IN SECLUSION.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 57, 8 March 1934, Page 7

IN SECLUSION.

FAMOUS AUTHOR'S CHOICE. "SHEPHERD OF THE HILLS." (From Our Own Correspondent.) SAN FRANCISCO, February M. Harold Bell Wright, the author whose book sales have reached the remarkable total of 0,000,000 copies, plans to live the secluded life of "a shepherd of the hills," and, believing the book market somewhat uncertain and land "the safe thing for a man to tic to," the 62-year-old famous writer has bought 5G acres at the edge of Lake Hodges, near San Diego, Southern California. There he will play "shepherd" to a few goats, raise a Variety of fruits, a few vegetables, poultry, rabbits and a couple of cows. He explained that he would raise nothing for market, but just enough for himself and family to live away from the eyes of the world. His writing career began in 1903, when a then obscure publisher brought out "That Printer of Udell's," which sold to 400,000 copies, then "Shepherd of the Hills," which reached 1,000,000. He followed with "The Calling of Dan Matthews," which passed the million mark, and later produced his most popular work, "The Winning of Barbara Worth," of which more than ] 1,600,000 copies were sold. "I was a Christian minister in Pierce City, Missouri, and then in Pittsburgh, Kansas," said Mr. Wright. "Pittsburgh was a coal mining town where the churches gave the labouring man a cold welcome, but the saloons gave him a warm one. I wanted to make the church a little less Divine and a lot more human. I wrote 'That Printer of Udell's' to broadcast the idea. A friend insisted I try again, and finally E. W. Reynolds, of a book distributing company, decided to take a flyer in publishing. He was my publisher for eeveral vears."

While he sought success as a writer, Mr. Wright, who is tall and slender, was battling for health. He lived for years on the Arizona desert, in Tucson, aoid he won that fight also. I