Who is Thornton Burgess?
While his name may not be instantly recognizable, the stories of author Thornton W. Burgess have delighted children for years. During his lifetime, Burgess wrote more than 170 books and 15,000 stories. Many of these featured the magical and memorable friends of our childhood: Peter Rabbit, Jimmy Skunk, Grandfather Frog, Joe Otter, Spotty Turtle, Chatterer the Squirrel, Reddy Fox, Old Mr. Toad, and Old Mother West Wind and her Merry Little Breezes. Burgess, a direct descendent of one of Sandwich’s earliest settlers, was born in that town in 1874. Sadly, Thomas Burgess died before his son’s first birthday. Young Thornton’s early years were modest; however, his humble circumstances probably contributed to warm and gentle manner and his love for and interest in nature and wildlife. Certainly while tending cows, trapping muskrats or picking berries, he paused to explore and savor the woodlands and wetlands surrounding him. In fact, the Smiling Pool and the Old Briar Patch of his stories is
