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Donald McCaig (1940–2018)

Author of Rhett Butler's People

18+ Works 3,222 Members 120 Reviews 3 Favorited

About the Author

Donald Robert McCaig was born in Butte, Montana on May 1, 1940. He received a bachelor's degree in philosophy from the University of Montana. He served two years in the Marine Corps and pursued graduate studies at the University of Waterloo and Wayne State University. During the 1960s, he worked as show more a copy chief for an advertising agency in New York. In 1971, he bought a Virginia sheep farm. He wrote historical novels, books about Border collies, and two authorized follow-ups to Gone with the Wind. His fiction works included Jacob's Ladder, Canaan, The Butte Polka, Nop's Trials, Nop's Hope, Rhett Butler's People, and Ruth's Journey. His nonfiction works included An American Homeplace; Eminent Dogs, Dangerous Men; and Mr. and Mrs. Dog: Our Travels, Trials, Adventures, and Epiphanies. He died on November 11, 2018 at the age of 78. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Series

Works by Donald McCaig

Associated Works

Tagged

19th century (13) 2007 (10) 2008 (17) American (11) American Civil War (33) animals (27) audiobook (10) Border Collies (26) Charleston (11) Civil War (92) dogs (83) Donald McCaig (9) fiction (275) Georgia (13) Gone with the Wind (58) hardcover (13) historical (30) historical fiction (163) history (20) memoir (11) non-fiction (23) novel (28) own (11) read (15) Reconstruction (10) Rhett Butler (19) romance (31) Scarlett O'Hara (9) Scotland (15) sequel (15) sheepdog trials (9) slavery (13) South (19) South Carolina (13) southern (12) to-read (163) unread (12) USA (9) Virginia (23) war (10)

Common Knowledge

Legal name
McCaig, Donald Robert
Birthdate
1940-05-01
Date of death
2018-11-11
Gender
male
Nationality
USA
Birthplace
Butte, Montana, USA
Place of death
Highland County, Virginia, USA
Places of residence
New York, New York, USA
Education
Wayne State University
University of Waterloo
University of Montana (BA - Philosophy)
Occupations
novelist
poet
essayist
sheepdog trainer
advertising copywriter
Organizations
U. S. Marine Corps
Short biography
Upon receiving the (six-figure) proceeds for option of a book by the film industry: "I don't know what I'm going to do with the money," McCaig told The Post in 1984. "Put it in the bank, I guess. The sum total of the movie sale was that Anne and I couldn't sleep the night we found out about it, and I forgot to milk the cow. Money's fine, but I didn't feel very good about myself, forgetting the cow."

Members

Reviews

The thing that you need to remember with this book is that it's not a true sequel to "Gone with the Wind". Mr. McCaig gives his own spin on the characters and what they do, how they react. I enjoy his version of Melanie much better and it was nice to hear more about Scarlett's first two children. I also think that his version of Ashley is more accurate. You get to hear more from characters that are just mentions or supporting characters in GWTW.

I am not sure that I would put this on my list of books to re-read at a later date though, whereas "Gone with the Wind" I've revisited multiple times.… (more)
 
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Becky_From_Kansas | 71 other reviews | Jan 8, 2024 |
I wish there were half stars I would give it 3.5. But,what a surprisingly good book. He did a wonderful job capturing Margret Mitchell's characters. He brought more to the story of GWTW without taking away from the story. It must be so hard to right a companion book to a classic like GWTW but he did such a better job that the last attempt "Scarlett"
 
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MsTera | 71 other reviews | Oct 10, 2023 |
10 stars!! This was one of the better reads I've encountered in a long time. Written by the same man who wrote the prequel to Gone With The Wind about Rhett Butler, this is another prequel starring Mammy, Scarlett O'Hara's beloved companion. We learn about her family, her early years, and the book ends just as the Civil War begins. Thrilling backstory with many of the familiar GWTW characters. Interesting, excellently written, and a complete joy. Run, do not walk, and buy this book when it is published later on this year.

Many thanks to the publishers, Atria Books, for giving me this in exchange for an honest review. It was a pleasure.
… (more)
 
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kwskultety | 17 other reviews | Jul 4, 2023 |
This book was kind of like my day today, scattered and lacking focus. A fun read, but each chapter was almost like a different book. Perhaps a collection of articles about dogs and dog training. One theme throughout was Mr McCaig's journey with Mr and Mrs Dog to the International Sheepdog Trials. I found it to be very enjoyable and a quick read. I dashed through some chapters in my quest to find out what would be next for Luke and June.
 
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njcur | 1 other review | Sep 13, 2022 |

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Statistics

Works
18
Also by
7
Members
3,222
Popularity
#7,945
Rating
½ 3.4
Reviews
120
ISBNs
151
Languages
15
Favorited
3

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