Wilson Rawls is the author of Where the Red Fern Grows. Researching more about him will help you learn his purpose for writing the book and other interesting facts.  This web page is about Wilson Rawls’ childhood, his teens, and his adulthood.
Born in 1913, Wilson Rawls grew up in Scraper, Oklahoma.  At that time there were no schools in the area where he lived.  His mom taught him and his sisters how to read and write.  She taught them how to read by reading books to them and then having them to read to her.  Each child would read two pages until the book was finished.  His mom read books such as Little Red Riding Hood and the Little Red Hen.  One time his grandmother ordered a book called The Call of the Wild.   That book changed his life.  He was only ten years old but he developed a great love for reading and wanted to be a writer.  Eventually a school was built and he attended for a few years before dropping out in the eighth grade.
    His father was teaching him to be a carpenter but he really wanted to be a writer.  He thought it would be wonderful if he wrote a book like The Call of the Wild.  He started trying to describe sounds he heard.  His first writing was done in the place where he grew up.  He would write outside sitting on a dusty road or beside a sandy riverbank.  When he was fifteen years old, he and his family moved to Oklahoma.  Not long after that he left home and traveled around looking for work.
    He kept writing no matter where he traveled.  He never dared to show his stories to anyone because he was so ashamed of his spelling, grammar, and punctuation.  While he was in Idaho he met Sophie Styczinski.   In 1958 Sophie and Wilson decided to get married but just before they did, he gathered all of his stories and burned them.  Even though he burned the stories he still wanted to be a writer.  He told Sophia of his dream to be a writer.  He told her how he had burned the stories before the wedding.  She encouraged him to not give up his dream of writing and told him that she would help him edit the book.  The first book he wrote was The Secret of the Fern.  He sent the book to publishers and they changed the name to Where the Red Fern Grows.  He wrote this book based on his personal experiences.  The book came out in 1961.  The book later came out in hard back.  He wrote another book in Idaho and was asked to speak to school children.  He told them about his childhood and encouraged them to never give up on their dreams One of the other books he wrote is The Summer of the Monkeys.  .  In 1975, Wilson and Sophia Rawls moved to Cornell, Wisconsin where Wilson died in 1984.