Author Description

For a long time now I’ve thought, “If I ever write my autobiography it will be titled ‘My Life With Manure’.” This idea was confirmed just last week when—after cleaning both barns for a total of thirteen wheelbarrow loads of horse manure, stepping over piles of dog manure—I put out cat food in the feed room, shut the door and felt a wet plop land on my already-washed-for-the-day hair. It was courtesy of the barn swallows nesting right above the door.<br/>My life with manure.<br/>Janet Gorman grew up near Bothell, Washington, and spent her youth working with horses and competing in horse shows. At 17, she entered the Sisters of the Holy Names, which led her to Spokane, WA, where she attended Fort Wright College. After graduating, she went on to teach music at local catholic school and direct the St. Francis of Assisi parish choir. During this time she spent five summers at the horsemanship program in central Washington before using her summers to complete a Masters in Church Music and Liturgy from St. Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, IN.<br/>In 1980, she started and directed the Holy Names Music Center, while continuing to direct several parish choirs. In 1991 she left the community of the Sisters of the Holy Names and moved to a home on five acres of land in the countryside north of Spokane. There she has raised National Show Horses, and provided private lessons in piano, guitar and voice, still traveling into the city to direct parish choirs and teach music.<br/>This book is a collection of the poems, letters, and articles she has written across a lifetime filled with devotion to horses, music, and the God who created them.