The Great Farini

Shane Peacock
Biographer, Novelist, Playwright, Journalist, Screenwriter
Author of The Great Farini - The High-Wire Life of William Hunt

The Lives of Farini Hunt – Freedom (Part One)

Bill Hunt left Port Hope and his childhood life behind. I don’t think that he had any specific plans, because he seemed to travel where ever his mood took him. At first he performed high-wire performances at several fairs, but then he seems to disappear from public sight. In his own recollections, years later, he says that he was involved in several exploits. Much of the stories he told were filled with inconsistencies. His journey started out with a trip to Minnesota, where he lived with his uncle’s family. However, he soon became bored with prairie life and traveled east in search of adventure. He reached the Mississippi and then “floated” southward. Here’s an excerpt from Shane Peacock’s book, “When he reached the Mississippi a near-plague of smallpox was decimating the area, so he had to sneak through the villages until he got down to the water, where he found an abandoned rowboat and floated southward away from danger. In a few days he arrived at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin and heard that a floating circus run by the renowned American showman Dan Rice was docking at Galena to the south, readying itself for its Mississippi River season. This, of course, suited him perfectly.”

NOTE: Mr. Peacock has written several books. His latest series is about "The Boy Sherlock Holmes" This is a wonderful look at the legendary Sherlock Holmes, in the beginning! To learn more about Shane and all of his works, please visit his website at www.shanepeacock.ca.
(To Be Continued)