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TRYON – Morris the Horse, the beloved landmark standing on the corner of Trade and Pacolet Streets, has proudly represented Tryon since 1928. The children’s storybook, The Day Morris Quit, written by Robin A. Edgar with illustrations by Ronnie Mosseller, is a best seller locally and represents Tryon in library collections all over the country. The sequel, The Day Morris Went to School, is now available and Edgar will be signing the new hardcopy edition during the Fourth Friday celebration on July 22 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Book Shelf at 17 S. Trade Street in Tryon.

 

Just in time for children to be getting ready for school, the sequel features Morris and the skinny little boy as the same main characters, with illustrations by Julia Warren Calhoun based on Ron Mosseller’s original images for The Day Morris Quit. In the new book, Morris worries that his new friend, the skinny little boy, will not have time for him when he goes back to school. When his friend takes him to school for show-and-tell to meet his new friends, Morris’ outlook on life changes. He realizes he doesn’t have to be like his friend’s classmates to be a success but can just be himself!

“So many of our customers are excited about getting the sequel to one of our best-selling books, The Day Morris Quit. The sequel is already in libraries here and around the country and in Germany. They are popular books with locals and many out-of-towners,” says Julia Calhoun, owner of The Book Shelf.

 

A lifestyle journalist for over 35 years, Edgar worked for over 30 years with children as a professional actress, mime, and storyteller. The local author’s other books include, In My Mother’s Kitchen; Personal Legacies: Surviving the Great Depression; and Fantastic Recycled Plastic. Mosseller, the owner of the Mills Mosseller Studio in Tryon and maker of fine rugs and tapestries, worked as an artist and illustrator for almost 70 years. His work on The Day Morris Quit was his last creative endeavor before he passed away.

 

Today’s Morris is a replica of the wooden toy horse first built by two employees of Tryon Toy Makers, Meredith Lankford and Odell Peeler, to advertise the first horse show sponsored by Tryon Riding and Hunt Club and held at Harmon Field. After a car pulled Morris through town, he became a symbol of the community’s love of horses as well as a reminder of the legacy of the era when Tryon Toy Makers shipped their handcrafted wares around the country. 

 

For more information about The Day Morris Went to School, go to Tree House Enterprises at treehouseonline.net or email 2robinedgar@gmail.com. For more information about the Tryon Downtown Development Association Fourth Friday, email info@downtowntryon.org.

 

Submitted by Robin A. Edgar