After an eight-year courtship, they wed on a stormy Boston night in 1911 and honeymooned across a South still recovering from the Civil War. Edith Sampson Holden, born into a prominent Boston family, fell in love and married Alec Healy, MIT graduate, Wyoming sheep rancher, and son of Utah immigrants. Edith wrote wonderfully observant letters to her mother and friends about the land, ranching, Fourth of July picnics, dancing, adoption, advice for a girl entering high school, travel to exotic locations, and the art of dying. A virtuoso violinist in Boston, Edith mastered salesmanship on behalf of Girl Scouting and turned the Big Horn Basin into a 1,000-scout stronghold where girls learned to love traditional teas while also discovering their adventurous side. Like Edith. By 1936, Wyoming had the most Girl Scout campers per capita in the country. Because of Edith. Arranged chronologically with an introduction and commentary by Edith’s namesake and granddaughter, Edith Catherine (Cathy) Healy, Edith’s letters give a glimpse of everyday life as the Frontier closed. They show a woman rare for her time and a couple who fashioned a loving and unusual marriage. Edith and Alec lived ordinary lives in an extraordinary way. "It's invaluable. We now have a complete history of that time period," said Cheryl Reichelt, executive director of the Washakie Museum and Cultural Center. "When you read it you know what it looked like, it's just that good. It's our history and it's very well written and those letters are amazing." - Casper Star-Tribune, October 27, 2013 "What happens when a 30-something East Coast socialite musician in the early 1900s marries a sheep rancher from Wyoming? A lot of letters home about life on the range ... These letters are a delightful glimpse into the daily life of a woman who fearlessly traded a life of relative comfort to join the man she loved in the middle of a vast wilderness ... The accompanying photographs and commentary from Cathy Healy (Edith's granddaughter) make this book a delightful read ... This is a window into history that readers should look through. " - WREN Magazine, by Sara Diane Doyle Hooked! Edith Holden Healy's letters about her life in Wyoming from the early 20th century to 1950 draw one in like a trout tugged to the shore of a crisp Wyoming stream. These engaging, lively, and thoroughly enjoyable letters were written chiefly to Edith's mother in the early years of her marriage. She moves on to other correspondents as her life changes, illustrating her maturation and self-confidence... they show how a genteel easterner engages and accepts the tough and dusty West... Delightful! - Point West Magazine, Buffalo Bill Center of the West, by Karling Clymer Abernathy Cathy Healy, fourth-generation Wyoming advocate, crossed the mountains to see the world as journalist, novelist, magazine editor, and online producer and always returns home. Cathy is a former editor of Organization of American States AMÉRICAS magazine and National Geographic's award-winning intranet. She is currently vice president of LU Ranch (Worland, Wyoming) and advisory board member of the International Education and Resource Network (iEARN)-USA, University of Wyoming College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and World Comes to Wyoming Fund, of which she is the founder. After National Geographic, her life changing Reuters Digital Vision Fellowship at Stanford University has led to many new adventures, including working with Cèsar Chavez Preparatory Charter School in DC on international outreach, lecturing to worldwide audiences about opening borders with digital storytelling, and TED presentations. Her current emphasis is on how students can use video stories to gain deeper understanding of others and other cultures. Cathy has traveled for work and pleasure to fifty-one countries and savors hosting friends and family in her Washington, DC, home. An Improbable Pioneer is the culmination of her and her father's vision while working together to transcribe his mother's letters some years ago. This is Cathy's third published book.