The Ride of Her Life: The True Story of a Woman, Her Horse, and Their Last-Chance Journey Across America by Elizabeth Letts

This book was exactly what was needed after reading Caste. The Ride of Her Life recounts the journey of Annie Wilkins from Maine to California on horseback with her trusty dog at her side. Annie lived in near abject poverty on a farm in Minot, Maine with her uncle. After he died and struggling with poor health, she decided to sell the farm and take the meager profits to live out her childhood dream of seeing the Pacific Ocean. Given only 2 years to live, she decided that there was no better time in her life to give it a go.

In addition to her dog, Depeche Toi, Annie rescues an old horse, Tarzan, who was destined for the slaughter house and the three take off in mid-November, 1954. For over a year they traverse the country, guided by maps that were picked up in gas stations along the way. The reader shivers with her as she makes it through blizzards, feels how soaked she is after nearly drowning in a wash in the western mountains, and worries about her health and the health of her four-legged companions. In Tennessee, she is given the gift of another horse, Rex, who helps bear some of the burden of her gear and also helps transport Depeche Toi at times. There are some terrifying accidents along the way that are precipitated by the traffic encountered on the highways and the weather. Through all this the reader is rooting for Annie to make it to the west coast along her circuitous routing. 

The account by Letts leaves the reader longing for the days in the United States when people were kind to each other and were eager to help and aid a poor woman on the journey of her life. One acquaintance sent Annie note cards that she could autograph and sell. Annie was becoming famous thanks to all the publicity that was given to her by newspapers and the fledgling television news shows. A family offered her to stay with them for the holidays, a woman dying of cancer met her on the roadside with a card table, table cloth, and tuna casserole, and a rancher in Wyoming offered his hand (and ranch) in a marriage proposal. 

Perhaps, one of the most notable features of the book is the way Letts weaves in a lot of history. For those who lived through the 1950s, it provides a bit of nostalgia as well as many bits of trivia that one did not know. From the history of Milton Bradley games to the discussion of medical care and payment and her appearance on Art Linkletter's tv show, it adds so much to Annie's account. The research, cited at the end of the book, was scholarly, but the book was a heartwarming tribute to a woman who had courage, perseverance, love of animals, and the resilience to make it all work. A wonderful and uplifting read.

 

Caste by Isabel Wilkerson

What can be said about one of the most powerful books that I have ever read except WOW! In building on the book The Warmth of Other Suns,  Wilkerson examines the disparity between the words of racism and caste in her discussion of the the state of the United States. She masterfully uses metaphors and simile as she documents the history of the United States' caste system.  

The treatise explores the caste systems of India, Nazi Germany, and the United States. She freely admits that in the United States caste and racism are interwoven and it can be difficult to separate them. But she does define them succinctly on page 70 of the book:

" Any action or institution that mocks, harms, assumes, or attaches inferiority or stereotype on the basis of the social construct of race can be considered racism. Any action or structure that seeks to limit, hold back, or put someone in a defined ranking or seeks to keep someone in their place by elevating or denigrating that person on the basis of their perceived category, can be considered casteism."

She cites numerous examples of how this system of caste has evolved in the United States and most are quite painful to read. Her comparison of the crowds in Germany waving Nazi flage in supporting Hitler's campaign against those in the lower caste (Jews, homosexuals, and gypsies) to those who gathered in the South to witness lynchings. The violence exhibited against those in the lower castes were nothing less than sadistic and dehumanizing. In our country even the lowest whites, so far down in the caste system consider themselves above the highest Blacks. The Obama presidency has led to a backlash and realization that by 2042  the majority of the citizenry of the US will be people of color. Such resentment by the whites and the desire to maintain caste contributed to the results of the 2016 election. 

Perhaps one of the most painful examples of this caste system is in Wilkerson's discussion of the Eight Pillars of Caste - Purity versus Pollution. The upper caste does not ever want to touch anything from the castes beneath. In 1951 in Youngstown, Ohio, Al Bright, a little league baseball player was forced to sit outside a swimming pool while watching his other teammates frolic and revel in their championship victory. When one of the coaches finally convinced the life guards that Al should be at least allowed a few minutes in the pool, he was put on a float and never allowed to touch the water. 

I was so privileged to hear Wilkerson speak as a part of the Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures Ten Evenings series. Her articulate examination of caste and her emotional discussion of it was inspirational. It was heightened when the son of Al Bright introduced himself to her and the audience. 

This book deserves a second and third read as we try to come to an understanding that it is humanity and an appreciation that we are all in this together as the only way to escape the hate and derision that a caste system fosters. It should be required reading for all.