Donald McCaig (1940–2018)
Author of Rhett Butler's People
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
Ruth's Journey: The Authorized Novel of Mammy from Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind (2014) — Author — 306 copies, 19 reviews
Eminent Dogs, Dangerous Men: Searching through Scotland for a Border Collie (1991) 98 copies, 5 reviews
Associated Works
Reader's Digest Condensed Books: Nop's Trials • The Fourth Protocol • The Canyon • Stormswift (1984) 6 copies
Reader's Digest Auswahlbücher: Nop, der Sieger / Ein Tag des Iwan Denissowitsch / Meine Kleine Arche Noah / Der Tod… (1986) 4 copies
Het Beste Boek: Koorts; Mevrouw Pollifax en de boeddha van Hong Kong; Landgenoten; Nop, een hondeleven 2 copies, 1 review
Det bästas bokval : ecken i skyn; Att höra gräset växa...; Mrs Pollifax i Kina; Prövningen — Contributor — 2 copies
Tagged
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
Ruth's Journey by Donald McCaig
Deeply disappointed. Didn’t capture Mammy’s personality in the least. Often not even about her. Couldn’t finish it,
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)
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)
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"
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)
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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Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 18
- Also by
- 7
- Members
- 3,301
- Popularity
- #7,751
- Rating
- 3.4
- Reviews
- 121
- ISBNs
- 152
- Languages
- 15
- Favorited
- 3