Bowles, Melanie Sue: - When Melanie Sue Bowles stumbled across the quote,
"The purpose of life is to live a life of purpose," she loved it so much that it
became the steadfast philosophy by which she has lived her entire adult life. Unwanted,
elderly, and abused horses became her purpose, and she and her husband Jim
began Proud Spirit Horse Sanctuary with one horse in need on five acres of land
in rural Florida. Their facility grew to hundreds of acres in first Arkansas,
and then North Carolina, where rescued animals were allowed to roam as natural
herds. Over the years, Melanie and Jim have intervened on behalf of
over 300 downtrodden horses, many of them coming to the sanctuary to live
out their lives in peace and dignity. Their story has been featured on PBS and
in three books Bowles has written about the Sanctuary's animal residents. Bowles
comes from a large family, many of whom own horses and
love all animals as much as she does, including nieces, nephews, and
grandchildren who helped inspire the characters in Liberty Biscuit.