The Horse Lawyer and Other Poems

About the Book

The Horse Lawyer and Other Poems chronicles the struggles and triumphs of three generations of an Iowa farm family over a 125-year period. The “story” begins with a soldier coming home from the Civil War and setting foot for the first time on his newly-purchased farm and ends when the land next changes hands in the early 1990s. The book is the story of the family, their friends, and their neighbors as they try to adapt to the changing world around them. Their lives and personal aspirations are shaped by two world wars, a harsh climate, the dust bowl, and the Great Depression. They seek to meet this adversity and thrive through love, self-reliance, work, faith, and a strong sense of community.

About the Author

Greg Seeley grew up on a farm north of Afton, Iowa. He graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with a major in history and received his master’s degree from the University of Iowa. Greg is a retired certified public accountant and lives in Overland Park, Kansas, with his wife Carolyn, a retired math teacher and former farm girl. As a boy, Greg often heard stories about his ancestor’s lives on the family farm. He has recounted these stories, with some license, in his first book, The Horse Lawyer and Other Poems. Greg hopes that readers will experience the same feelings of strength and fortitude that sustained the horse lawyer, his family, and his neighbors. The poetry is for all who have ever wondered what their lives would have been like had they followed, in Robert Frost’s words, “the road less traveled.”