Sculpture in downtown Idaho Falls pays tribute to popular children’s author who once lived here

This sculpture of Billy Coleman and his dogs from “Where the Red Fern Grows” sits on the northeast side of the Idaho Falls Public Library. Marilyn Hoff Hansen of Idaho Falls created it in the 1990s as a tribute to Wilson Rawls, who wrote the book. He lived in the area at the time. Stewart Petersen portrayed the lead character in the 1974 film. In the video clip above, he recalls his experience working with Rawls on the set. | Rett Nelson, EastIdahoNews.com IDAHO FALLS – For Marilyn Hoff Hansen, sculpting and painting is a passion that has earned her recognition across the country. The 94-year-old Idaho Falls woman has been sculpting since she was old enough to hold clay in her hands. She’s had work displayed at universities and galleries nationwide, including at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. and has won numerous awards. She specializes in sculpting figures, like people and animals. Horses are featured in her most prominent pieces. “I grew up on a horse,” Hansen tells EastIdahoNews.com. Much of her art was made in an old milk barn on the family farm near the Old Butte Soccer Complex. The building had been converted into a studio decades earlier and houses many of her unfinished projects to this day. Although retired from doing commissioned work, Hansen still spends time on creative projects in her home. Of all the work she’s created through the years, Hansen counts her depiction of Billy Coleman and his dogs from the book “Where the Red Fern Grows” as one of her favorites. The sculpture sits on the northeast side of the Idaho Falls Public Library and was created over the course of several months back in the 1990s. Memorial of Wilson Rawls depicting Billy Coleman and his dogs from “Where the Red Fern Grows.” | Rett Nelson, EastIdahoNews.com Hansen recalls how the project came about. “The principal at Temple View Elementary asked me if I’d do a memorial for Wilson Rawls (the author of ‘Where the Red Fern Grows.’). The fifth grade is reading that book, he said, and how many cookies would it take (for me to make a sculpture),” says Hansen. Rawls lived in Idaho Falls when he wrote the book, and they wanted a memorial paying tribute to him. Hansen recalls initially making a small model of the current statue for the school. It “toured around town for a year” before the city got involved. “The city got behind that and said they’d like to have me do that piece,” says Hansen. RELATED | Rigby painter proud to carry on his mentor’s legacy 40 years after his death The models for the dogs were a pair of red tick hounds in Blackfoot. She used multiple grandchildren as the model for Billy, one of which is her granddaughter, Amanda Ward, who now works as an Idaho State Police trooper. Idaho State Police Cpl. Amanda Ward, center, with two kids at Target during Shop with a Cop in 2023. She was one of the models for Hansen’s sculpture of Billy Coleman. | Nate Sunderland, EastIdahoNews.com During that time, busloads of students, teachers and librarians watched her make the sculpture. “I gave each person a little wad of clay and said ‘You can put this anywhere you like. You know I’ll have to move your clay but you’ll know your clay is in this sculpture.’ I never worried about vandalism because they owned that piece,” Hansen says. The statue was installed in front of the library in 1999. A dedication ceremony was held on Aug. 12, 1999, according to the Museum of Idaho. Hansen says it was well-attended by the community. Memorial placard on the back side of Hansen’s sculpture. | Rett Nelson, EastIdahoNews.com They knew him before he was famous Decades before Hansen constructed her memorial, Rawls had come to Idaho seeking work for what was then the Atomic Energy Commission on the Arco desert. He lived in Idaho Falls and would take a bus to Arco. He eventually tired of the long bus ride and got a job working for Jimmy Stewart, a sheep rancher in Monteview. Before coming to Idaho, Rawls had spent some time in prison — twice in Oklahoma and once in New Mexico. The Bear Grease Podcast reports that in 1933, Rawls was convicted of stealing chickens and served 18 months in prison. Seven years later in New Mexico, he was sentenced to two to three years for breaking and entering. He spent time writing during this time. RELATED | The man who paved the way for Idaho Falls becoming the home of Idaho National Lab Stewart passed away last year at age 95, but his daughter, Karen Stoddart, shared her memories of Rawls’ time on