Brought up in a strict Quaker family, Anna Sewell (1820-78) developed a strong interest in horses as a young girl. An invalid most of her life, she could only get around in a pony cart; characteristically she would never use a whip on the animal. She wrote Black Beauty (1877) hoping it might make people kinder to their faithful horses. The Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals adopted Black Beauty in an effort to improve the conditions of horses everywhere.

Monty Roberts is the author of seven books, including The Man Who Listens to Horses , which has sold 5.7 million copies and was a New York Times bestseller for fifty-eight weeks. He was encouraged by Queen Elizabeth II to write his books, and to take to the world his message of nonviolent horse training. More than twenty million people have now read his words and tens of thousands of horses have benefitted from his concepts. With nine World Championships to his credit, Monty considers himself to be the “hands-on” Anna Sewell.

Lucy Grealy (1963-2002) was born in Dublin, Ireland; she moved to the United States in 1967. She was stricken at age nine with cancer of the jaw, which led to a lifetime of disfigurement, pain, and surgeries, chronicled in her memoir Autobiography of a Face (1994). Among her other works are As Seen on TV (Provocations) and In the Mind’s Eye .