The best man at the wedding and the godfather to the children was Fred Rogers of Mr. Newton married Dorothy Anne Houston and fathered two children, Anne and Christopher.

He then entered Cornell Law School, but never finished his course of study. Upon returning to the United States, he entered Rollins College, graduating in 1953. During and shortly after the conflict, he served as a machine-gunner in the U.S. He was a smart student, although his schooling was cut short by World War II.

Peck has written over sixty books including a great book explaining his childhood to becoming a teenager working on the farm called: A Day no Pigs would Die

Some sources state that he was born in Nashville, Tennessee (supposedly where his mother was born, though other sources indicate she was born in Ticonderoga, New York, and that Peck, himself, may have been born there.) The only reasonably certain Vermont connection is that his father was born in Cornwall.

Similarly, he claims to have graduated from a high school in Texas, which he has also refused to identify. He claims to have been born on February 17, 1928, in Vermont, but has refused to specify where. His titles include Soup and A Day No Pigs Would Die. Peck dedicated this book to his best friend- “the Reverend Luther Wesley Vinson, a shepherd of his flock, from his first sheep.” So it just goes to show you, even the most challenging kids might turn out all right.Robert Newton Peck is an American author of books for young adults. Lying, stealing, smoking, and even girls (gasp!) are just some of the situations that Rob and Soup endure together.Īnd as much I hate to give away any kind of spoilers in my reviews, I absolutely loved the way that Mr. I remember how I particularly enjoyed reading about how these kids lived back in the 1930s, and how even in such an austere, rural environment, they still faced many of the same challenges that kids do today. The first “ SOUP” book is more like a collection of short stories, rather than an actual novel like any of the 16 (!) sequels which follow. A lot of city kids might think there’s nothing fun to do out in the country, but Rob and Soup always seemed to put their imaginations to good use! Most of the chapters are based on the trouble that his best friend, Luther Wesley Vinson (aka “Soup”) managed to get the boys wrapped up in, which was apparently an endless source of literary inspiration. Peck’s only-slightly-fictionalized memoir about growing up in depression-era Vermont, and all of the stories are told from his childhood perspective. I’m not sure how my older brother ever heard about the “ SOUP” series of books by Robert Newton Peck, but when he passed them on to me I was hooked from the first page.

Soup by Robert Newton Peck