Take to the Hills: An Ozark Chronicle

New York: Grosset & Dunlap (1st thus, 1941). Hardcover, green boards, with dust jacket, both in pristine condition, 305 pages. Colors on dust jacket are bright; no chipping or tears. Text clean and unmarked. Binding square and tight. Previous owner's name stamped in corner inside front cover. A great copy!

About the Book: "This is the story of Sunrise Mountain Farm, deep in the Ozark Hills, whither the author and her husband escaped from the clamor of the city to raise sheep and to make jams and jellies from the wild fruit of the fields.

The freshness and variety of the narrative, the small details of farm life have a great deal of charm, and the book is rich with characters, customs and folkways. There are plenty of exciting and amusing incidents, as well. One hilarious chapter you will want to read aloud to your friends gives the local reactions to some of the Lyons' innovations in what is euphemistically called 'outside plumbing.'" Jacket copy, 1941.

About the Author: In 1935 Robert and Marguerite Lyon, a professional couple living and working in Chicago, witnessed a friend suddenly lose his job at the height of the Great Depression. In an effort to protect themselves from a catastrophe like their friend endured, the couple became proactive in planning their future. After hearing a relative speak of the low land prices in the Ozarks, the Lyons bought a 40-acre farm in the Ozarks - sight unseen for the sweet price, even then, of one thousand dollars!

The couple remained in Chicago working to save money to invest in livestock and crops on the new farm. Robert moved to the farm first where he made enough money working for the National Republican Party on behalf of the presidential candidacy of Alf Landon to pay for an additional 120 acres that were adjacent to the farm. By the time Marge joined him, he had hired a knowledgeable farm hand, gotten into the sheep business, bought a few chickens and geese, and begun to be known throughout the neighborhood as a man of some intellect.

Robert's political work, traveling around the country with a speaker-truck and giving impromptu political speeches, did not even put a dent in the solid Democratic voting patterns of the area. But the political activity did earn him some personal respect in the area, and he was eventually elected to be the first head of the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce. Later Robert was appointed and then elected to the position of Justice of the Peace, a job which earned him the appellation of "the Jedge."

Marge Lyon was a writer by trade, drawing a regular salary for penning commercial prose to help sell products. It wasn't long after her arrival at Sunrise Mountain Farm that she began jotting down stories of their daily lives as they became accustomed to a different lifestyle and dealt with characters unlike any that they had ever encountered in the city.