom,
As you know, I’m writing Wild at Heart:
Mustangs and the Young People Fighting to Save Them for
Houghton-Mifflin-Harcourt. This non-fiction book for young readers will be
published in Fall 2015.
In January of this year, Lisa Ross at
BLM’s Carson City office told me that all on-the-record responses must go
through you. I’ve contacted many BLM staffers since then, but received no
official statements. A partial list:
1/23/14: E-mail to
Tom Gorey, introducing project, asking for interview; he said he’d have to
check with wild horse and burro staff.
2/3/14: E-mail to Gorey
seeking update
2/4/14: E-mail from Gorey
indicating response is in the works; e-mail from Jeff Krauss asking for
questions in writing and “don’t hesitate to call” invitation
2/11/14: E-mail
questions to Krauss
2/19/14: E-mail
requesting update from Krauss
2/24/14: Melissa
Farlow, photojournalist working on the project, contacts Krauss since they’ve worked
together in past. Krauss responds
quickly but with no answers.
3/19/14: E-mail to
Krauss requesting follow-up to written questions
4/11/14: E-mail and
phone requests to Gorey and Krauss repeating offer to let them cherry-pick the
questions they wish to answer.
4/25/14: Phone calls
to former BLM staffers to ask about possible sources of information are met with enthusiasm. They, too, are told no current
staffers are authorized to speak.
5/5/14: Phone and e-mail
to Jeff Fontana, BLM California, and Lisa Reid, BLM Utah. Neither receives
authorization to answer questions.
5/5/14: Gorey e-mails
that he will respond to my voicemail request for update, copies Krauss. No
answers. Last contact with Gorey and Krauss
6/3-4/14: After phone
conversations, Debbie Collins asks for a brief history of e-mail exchanges with
BLM staff and list of questions. These are supplied. Last contact with Collins.
6/4/14: Fontana e-mails positive BLM news story from
2006. Last contact.
My publisher has pushed back Wild at Heart’s due date to give BLM more time to respond, but we’ve bent as far as we can. If I hear nothing by Aug. 1, 2014, we’ll reluctantly publish without comments from your agency.
Sincerely,
Terri Farley
CC: Neil Kornze, Director of
BLM
Before Wild At Heart, I'd had a conflicted but cordial relationship with BLM staffers, but now it's routine for government agencies to spurn or stonewall the press and public. That's not safe. Attention must be paid, even if what you hear is silence. Labels: BLM, Bureau of Land Management, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Junior Library Guild, mustangs, National ScienceTeachers Association, Western Writers of America, Wild at Heart, wild horses, World Press Freedom Day Permalink to this blog post Posted by Terri Farley @ 12:50 PM 0 comments  
Tuesday, May 30, 2017 5 WILD HORSE MYTHS: Alt-Facts Lead to Deadly New Budget for Mustangs
Budget 2018 calls for killing all wild horses and burros in Bureau of Land Management holding pens. That's about 44,000 equines according to BLM and roundups continue. BLM records show more mustangs "gathered" in the first three months of 2017 than were captured in all of 2016. Few voters want wild horses killed, but they’re bombarded by myths which infer there's no choice. Labels: animals, BLM, books, education, government, livestock, mustangs, Nevada, phantom stallion, politics, rodeo, rural, terri farley, West, Wild at Heart, wild horses, writing Permalink to this blog post Posted by Terri Farley @ 10:15 PM 0 comments
Wednesday, November 23, 2016 WILL WILD HORSES BE THANKFUL FOR YOU? 
".. we have saved
about 25% of the horses so far. When you look at how many are still
out there, your heart breaks. But, for the horses that have been saved, it is EVERYTHING. The situation is fast coming to a close, and I can't imagine it being a happy one. We officially have 7 days left. It is terribly
painful to get to know these horses and realize that we won't be able to
save them all.
The
stallions are fighting non stop as we break their hearts. Every time
we steal their families, they fight more and it is obvious they are
hurting. They run the fence line, screaming for their families.
My heart is breaking and it makes you
physically ill. Every night when your head hits the pillow, it all
comes crashing down. Knowing how many of these horses will probably be
slaughtered, the stallions especially, is too much to bear.
These horses never ever did anything to deserve this. There is too much pain here to cry away, but every morning you get back up and start over.
We
will keep fighting until the bitter end and bring home as many horses as we have funding for.."
Here's how you can help:1) Make a $50 tax-deductible donation here: http://www.chillypepper.org/donate--support.html  Labels: books, donate, foals, horse slaughter, mares, Palomino Armstrong, phantom stallion, stallions, Wild at Heart, wild horses Permalink to this blog post Posted by Terri Farley @ 11:08 PM 0 comments
Monday, August 22, 2016 FINGER-PAINTING WILD HORSES Equine therapy can counter the trauma of being over-poweredI've read that, but I've never watched average children become more comfortable and confident in such a short time. The fusion of art and horses, concentration and joy is something that should be shared over and over again -- Terri
I'm at the Wild Horse Sanctuary Open House, setting up to sign my book WILD AT HEART: MUSTANGS AND THE YOUNG PEOPLE
FIGHTING TO SAVE THEM. I’m surrounded by mustangs and young people who
love them. Watch as they page through the
book, I can see their imaginations ignite with what they could do to help. It was a
magical day + 100% of the book sales went to support wild horses.
