After an eight-year courtship, they wed on a stormy Boston night in 1911 and honeymooned across a South still recovering from the Civil War. Edith Sampson Holden, born into a prominent Boston family, fell in love and married Alec Healy, MIT graduate, Wyoming sheep rancher, and son of Utah immigrants. Edith wrote wonderfully observant letters to her mother and friends about the land, ranching, Fourth of July picnics, dancing, adoption, advice for a girl entering high school, travel to exotic locations, and the art of dying. A virtuoso violinist in Boston, Edith mastered salesmanship on behalf of Girl Scouting and turned the Big Horn Basin into a 1,000-scout stronghold where girls learned to love traditional teas while also discovering their adventurous side. Like Edith. By 1936, Wyoming had the most Girl Scout campers per capita in the country. Because of Edith. Arranged chronologically with an introduction and commentary by Edith's namesake and granddaughter, Edith Catherine (Cathy) Healy, Edith's letters give a glimpse of everyday life as the Frontier closed. They show a woman rare for her time and a couple who fashioned a loving and unusual marriage. Edith and Alec lived ordinary lives in an extraordinary way.
About the Author: Cathy Healy, fourth-generation Wyoming advocate, crossed the mountains to see the world as journalist, novelist, magazine editor, and online producer and always returns home. Cathy is a former editor of Organization of American States AMÉRICAS magazine and National Geographic's award-winning intranet. She is currently vice president of LU Ranch (Worland, Wyoming) and advisory board member of the International Education and Resource Network (iEARN)-USA, University of Wyoming College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and World Comes to Wyoming Fund, of which she is the founder. After National Geographic, her life changing Reuters Digital Vision Fellowship at Stanford University has led to many new adventures, including working with Cèsar Chavez Preparatory Charter School in DC on international outreach, lecturing to worldwide audiences about opening borders with digital storytelling, and TED presentations. Her current emphasis is on how students can use video stories to gain deeper understanding of others and other cultures. Cathy has traveled for work and pleasure to fifty-one countries and savors hosting friends and family in her Washington, DC, home. An Improbable Pioneer is the culmination of her and her father's vision while working together to transcribe his mother's letters some years ago. This is Cathy's third published book.