'First images, then words'

 

“Life is never easy for those who dream.” – Robert James Waller

Born on this date in 1939, Waller is best known for The Bridges of Madison County, an enormously successful book, movie and Broadway musical (more than 60 million copies of the book alone are in print). I visited Madison County and while the bridges are cool, I was equally impressed by the Madison County Courthouse in Winterset, the birthplace of John Wayne.  So, I took photos of the courthouase and his home instead. 

  

 Waller, who died in Texas in 2017, didn't become a writer until later in life.  He was first enamored by business – the subject for both his Ph.D. and teaching and leadership positions at his alma mater, The University of Northern Iowa.   

               

 Also a photographer and musician, he took a break from teaching in the early 1990s to do some photography of Madison County's covered bridges.  Having earlier written a song about a woman named Francesca, he had the inspiration to put Francesca and a visiting photogapher into a story in that setting and wrote his famous book in just two weeks.  Later, he wrote more songs called “The Ballads of Madison County" and several more successful novels.   

While critics didn’t much like Bridges, the public loved it and Waller's vivid descriptions.   "First, I think, you must have the images," Waller said, "and then come the words."