Author Description

Take a wild ride through the dark Ozark hills. Twenty-year old Howard Chandler dropped out of the seminary against the wishes of his father, pastor of the grandest church in Chicago. In 1886, he traveled to Taney County, Missouri, "to paint the hills, glades, and fair maidens" --to live the life of an artist--a profession his father despised. Howard captured love onto a canvas with Maggie Matthews, a beautiful daughter of the hills. Together they painted the scenery and explored the Ozarks, while Howard clashed with the local outlaw gang, deeply suspicious of outsiders. Howards created his masterpiece--the beautiful painting of Maggie he would never sell--while his father plotted to keep him away from the barefoot girl of the backwoods. Howard made headlines around the world as the public came to know him as the artist "Mad Howard."