From Niagara This Week:
As a highly successful fantasy writer, Chris Van Allsburg knows first-hand that the only limitation on a great story is one’s imagination.
But when it comes to dabbling in reality, the renowned children’s novelist and illustrator had to peer over the edge and simply hope for the best with his latest project — Queen of the Falls.
“I was worried at first, but Annie’s life was very interesting,” said Van Allsburg, who grew up in East Grand Rapids, Michigan, and developed a fascination with Niagara Falls during the early 1970s.
The “Annie” in question was Annie Edson Taylor — a 63-year-old charm school teacher and widow who became the first and only woman to complete a solo run over the falls back in 1901.
Cool! Chris Van Allsburg also wrote Jumanji and The Polar Express. Obviously both were made into movies. It’d be cool to have a “popular” movie about something in/around Niagara Falls…