Deb Aronson with the glorious smile. https://www.bedazzledink.com/deb-aronson.html
You grew up in the Midwest, I believe. Especially in St. Louis? And you had at least one sister and one brother. Yes, actually I’m the second of four. Two girls and then two boys. Were you an outdoorsy type. I’m thinking you were, considering the books you have written. I was more sporty than outdoorsy. I loved team sports. My family didn’t camp at all though I had a grandmother who taught me about birds. I still love to go birding. Did you ride horses when you were growing up? How about dogs and cats? Were they a part of your life?
Weirdly, I was not a horsey kid. My mom was, and one of my daughters was, but it skipped me! We had a golden retriever growing up, but I’ve had cats for the last 35 years, since I married my husband.
How did you end up in the New Bern area? We moved to this area because my in-laws live here. They are both in their 90s, living just down the road, and still are very independent. I love getting to see them!!
I actually grew up in Bethesda, MD. Met my future hubby in New Haven, CT, he proposed but was moving to St. Louis for work … so since I said yes, I went to St. Louis! We ended up in the Midwest for 30 years…Loved living in the Midwest.
What prompted you to write Rachel Alexandra? She sounds like a remarkable mare. I wanted to tell a story that kids would enjoy and Rachel Alexandra was in the news in 2009, when I was looking for a topic. I didn’t know much about the racing world, but I liked her distinctive blaze and the fact that she was racing and beating the boys. Girl-power story on four legs is how I describe her story. Tell us a little about her and what kind of research you had to do to learn her story. I had a career’s worth of interviewing people, but it was a little hard to break into the racing world. I started with the Kentucky Visitors’ Bureau which put me in touch with a woman who said I should really talk to Hal Wiggins, Rachel Alexandra’s original trainer. He opened all the rest of the doors for me, but basically my research was interviewing everyone connected to Rachel that I could and reading all the news accounts of her exploits. She has a kind face and intelligent eyes. She is a really smart horse. Her jockey, Calvin Borel, always talked about how he was just a passenger. She didn’t have to always run in front. …but she seemed like a strategic runner…Bay horses are especially beautiful. What is her lineage? Medaglio D’oro was her sire, and Lotta Kim was her dam. And was or is she a good broodmare? Rachel had two offspring, but then she almost died from an infection after giving birth.
The cover of this book is delightful and grabs the reader immediately. What is the premise of this story? Well, this photo appeared in the obituary of Anna Merz in 2013. As you say, it grabbed my attention! As I read all the obituaries of this remarkable woman I realized this was a story I wanted to tell young readers, especially because of her special relationship with Samia, the rhino pictured on the cover. How did you come to write it? As with the Rachel Alexandra book, I started by doing on-line research and in-person interviews. First, I traveled to Cornwall, England, to interview Anna Merz’s goddaughter, who was very close to her. Naomi Campbell (not the supermodel) put me in touch with many people who knew Anna well. Did you get to meet a rhino or two while you doing your research? Presumably, with a sturdy fence between the two of you? And where were you doing your research? Who is the woman doing rhino raising? Through some of my interviewing, I not only got to meet rhinos, I also got the opportunity to go to Kenya and to the sanctuary Anna Merz founded (that’s really what the book is about) and meet with many people who knew her well and worked side by side with her for many years. It was a thrill.
The only thing I’d like to add is that, sometimes, I think that non-fiction gets a bad rap as being boring or something, but in my own experience, I have found so many amazing, true stories, especially about ordinary people doing extraordinary things and I love sharing those stories, whether in the classroom or at a cocktail party!!
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