About the author
Alden Hatch (1898–1975), whose brother was Eric Hatch, wrote over 40 books. Most of his works were biographies; most notably of Pope Pius XII, Pope John XXIII, Brother André, Charles de Gaulle, Woodrow Wilson, and of his friends Dwight D Eisenhower and Mamie Eisenhower. A fan of racing, he wrote a biography of James R Keene in 1938, a collaboration with Foxhall Keene. Hatch’s juvenile horse book, Bridle-wise, is about a teenage boy with a gammy leg. Hatch had a “bum leg” himself, and wrote his novel to encourage disabled children to “carry on”.
Finding the book
Not particularly easy to find. It was not published in the UK.
Links and sources
Alden Hatch on Wikipedia
Many thanks to Lisa Catz for the photograph and summary.
Bibliography (horse books only)
Bridle-wise
J Messner, Inc, New York, 1942, 156 pp, illus Diana Thorne and A G Peck
This book’s hero is a teenage boy who has a paralysed leg. He learns to ride on an old polo pony, and later rescues a companion on a burro pack trip.
