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Roses for Annie The Story behind the Song about Annie Pike Greenwood

March 22, 2021

By Idaho Public Television

In 2017, Idaho Public Television producer Marcia Franklin tracked down Kingsley Thurber, the grandson of Idaho writer Annie Pike Greenwood, for an Idaho Experience documentary she was producing on Greenwood called “We Sagebrush Folks.”

Thurber, a musician and composer, takes after his grandmother in his creative spirit, so Franklin asked if he’d write and perform a song for the documentary. The result, “Roses for Annie,” can be heard in the credits of the show, with well-known Utah songwriter and fiddler Kate MacLeod accompanying Thurber.

Composing the song jump-started Thurber’s dream to release a CD, which he did in March 2021. Entitled “While Thinking of You,” it includes “Roses for Annie” and two other tunes with MacLeod. Thurber has plans for two more albums.

“The experience with you and 'We Sagebrush Folks' planted the seed and nourished it to get me working on the music,” Thurber wrote Marcia.

Idaho Public Television crew filmed Kingsley Thurber opening a box containing his grandmother Annie Pike Greenwood's personal possessions for the first time. The artifacts are now in the Idaho State University Library Special Collections.

“Underlying all of this is my appreciation for how hard Annie Pike Greenwood strove for her art and whatever success she could muster. She published 'We Sagebrush Folks' in the middle of the Depression. She started educating the farm children with few resources. And persisted. And persisted. So she is an ongoing inspiration to me as a creative person.”

Left to right: Annie Pike Greenwood portrait; Greenwood and a treasured cat; Kingsley Thurber performing the song he composed, "Roses for Annie" in honor of his grandmother for the Idaho Public Television documentary "We Sagebrush Folks."

We love to hear how our stories have taken on new lives, and we wish Kingsley the best in musical journey!

Watch the Idaho Public Television documentary "We Sagebrush Folks": https://video.idahoptv.org/video/we-sagebrush-folks-annie-pike-greenwoods-idaho-85z6rt/

Kingsley Thurber's website: https://kingthurber.bandcamp.com

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Idaho Public Television
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