 When Flora senses her pinto friend Fancy nearby, her hooves stay still, but her head – bigger than a child’s torso – whips around and her body vibrates with a neigh. Even then, the children just back away. Their confidence in Flora, her minders, and themselves has grown to the point where they’re back to work in seconds. 
Labels: art, art therapy, books, California, children, equine therapy, fingerpainting, Palomino, rescue, Shingletown, Wild at Heart, Wild Horse Sanctuary, wild horses Permalink to this blog post Posted by Terri Farley @ 7:16 PM 0 comments
Sunday, May 15, 2016 Book Kids are Wild at Heart Q&A with Terri Farley Meghan Goel of BOOK PEOPLE, an independent bookstore in Austin, Texas, interviewed Terri Farley about her new book Wild at Heart and the fired-up kids that inspired her. Meghan Goel: Why did you write this book for kids now? Terri Farley: I had to write Wild at Heart before it was too late. I’d been writing The Phantom Stallion fiction series since 2002 and young readers fell in love with the West’s wild horses. In my stories, I could write happy endings for mustangs, but if round-ups continue at the current hectic pace, my readers might never see mustangs running free. And oh, do they want to! Kids from all over the world write to me, vowing to come West just to see them. Like most adults, kids don’t know that mustangs and the lands they roam actually belong to them — the American public. Wild horses captured by the government are not going from homes on the range to greener pastures. Often, they go to Mexican slaughter houses. and they want to know how they can help. My book got its sub-title – Mustangs and the Young People Fighting to Save Them — because I want to empower kids – not crush their hopes. Kids are relieved to learn the young people I interviewed for Wild at Heart are not perfect. Some of the featured young people were able to turn their own pain from abuse and bullying to empathy and action for the mustangs. Other kids in the book use their skills – singing, social media skills, and understanding of animals – to make a difference. No matter how much these kids may struggle in other aspects of their lives, when they stand up for wild horses, their courage is contagious.
MG: What do you hope kids will take away from Wild at Heart? TF: I hope I show them they’re worth having the author of a book come to talk with them. That may sound strange, but just today, in Austin, two little girls asked me why I was so dressed up. When I told them it was because I was coming to see them, they were giddy. Kids don’t live in the past, so I search for up-to- the-minute facts on everything to do with wild horses. The scientists I interview admit they’re generous with their time because they want to give young readers access to non- politicized facts. To read the complete Q&A and more about WILD HORSES click here Labels: Austin, BLM round ups, BookPeople, books, children's books, HMH books, horse slaughter, independent bookstores, Meghan Goel, mustangs, phantom stallion, public lands, school visits, Texas, Wild at Heart, wild horses Permalink to this blog post Posted by Terri Farley @ 11:43 AM 0 comments
Sunday, April 17, 2016 Some Book Reviewers Just GET IT
Wild at Heart: Mustangs and the Young People Fighting to Save Them
Photographs by Melissa Farlow. 2015. 208pp. $19.99 hc. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 978-0-544-39294-6. Grades 4-12
This book tells of the
plight of wild horses in America. Beginning with the history of
prehistoric horses to the efforts to protect wild horses from being
driven off public lands in the 1970s, Farley provides
a look into the world of
wild horses and their treatment. Farley explains how the government has
passed laws to protect these horses and then systematically has
broken its own laws or has twisted them
to suit the needs of others.
Recommended
School Library Connection suite at
www.librariesunlimited.com.
Labels: books, creative nonfiction, horses, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, leadership, librarians, libraries, Melissa Farlow, terri farley, Wild at Heart, wild horses Permalink to this blog post Posted by Terri Farley @ 2:53 PM 1 comments
Monday, March 14, 2016 Wild Horse Annie : She Fought for Wild Horse & Children
In ranching jeans or white gloves and home sewn suits, Velma Johnston fought to save the West's wild horses and inspired American kids to do the same
“Crest Donner Pass, pass foothill towns and swoop downhill toward the neon-edged casinos of Reno. Just before the Virginia Street exit a white cross rises skyward on your right. It marks Hilltop Cemetery, but you can't just turn right and get there. You won't happen upon the grave of Velma Johnston, the woman who preferred the at-first derogatory nickname Wild Horse Annie, either. Call for directions, pick up a map at the office and you'll still spend time walking head down into the wind before you kick aside leaves and find her. There's nothing peaceful about the horses sculpted on Annie's gravestone, nothing to hint she held off wild horses' extinction for decades because she knew where to turn for help. "I can almost see the star and stripes waving in their eyeballs when I tell them that these horses belong to all the people of America..." Wild Horse Annie knew in the 1960's and '70's that America's young people's hearts beat in time with those of wild horses. They still do.”
by Terri Farley 2015
Labels: Melissa Farlow, mustangs, Nevada, terri farley, Velma Johnston, Wild at Heart, wild horse Annie, wild horses Permalink to this blog post Posted by Terri Farley @ 9:39 AM 0 comments
|
||||||||||||
|
Home | Books | The Author | Connect | Education | Wild Horses © Terri Farley |
