Wilson Rawls
Wilson Rawls was an American author best known for his classic young adult novel, *Where the Red Fern Grows*, published in 1961. Born in 1913 in Oklahoma during the Great Depression, Rawls faced significant challenges due to limited formal education and a lack of confidence in his writing abilities. Despite these obstacles, he nurtured a passion for storytelling, heavily influenced by Jack London's *The Call of the Wild*. Throughout his youth, Rawls held various jobs across North America, all while writing and compiling manuscripts, though he eventually destroyed them due to self-doubt. Encouraged by his wife, he revisited one of these manuscripts, leading to the publication of his award-winning book, which tells the heartfelt story of a young boy and his two hunting dogs. Rawls also authored *Summer of the Monkeys* in 1976, which garnered similar acclaim. After achieving success, he became a prominent speaker in schools, sharing his life lessons about perseverance and self-belief. Rawls passed away in 1984, leaving behind a legacy that continues to resonate with young readers today. His works have been adapted into films, further cementing their place in American literature.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Wilson Rawls
- Born: September 24, 1913
- Birthplace: Scraper, Oklahoma
- Died: December 6, 1984
- Place of death: Marshfield, Wisconsin
Biography
Wilson Rawls bears testimony to the determination of a person with a dream. Largely self-educated and lacking confidence in his abilities as a writer, Rawls nevertheless went on to write one of the classic novels for young adults, Where the Red Fern Grows (1961), and to become an influential speaker in schools across the United States.
Rawls had little formal education at a time of great turmoil in the country. Born in 1913 in Oklahoma, he grew up during the Depression in a part of Oklahoma where schools were not available on a regular basis. Rawls and his sisters learned to read and write from their mother, who was provided books by their grandmother. Rawls’s mother read stories to the children and then asked them to read aloud from the same books. Rawls recalled being strongly influenced by Jack London’s The Call of the Wild, a book he took to heart and reread countless times. That experience fostered in him the secret dream and desire to be a writer.
Rawls left home at the age of sixteen and worked in a variety of odd jobs in many locales. He was a carpenter in Mexico, South America, and Alaska; a laborer on dam projects in the United States; a shipyard worker; an employee of the navy; and a lumberman in British Columbia. At the same time he was writing, stockpiling the manuscripts of five novels. Eventually, he began to work in Idaho at the Atomic Energy Commission, where he met his future wife, Sophie Ann Styczinski, a budget analyst.
Frustrated by what he perceived as his lack of ability as a writer and his insecurity about his lack of education, Rawls destroyed all of his manuscripts. When his wife found out what he had done, she encouraged him to rewrite one of his novels. With her help in editing the manuscript, Rawls went on to publish the award-winning Where the Red Fern Grows. The autobiographical novel, set on a farm similar to the farm where Rawls had grown up, tells the story of young Billy Colman, who trains two puppies to become prize-winning hunting dogs. The novel eventually became immensely popular and a classic of young adult literature. Rawls wrote only one other novel, Summer of the Monkeys, which also became popular with young people (1976).
Following the publication of his two novels, Rawls became a sought-after guest speaker in schools across the nation. He spoke to young people about believing in themselves and following their dreams, no matter how improbable they seemed. He drew upon the experiences of his own life as testimony to his message.
Rawls died of cancer in 1984. His papers are housed in the Archives and Collections Department of the Cherokee National Museum in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Both of his novels have been adapted into films, Where the Red Fern Grows in 1974 and Summer of the Monkeys in 1999.