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Albert Payson Terhune (December 21, 1872 - February 18, 1942) was an American author, dog breeder, and journalist. He was popular for his novels relating the adventures of his beloved collies and as a breeder of collies at his Sunnybank Kennels, the lines of which still exist in today's Rough Collies. Albert Payson Terhune was born in New Jersey to Mary Virginia Hawes and the Reverend Edward Payson Terhune. His mother, Mary Virginia Hawes, was a writer of household management books and show more pre-Civil War novels under the name Marion Harland. Terhune had four sisters and one brother, though only two of his sisters lived to be adults: Christine Terhune Herrick (1859-1944); and Virginia Terhune Van De Water (1865-1945). Sunnybank (41.0012°N 74.2755°W) was originally the family's summer home, with Terhune making it his permanent residence in 1912. He was educated at Columbia University where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1893. From 1894 to 1916, he worked as a reporter for The Evening World. He boxed exhibition matches with James J. Corbett, Bob Fitzsimmons and James J. Jeffries. His Sunnybank Kennels where he bred and raised rough collies were "the most famed collie kennels in the U.S." Albert Payson Terhune first published short stories about his collie Lad, titled Lad Stories, in various general-interest magazines, including Red Book, Saturday Evening Post, Ladies' Home Journal, Hartford Courant, and the Atlantic Monthly. The first of his novels about his dogs, Lad: A Dog, collected a dozen stories of his collie Lad in novel form. Lad was followed by over 30 additional dog-focused novels, including two additional books about Lad. Published in 1919, the novel was a best seller in both the adult and young adult markets and has been reprinted over 80 times. It was adapted into a feature film in 1962. A man of his time, Terhune is now often criticized for his starkly racist depictions of the minorities, hill people and so-called "half-breeds" that peopled parts of northern New Jersey less idealized than Sunnybank. (Wikipedia) show lessTags
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Member Reviews
A very good and worthy collection of stories by the master and author of Lad:A Dog. Some of the tales will make you smile, a couple will pull hard at your heart, tug at your emotions, but none will bore you.
Albert Payson Terhune's book 'Lad: A Dog' is one of my favorites. His book 'Further Adventures of Lad' is also a great book. I would suggest reading those two books and not this one. If you don't have access to those two books, then this book has two stories from those other books that are very good. I thought the rest of the stories in this book was not up to the same level.
The Cinderella story in this book, Lochinvar Bobby, was a bit interesting if you enjoy Terhune's brand of tall tales. In this one the ugly puppy who has a spell having to survive in the wilds for a while, later is described as:
- Never before, in all the Westminster Club’s forty-odd shows, had such a collie been led into the ring. Eugenie breeding, wise rationing show more and tireless human care had gone to the perfecting of other dogs. But Mother Nature herself made Lochinvar Bobby what he was. She had fed him bountifully upon the all-strengthening ration of the primal beast; and she had given him the exercise-born appetite to eat and profit by it. Her pitiless winter winds had combed and winnowed his coat as could no mortal hand, giving it thickness and length and richness beyond belief. And she had molded his growing young body into the peerless model of the Wild.
Then, because he had the loyal heart of a collie and not the incurable savagery of the wolf, she had awakened his soul and made him bask rapturously in the friendship of a true dog-man. The combination was unmatchable.
I love Terhune's writing, but for some of the stories in this book, not as much. show less
The Cinderella story in this book, Lochinvar Bobby, was a bit interesting if you enjoy Terhune's brand of tall tales. In this one the ugly puppy who has a spell having to survive in the wilds for a while, later is described as:
- Never before, in all the Westminster Club’s forty-odd shows, had such a collie been led into the ring. Eugenie breeding, wise rationing show more and tireless human care had gone to the perfecting of other dogs. But Mother Nature herself made Lochinvar Bobby what he was. She had fed him bountifully upon the all-strengthening ration of the primal beast; and she had given him the exercise-born appetite to eat and profit by it. Her pitiless winter winds had combed and winnowed his coat as could no mortal hand, giving it thickness and length and richness beyond belief. And she had molded his growing young body into the peerless model of the Wild.
Then, because he had the loyal heart of a collie and not the incurable savagery of the wolf, she had awakened his soul and made him bask rapturously in the friendship of a true dog-man. The combination was unmatchable.
I love Terhune's writing, but for some of the stories in this book, not as much. show less
Albert Payson Terhune's book 'Lad: A Dog' is one of my favorites. His book 'Further Adventures of Lad' is also a great book. I would suggest reading those two books and not this one. If you don't have access to those two books, then this book has two stories from those other books that are very good. I thought the rest of the stories in this book was not up to the same level.
The Cinderella story in this book, Lochinvar Bobby, was a bit interesting if you enjoy Terhune's brand of tall tales. In this one the ugly puppy who has a spell having to survive in the wilds for a while, later is described as:
- Never before, in all the Westminster Club’s forty-odd shows, had such a collie been led into the ring. Eugenie breeding, wise rationing show more and tireless human care had gone to the perfecting of other dogs. But Mother Nature herself made Lochinvar Bobby what he was. She had fed him bountifully upon the all-strengthening ration of the primal beast; and she had given him the exercise-born appetite to eat and profit by it. Her pitiless winter winds had combed and winnowed his coat as could no mortal hand, giving it thickness and length and richness beyond belief. And she had molded his growing young body into the peerless model of the Wild.
Then, because he had the loyal heart of a collie and not the incurable savagery of the wolf, she had awakened his soul and made him bask rapturously in the friendship of a true dog-man. The combination was unmatchable.
I love Terhune's writing, but for some of the stories in this book, not as much. show less
The Cinderella story in this book, Lochinvar Bobby, was a bit interesting if you enjoy Terhune's brand of tall tales. In this one the ugly puppy who has a spell having to survive in the wilds for a while, later is described as:
- Never before, in all the Westminster Club’s forty-odd shows, had such a collie been led into the ring. Eugenie breeding, wise rationing show more and tireless human care had gone to the perfecting of other dogs. But Mother Nature herself made Lochinvar Bobby what he was. She had fed him bountifully upon the all-strengthening ration of the primal beast; and she had given him the exercise-born appetite to eat and profit by it. Her pitiless winter winds had combed and winnowed his coat as could no mortal hand, giving it thickness and length and richness beyond belief. And she had molded his growing young body into the peerless model of the Wild.
Then, because he had the loyal heart of a collie and not the incurable savagery of the wolf, she had awakened his soul and made him bask rapturously in the friendship of a true dog-man. The combination was unmatchable.
I love Terhune's writing, but for some of the stories in this book, not as much. show less
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Rough collies -- children's/young adult fiction
155 works; 1 member
Dogs -- children's/young adult fiction
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Author Information
82+ Works 3,622 Members
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Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1920
- Dedication
- My book is dedicated to my friend, Mark Saxton, the only boy whom the conservative Sunnybank collies have honoured with their friendship, and whom they have accepted as a loved playfellow.
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Statistics
- Members
- 244
- Popularity
- 132,670
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.79)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 7
- ASINs
- 19
