What happened after Laura’s death to shape the way we see everything ‘Little House’ related today? Who were the players and what roles did they play? Does this change what you think or how you think about the legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder?
This chapter enlightens the reader to the pride and care that Irene Lichty and Seals took in trying to make the home in Mansfield a museum and form the LIW Home Association. At RWL urging, the Seals, sold some of the furniture and household items, given to them in the will of LIW, to Home Association for $1. The literary property rights, which were cut and dried, laid out in the will of LIW, became a messy affair. In the said will, LIW gave the rights and the income to RWL and then upon Rose’s death, it was to transfer to the LIW Library in Mansfield. However after her death, George Bye died a few short months later and a feud erupted between the Brown Company (who had purchased the Bye agency) and Lane, along with her “adopted grandson”, Roger MacBride.
The royalties from the books made Rose well off for the first time in her life. The books were going through many printings here at home and all over the world. It turns out children from other countries were just as fascinated with the Ingalls family and their adventures as the Americans were. During this time Rose, turned MacBride into her political pawn. Rose also added to the cannon of the Little House work, by publishing, On The Way Home.
After Lane’s death in 1968 MacBride became the heir of the literary works, as Lane had renewed the copyrights of the Little House books in her name. By 1974 he had transferred the copyrights of all of LIW books and anything posthumously published in her name to him. This includes The First Four Years, which was first published in 1971. As we all know, TFFY, was the adult version of the early years of the Wilder’s marriage. It was not written with children in mind. It was a dark, adult version of the tragedies that befell the Wilders.
In 1971 Ed Friendly and MacBride began discussions to bring LHOTP to television. After MacBride optioned the rights to Friendly, he hired a writer to create a two hour movie based on the LHOTP book to be used as a backdoor pilot for the show. Michael Landon, of Bonanza fame, was immediately hired to produce, direct and star in the show. The show did not stay true to the meat of the books and often tackled subject matter not covered in the books and adding characters to the larger story. This confused some readers of the books, but it also increased book sales during the nine year run of the series. To this day it remains in syndication and can be seen multiple times a day on television.
MacBride also added to the cannon of the Little House books by adding books about Rose after the move to Missouri. He died unexpectedly before the completion of these books. A legal battle between his estate and the Library that was supposed to benefit from the literary works of LIW, per her will, ensued. It was settled out of court for a lump sum and MacBride’s estate retained the copyrights.
Obviously all of these events shaped how we see ‘Little House’ today. If you are a lover of the television show, a book purist or fall somewhere in the middle, I think it is important to remember how all the pieces have come together to unite people from all over the world and connect them to Laura Ingalls Wilder. As our conference motto this year, All Roads Lead to Laura, we will learn more about this topic. I’m sure lively discussion will ensure on this post and at the conference. As I reflect on my youth, does it matter how one became a fan of Laura? In the end we are all blessed because of her and we each are tasked to promote her legacy to the next generation.