Reisterstown Author Tells Story of Friendship, Divine Intervention and a Chincoteague Pony

Lois Szymanski said that she never really believed that she could write a book.

One day long ago, her husband brought home an electric typewriter and encouraged her do what she loved, what she was good at – write. So she did. Eighteen books later, Szymanski has touched the lives of tens of thousands of children with her books, many of which are about Chincoteague ponies.

The True Story of Sea Feather, the Union Mills resident's latest release, is a story written for children, but the message in the book will speak to audiences of all ages. For Szymanski, this book represents many things, including a close friend who lost her battle to cancer, divine intervention, dreams becoming reality, and a Chincoteague Pony who changed her life.

The book, although a true story, is written like a novel. It tells of how Szymanski’s daughters came to own their first pony, a Chincoteague pony named Sea Feather.

Szymanski said that one year her daughters, Shannon and Ashley, got it in their heads that they were going to buy a pony. They saved up $500 to take on their annual summer trip to Virginia's Chincoteague Island. In late July of every summer, Chincoteague hosts an annual Pony Penning where people can buy Chincoteague ponies.

“We told the girls if they could find a pony for $500 then they could get it. I knew $500 wasn’t enough to buy a pony so I wasn’t really worried about it, but we wanted the girls to learn to save for something they really wanted,” Szymanski said.

But then they met Carollynn Suplee, a cancer survivor who would help her kids buy Sea Feather.

“Carollynn told us that she had survived surgery to remove a tumor from her brain and it could have paralyzed her, but it didn’t. She said that she had to give something back because she had been given a gift, and she wanted to buy a child a pony. That is how we got Sea Feather,” Szymanski said.

Sea Feather was the first pony that Carollynn bought for a child in her effort to “give something back.” Szymanski explained that each of the eight years Carollynn survived cancer, she helped a child purchase a Chincoteague pony foal at Pony Penning or she purchased a buy-back foal to return to the island.

Szymanski said her and Carollynn became close friends and when Carollynn’s cancer returned, Szymanski said she knew she had to keep Carollynn’s work going and her legacy alive. When Carollynn passed away in 2003, Szymanski partnered with Carollynn’s husband, Ed, to start the The Feather Fund charity.

Since 2004, The Feather Fund has helped 20 children purchase ponies. 

The story of Sea Feather, and the amazing events that brought Carollyn and Szymanski together, was first told in a book released in the nineties called Sea Feather. Many true details were changed at an editor’s request. After the book went out of print, Animal Planet aired a special that mentioned the book and as a result, used copies of Sea Feather were in high demand. That’s when Szymanski decided to edit the book to include the entire story and republish it.

“I had to write this story. I knew as soon as it happened that I would write it. I’m excited that I had the chance to re-publish and make the story complete, and the book itself is beautiful,” Szymanski said.

Szymanski recently spent time sharing her book with kids at Manchester Elementary School. She said she enjoys doing these presentations because she gets to talk to kids about writing, encouraging them to explore their own passions through writing.

Szymanski will be promoting her book in small bookstores in February. Tomorrow (Feb. 5) she will be in her hometown of Reisterstown at Constellation Books, 303 Main St. from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. On Feb. 12 she will be at A Likely Story Bookstore at 7566 Main St in Sykesville from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.