The Author of The Black Stallion: Walter Farley

When Walter Farley published The Black Stallion in 1941, he was an unknown college journalism student. However, more than 60 years and 20 Black Stallion stories later, people around the world know him as the person behind the most famous fictional horse of the 20th century.

Growing up in New York City, Walter Farley dreamed of having a horse of his own. He sought out books about horses and spent as much time as he could with his Uncle Bill, a professional horseman. Walter’s sons, Tim and Steven Farley, recall him later saying he decided to write The Black Stallion because he was often disappointed by the quality of horse stories he read.

Walter Farley began working on The Black Stallion as a high school student. Tim Farley recalls his father crediting his teachers at both Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, and later at Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania, for motivating him to write. He worked on the story throughout his high school attendance. Walter Farley finished the book while majoring in Journalism at Columbia University.

Published by Random House in 1941, The Black Stallion was received with great enthusiasm by boys and girls all over the country. Letters poured in from readers clamoring for more stories about Alec Ramsey and the Black, but World War II prevented Farley from working on a sequel immediately. When he returned from the war, Farley resumed the adventures of Alec and the Black in The Black Stallion Returns and The Son of the Black Stallion. Farley then delighted his readers with the introduction of a new boy and wild stallion, Steve Duncan and Flame, in The Island Stallion. He continued to write books about horses and he wrote several books for his own children, who were too young to read the Black Stallion novels. Additionally, he wrote a biography of the great racehorse, Man O’War. In all, Walter Farley authored 34 books, which were translated and printed in more than 20 countries.

Walter Farley’s sons both speak of how their father traveled the world in his imagination with the Black. Then he traveled extensively in real life, including visits to Italy and Morocco where he served as consultant on the set when both The Black Stallion and The Black Stallion Returns were made into major motion pictures. Walter also co-authored The Young Black Stallion with his son Steven, which was also turned into a movie.