Jesse Stuart: An Extraordinary Life

Gifford and Kazee have relied on never-before-seen letters, first-hand accounts shared by family members and friends, primary documents graciously donated by individuals and organizational entities, newspaper articles, other Stuart biographies, his autobiographies, and their daily contact with Stuart and his work through the Jesse Stuart Foundation. This biography provides insight into how both Stuart's closest friends and most distant fans viewed him, without hiding his eccentricities. Some have called his work overly sentimental; other have called it valuable and brilliant. His place in literature is controversial, the tales he wrote about himself suspect. But the influence of his works and the importance of his works and the importance of his life made him a national icon, a hero to America's teachers, and a friend to the thousands of people he met and inspired.