Stone Fox is a children's novella by John Reynolds Gardiner. It is the first and best known of Gardiner's books. Stone Fox was acclaimed and very popular when it was published in 1980. It sold three million copies and was turned into a television movie starring Buddy Ebsen, Joey Cramer, and Gordon Tootoosis and directed by Harvey Hart in 1987. It was named a New York TimesNotable Book of the Year for 1980, and was included in 100 Best Books for Children by Anita Silvey. The book centers on a boy named Little Willy who enters a dog sled race in order to win $500 to pay back the taxes on his grandfather's farm. It is written in simple prose and is set at an indeterminate time in the American Old West. The book was inspired by a Rocky Mountain legend that Gardiner heard when he visited Idaho. Stone Fox was originally intended as a screenplay but became a book at the suggestion of a producer.
Synopsis
Plot
Ten-year-old Willy lives in Jackson, Wyoming in the 1880s on a potato farm with his grandfather and his dog Searchlight. During a harsh winter, his grandfather falls ill and after an audit of the potato farm, the tax collector determines that he owes $500 in unpaid taxes. Willy is convinced that he and Searchlight can beat the other racers entering the National Dogsled Race, and in doing so win the $500 prize money that is required to save the farm. He will be competing against Stone Fox, an undefeated racer who uses his winnings to buy land for his Indian tribe. Stone Fox is also rabidly anti-settler with the resentment of the loss of tribal property, and has never been known to speak a word to a white person. As the race ends, Willy is in the lead but Searchlight dies from a burst heart. Stone Fox draws a line in the snow and unholsters his pistol, then speaks his first word to the whites; "Anyone crosses this line-I shoot". Stone Fox then permits Willy to carry Searchlight's corpse across the finish line, having learned the possibility of peaceful coexistence between the red man and white man.
Characters
Little Willy - the protagonist of the book, he lives with his grandfather in a potato farm in Jackson, Wyoming, United States, male.
Searchlight - Willy's loyal black dog, female, heart burst during the race.
Grandfather - Willy's grandfather, who is bedridden during much of the story, male.
Doc Smith - the town's only doctor and a close friend to Willy and Grandfather, female.
Stone Fox - a Native American resentful of White seizure of his people's land. He never speaks to Whites and has never lost a race, using the prize money towards buying their farmland back, male.
Mr. Clifford Snyder - the local tax collector, male.
Mr. Foster - the bank president who helps Willy with the paper work, male.
Lester - a kind store clerk who runs Lester's general store, male.
Dusty the Drunk - the town drunkard who tells Willy of Stone Fox.
Film
Stone Fox is a 1987 television film adaptation of the book. The film premiered on March 30, 1987 on NBC and stars Buddy Ebsen, Joey Cramer, Gordon Tootoosis, and Belinda Montgomery. The film was produced by Allarcom Limited and Taft Broadcasting in association with Hanna-Barbera, and was directed by Harvey Hart. The plot in the movie is a little different from the book. Grandpa, instead of losing the desire to live, suffers a stroke, and Willy has to win the race to save his Grandpa's Cattle Ranch. Stone Fox also leaves Willy a puppy after the death of Searchlight, who is named "Morgan" in the film. The movie was filmed at Fort Edmonton Park, Fox Drive and Whitemud Drive in Alberta, Canada.
