I think this book: Lady Long Rider: Alone Across America on Horseback, by Bernice Ende would go well with Man & Horse: the Long Ride Across America, by John Egenes (August 31, 2018 post). Ms. Ende has ridden thousands of miles across the U.S. both east/west and north/south. Her rides start in Montana, so to do her round trip ride across the United States, she had to actually pass by her home, and then come back! She often 'slept rough', wherever she found herself at the end of the day, and once spent a (severe) winter in a tent in a barn, just to prove to herself she could do so. I chuckled over the chapter on her 'vacation' ride ... a short ride of just 600 miles. Not surprisingly, she is a member of the Long Riders' Guild.

I first got interested in the Cook sisters with a segment on Mysteries At the Museum. It was just prior to the outbreak of WWII. Jews were trying to get out of Germany but the guards at the borders would confiscate anything of value, leaving them with nothing. Two English spinsters though, bedecked in jewelry and furs, were not even questioned. They were careful ... they never took earrings for pierced ears, for example, as neither of them could wear them and having them might cause suspicion. They'd meet with the families before checking into a hotel because you shouldn't just leave wearing a fur coat, you should enter wearing one, too. And Ida and Louise did much more! Safe Passage: the Remarkable True Story of Two Sisters Who Rescued Jews from the Nazis, by Ida Cook is that story. One of the sisters wrote popular romance books and the money she earned from that went to help rescue as many people as possible. They continued to help during and after the war, too. Just an amazing read! (And it all starts with a love of opera)!

Reading Hermit With Dog