On March 3, 2018 Carol Fiddia Laxton toured the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Home in Cross Creek, FL. She had last visited the home when she was 18 years old many decades before. Her father wanted her to talk to Marjorie about what she was going to do after high school. Marjorie encouraged Carol to go to college for at least two years.
Carol’s father and grandmother were close friends of the late Pulitzer-Prize winning author. Before writing “The Yearling” which won the Pulitzer, Marjorie wrote “South Moon Under.” The inspiration for the characters and setting for both books came from living with Carol’s family back in the scrub of Marion County. There Marjorie learned the ins and outs of making moonshine, hunting, fishing and the “cracker ways” of early Florida.
Following her walk through the MKR home, Carol shared her memories of the late Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. Her talk was sponsored by the Friends of the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Farm organization and the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park.
Carol’s father and grandmother were good friends of Rawlings. The late author lived with the family for a time to gather information for the books she was writing, including, “South Moon Under” and “The Yearling.”