The Horse Lawyer and Other Poems by Greg Seeley is the book that encouraged me to begin writing nuggets about my own ancestors, which has become Meadowlark Songs: A Motherline Legacy.

Greg chose his fatherline, chronicling the struggles and triumphs of three generations of an Iowa farm family over a 125-year period.

The “story” begins with a soldier coming home from the Civil War and setting foot for the first time on his newly-purchased farm and ends when the land next changes hands in the early 1990s. The book is the story of the family, their friends, and their neighbors as they try to adapt to the changing world around them. Their lives and personal aspirations are shaped by two world wars, a harsh climate, the dust bowl, and the Great Depression. They seek to meet this adversity and thrive through love, self-reliance, work, faith, and a strong sense of community.

The Horse Lawyer and Other Poems is divided into the three generations, with the poems accompanied by winsome photos. I especially enjoyed the poems called “His Rocker,” “Fraternity of the Soil,” and the two about aging–“Two Shall Be As One” and “It’s Getting Gray.”

When I contacted Greg, I told him it was his fault that I was immersed in stories of my motherline because of his Horse Lawyer stories. He said he’d gladly take the blame.

Greg Seeley was raised on a farm north of Afton, Iowa. He graduated from the University of Northern Iowa (about four years after I graduated from there) with a major in history and received his Master’s Degree from the University of Iowa. Greg is a retired CPA and lives in Overland Park, Kansas with his wife Carolyn, a retired math teacher.

Greg also wrote Tractor Bones and Rusted Trucks: Tales and Recollections of a Heartland Baby Boomer, which is a collection of poetry and short stories. He also written three Civil War stories. I’m reading the latest one now!

Greg’s The Horse Lawyer is featured in Meadowlark Songs on page 141 under Favorite Resources.