Early Years
Heston was born in Galesburg, Illinois in 1878. His father, John William Heston, was a tenant farmer near Galesburg. At age four, Heston moved with his family to a river-bottom farm in Rippey, Iowa. Heston reportedly had two near-death experiences while living in Iowa, the first after contracting "whooping cough" and the second when he fell into the Raccoon River and had to be rescued by his sister.
At age nine, Heston moved with his family to a ranch in southwestern Kansas, where Heston was taken out of school to help the family raise money herding cattle. In 1894, Heston moved with his family to a farm in Grant's Pass, Oregon. As a teenager, he worked digging a ditch to supply water to a mine and chopping down and selling firewood.
The local high school principal, Professor Champ Price, met Heston and suggested that he attend high school. Heston attended Grants Pass High School starting in 1895, and it was there that his athletic ability as a runner was discovered. He graduated from high school in 1898 as the co-valedictorian of his class.
Read more about this topic: Willie Heston
Famous quotes containing the words early years, early and/or years:
“I believe that if we are to survive as a planet, we must teach this next generation to handle their own conflicts assertively and nonviolently. If in their early years our children learn to listen to all sides of the story, use their heads and then their mouths, and come up with a plan and share, then, when they become our leaders, and some of them will, they will have the tools to handle global problems and conflict.”
—Barbara Coloroso (20th century)
“An early dew woos the half-opened flowers”
—Unknown. The Thousand and One Nights.
AWP. Anthology of World Poetry, An. Mark Van Doren, ed. (Rev. and enl. Ed., 1936)
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