the family farm in an interview with EastIdahoNews.com last year. “He came in the summers with the threshing crew,” Stoddart says. “He lived and worked in Arizona part of the year. He was a carpenter by trade. He (helped harvest) our second hay crop and grain and built many of our wooden head gates.” Rawls worked at the Stewart farm every summer for about six years. The house he lived in during that time still exists. The house Wilson Rawls lived in while working on the Stewart farm. | Courtesy Mud Lake Museum After several summers, Stoddart’s mom introduced Rawls to Sophie Styczinski, a family friend and AEC budget analyst who eventually became his wife. Rawls had previously written the story that became “Where the Red Fern Grows” before coming to Idaho. It had been Rawls’ dream to be a writer since reading “Call of the Wild” as a kid, but he had a limited education. At 16, Rawls left home to find work to support his family during the Great Depression. Rawls worked all over the country and returned home to Oklahoma “each fall to hunt and work with his family,” says a written history about Rawls obtained from the Mud Lake Museum. “He took the stories he had written and locked them in an old trunk.” As Rawls worked on the Stewart farm, Stoddart’s mom heard about his manuscript, which reportedly had numerous grammatical and other errors. Stoddart recalls her mom reading it and providing corrections. Rawls and Styczinski were married at the First Presbyterian Church in Idaho Falls. Stewart was Rawls’ best man, according to Stoddart. Embarassed by his lack of education, Rawls had burned his manuscript days before the wedding and given up on his dream. When he confided in Styczinski about it, she helped him rewrite it, edit it and get it published. The story was originally published in 1961 for The Saturday Evening Post. It was printed in three installments under the title, “The Hounds of Youth” before being released as a novel later that year. It didn’t become popular until it was marketed to teachers and schools. Rawls’ second and last book, “Summer of the Monkeys,” was also written in Idaho Falls. Rawls was 71 when he died on Dec. 16, 1984. Wilson Rawls, left, and the cover of “Where the Red Fern Grows” | Courtesy photo Stewart Petersen, the actor who portrayed Billy Coleman in the 1974 film version of “Red Fern,” says he and Rawls, who narrated and consulted on the film, became very close during their interactions on set. “I was playing his young boyhood life,” Petersen says. “He took me under his wing and we became friends pretty quickly. I always admired him because of his goodness towards me.” Petersen describes Rawls as a “good man” who was “genuine and down to earth.” Petersen shares more of his experiences on the film, including how he got the role and what he’s doing now. The interview will be published in its entirety in an upcoming episode of “It’s Worth Mentioning.” Watch a snippet of our conversation in the video above. Stewart Petersen recounts his experiences as a child actor in “Where the Red Fern Grows” in an interview with EastIdahoNews.com | Rett Nelson, EastIdahoNews.com Art that’s still appreciated That fifth grade class involved in watching Hansen sculpt the statue of Billy Coleman and his dogs has since grown up. Hansen recalls students writing her letters after it was complete. “I got the cutest letters back of what they were going to tell their children (one day),” says Hansen. “Now time has passed and they’re grown up and I’ve wondered what they did tell their children.” Rawls lived in the Idaho Falls area from 1958 to 1975, according to the Oklahoma Historical Society. He and his wife later moved to Wisconsin, where they lived until his death. Chloe Doucette, the Museum of Idaho’s managing director, says Rawls never saw the sculpture paying tribute to him. Hansen’s sculpture remains a popular piece of art all these years later. She just sent a smaller replica to a woman who is adding it to a sculpture garden about children’s books at the University of Oklahoma. The few months she spent making the sculpture three decades ago is a pleasant memory for Hansen and she’s delighted people still appreciate it today. “That was definitely (one of my favorites) and I enjoyed having the kids come out to see it,” she says. Statue paying tribute to Wilson Rawls in front of the Idaho Falls Public Library | Rett Nelson, EastIdahoNews.com The post Sculpture in downtown Idaho Falls pays tribute to popular children’s author who once lived here appeared first on East Idaho News.
Source: eastidahonews.com