An Improbable Pioneer
They married on a sleety April night in 1911 and honeymooned across a South still recovering from the Civil War. Edith Sampson Holden, born into a prominent Boston family, fell in love and married Alec Healy, son of Utah immigrants, a MIT graduate and a Wyoming sheep rancher. Edith wrote wonderfully observant letters to her mother and friends about the land, ranching, Fourth of July picnics, dancing, adoption, travel to exotic locations, and the art of dying.
A virtuoso violinist in Boston, Edith mastered salesmanship on behalf of Girl Scouting and turned the Big Horn Basin into a 1,000-scout stronghold where girls learned to love tradition while flexing their adventurousness. Like Edith did.
Arranged chronologically with an introduction and commentary by Edith’s namesake and granddaughter, Edith Catherine (Cathy) Healy, Edith’s letters give a glimpse of everyday life as the Wild West was tamed. They show a woman rare for her time and a couple who fashioned a loving and unusual marriage. Edith and Alec lived ordinary lives in an extraordinary way.
They married on a sleety April night in 1911 and honeymooned across a South still recovering from the Civil War. Edith Sampson Holden, born into a prominent Boston family, fell in love and married Alec Healy, son of Utah immigrants, a MIT graduate and a Wyoming sheep rancher. Edith wrote wonderfully observant letters to her mother and friends about the land, ranching, Fourth of July picnics, dancing, adoption, travel to exotic locations, and the art of dying.
A virtuoso violinist in Boston, Edith mastered salesmanship on behalf of Girl Scouting and turned the Big Horn Basin into a 1,000-scout stronghold where girls learned to love tradition while flexing their adventurousness. Like Edith did.
Arranged chronologically with an introduction and commentary by Edith’s namesake and granddaughter, Edith Catherine (Cathy) Healy, Edith’s letters give a glimpse of everyday life as the Wild West was tamed. They show a woman rare for her time and a couple who fashioned a loving and unusual marriage. Edith and Alec lived ordinary lives in an extraordinary way.