Jannette Walls

If you have not read the two books by Jannette Walls about her family, you have missed reading two extremely engrossing stories.

The first book is the The Glass Castle: A Memoir (Simon & Schuster). This is a story of her childhood and eventual escape from the problems of two very strange parents. To say that Jannette was neglected is not accurate. Both her parents, Rex and Rosemary, loved their children, but dad was alcoholic and mom lived in an unreal world.

Walls tells of her three sisters and brother coping with parents who were unsettled and lived delusional lives. Beginning in Arizona and then migrating to Nevada and on to California then back to Arizona, the family never knew what "adventure" or disappointment was next.

They eventually go to West Virginia, Rex's native state, where life gets worse. The three older children finally find their way out of the poverty and despair of their West Virginia home to find their own lives.

The second book is one every reader will find this a gripping story. However, the second book, Half Broke Horses: A Biographical Novel (Simon & Schuster).  Even more gripping and profound, this story is of Walls' grandmother Lily Casey Smith.

The title comes from the practice of Lily and her father working with horses that had not been adequately broken and suitable to be work animals. She was able to ride and tame them. A frontier woman, Lily grew up in West Texas, the Hondo Valley of New Mexico, and matured in North Western Arizona.

Because of my love of and experiences in New Mexico, this story struck a note with me. The Hondo Valley in Lincoln County is a part of the New Mexico that holds fond memories for me. This is where Billy the Kid and the Lincoln County Wars took place. This is the place of Sheriff Pat Garrett and it is the place of the Coe Ranch. A book about the Coe Ranch kept me grounded in my second year in Viet Nam.

The story of this robust woman is fascinating. She takes on a teaching job in a remote part Arizona at age 15. She gets to the job by riding alone on horseback for over 500 miles. Untrained and not certified to teach, she, nevertheless, does the job. This only the beginning.

Read Half Broke Horses to find the origins Jannette Wall's own story.