Elizabeth Atwood Lawrence

It's easy to call something "one of a kind"; but this book surely must qualify, by just about anyone's estimation. There was only one survivor of the 7th Cavalry debacle under Custer at the Little Bighorn: Comanche, the horse of Captain Miles Keogh. Can a true biography of a horse be written? If not, then what the heck is this book? You gotta love Elizabeth Atwood Lawrence. As she goes about doggedly tracing each and every aspect of this horse's history, she writes numerous letters to hapless authors who have claimed that Comanche was a Morgan horse. Prove it, demands Ms. Lawrence; and no one can. Every attempt to evade the question simply provokes another letter from Ms. Lawrence, insisting on evidence. She badgers an unhappy children's book illustrator no end and even forces the Smithsonian to back down on its pronouncements. Ah, well -- in the end Ms. Lawrence decides to leave the subject by allowing that Comanche probably was a Morgan; but it's clear she's keeping her powder dry.… (mehr)