Forest in the Wind

Forest in the Wind is Mitch Jayne's classic story of life in the wilderness as told by the wild creatures that live there. The fox, whose family inhabited these hills and hollows since time out of mind, is comfortable with his upper-class stratum of wild things; he has no natural enemies, unless it is the odd bare-faced new creature who walks always on two legs. Mitch Jayne is recipient of the Independent Publisher's 2008 Gold Medal Award for Best Mid-West Fiction and the 2008 Missouri Governor's Humanities Book Award for his novel "Fiddler's Ghost", also selected as one of the Best Books of 2007 by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Jayne is the former spokesperson, musician, songwriter and founding member of the bluegrass group the Dillards, aka "The Darling Boys" on the Andy Griffith Show.

Forest in the Wind is Mitch Jayne's classic story of life in the wilderness as told by the wild creatures that live there. The fox, whose family inhabited these hills and hollows since time out of mind, is comfortable with his upper-class stratum of wild things; he has no natural enemies, unless it is the odd bare-faced new creature who walks always on two legs. Mitch Jayne is recipient of the Independent Publisher's 2008 Gold Medal Award for Best Mid-West Fiction and the 2008 Missouri Governor's Humanities Book Award for his novel "Fiddler's Ghost", also selected as one of the Best Books of 2007 by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Jayne is the former spokesperson, musician, songwriter and founding member of the bluegrass group the Dillards, aka "The Darling Boys" on the Andy Griffith Show.

Mr. Jayne’s extraordinary career has centered on weaving the tapestry of Ozark character, music, and language. The career of this TV actor, musician, radio personality, author, and all-around raconteur has been centered on this colorful region since he arrived there in 1951 to teach to the less fortunate in one-room schools. A popular musician of Missouri bluegrass and member of the musical group The Dillards, Jayne counts among his proudest achievements their multi-year stint on the Andy Griffith Show in the 1960’s, portraying Ozark culture to the nation as “The Darling Boys.” Mitch and The Dillards also had the honor of celebrating Ozark bluegrass at New York’s Carnegie Hall. “Mitch Jayne’s extraordinary career has centered on weaving the tapestry of Ozark character, music and language – with themes of love, strife, spirituality, and redemption. He is an original – a gift to our state,” proclaims Michael Bouman, Executive Director of the Missouri Humanities Council.