The Heir
Even though Rose Wilder Lane and her husband, Gillette Lane, of a few years did not have any living children of their own, Laura Ingalls Wilder had a heir she never met. In her later years, Rose Wilder Lane met a young man named Roger Lea MacBride, who would become an important individual in the “Little House” franchise. Professionally, MacBride would become Rose’s lawyer, literary agent, and political disciple. Personally, MacBride and Lane would become as close as family. Roger would become the “adopted grandson” of Rose Wilder Lane and go on to inherit the “Little House” fortune after the death of Rose Wilder Lane.
The childless Rose Wilder Lane passed way in 1968 of heart failure and left Roger Lea MacBride as the guardian of the “Little House” series. Roger would also inherit the rights to the hit television series Little House on the Prairie in the 1970s as he also helped develop the show. On the television show, Roger became a co-producer. Roger is also the author of additional Little House books, including These Happy Golden Years. Furthermore, Roger also wrote the Rocky Ridge Years or The Rose Years which is an eight-book series of children’s books that describe Laura’s daughter, Rose Wilder Lane’s, childhood in Missouri. All of these books were written in the 1990s.
Roger Lea MacBride was born on August 6, 1929, and grew up to become a politician, along with taking guardianship and growing the “Little House” franchise. In 1976, MacBride became a presidential nominee under the Libertarian Party. MacBride also became the first presidential elector in United States history to cast a vote for a woman, Theodora Nathan, who was running for Vice President in the 1972 election under the Libertarian Party. In the 1980s, Roger joined the Republican Party and helped establish the Republican Liberty Caucus, which he chaired from 1992 until his death.
Sources For Further Reading:
The Irish Times – Hard truths behind Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie
Publishers Weekly – 10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Laura Ingalls Wilder
PBS – Until She Was An Author, Money Was A Struggle For Wilder
Laura Ingalls Wilder Home – Laura’s Life on Rocky Ridge Farm
Wide Open Country – ‘Little House’ Love Story of Laura Ingalls and Almanzo Wilder
Land – Reflections on “The Long Winter” by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Wikipedia – Roger Lea MacBride
New York Time Magazine – Roger MacBride, 65, Libertarian And ‘Little House’ Heir, Is Dead