Sonora Webster Carver
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Sonora (Webster) Carver (2 February 1904 in Waycross, Georgia - 20 September 2003 in Pleasantville, New Jersey)[1] was an American entertainer, most notable as one of the first female horse divers. Webster answered an ad placed by "Doc" William Frank Carver in 1923[2] for a diving girl and soon earned a place in circus history. Her job was to mount a running horse as it reached the top of a forty-foot (sometimes sixty-foot) tower and sail down along the animal's back as it plunged into a deep pool of water directly below. Sonora was a sensation and soon became the lead diving girl for Doc Carver's act as they traveled the country.
Sonora fell in love with and eventually married Carver's son, Al Carver, who eventually took over the show in 1927, after the death of his father.[3] Sonora's sister Arnette (Webster) French followed in her footsteps, becoming a horse diver and joining the show in 1928.[4]
In 1931, Sonora was blinded (retinal detachment due to hitting the water off-balance) while diving her horse, Red Lips, on New Jersey's Steel Pier[5], the act's permanent home since 1929.[6] After her accident Sonora continued to dive horses until 1942. Her sister Arnette left the show in 1935.[7]
Arnette explained Sonora’s decision to continue riding after her accident in this way: "The movie made a big deal about having the courage to go on riding after she lost her sight. But, the truth was, riding the horse was the most fun you could have and we just loved it so. We didn't want to give it up. Once you were on the horse, there really was much to do but hold on. The horse was in charge."[8]
Arnette, who was 15 when she took her first dive on horseback, remarked in an interview that "Wherever we went, the S.P.C.A. (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) was always snooping around, trying to find if we were doing anything that was cruel to animals. They never found anything because those horses lived the life of Riley. In all the years of the act, there was never a horse that was injured."[9]
Sonora's account can be read in her 1961 book, A Girl and Five Brave Horses, and seen in the fictionalized movie version of her life, Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken, starring Gabrielle Anwar. Sonora was, apparently, disappointed in the way that the movie depicted her life and career. She remarked to her sister Arnette after seeing the film that "the only thing true in it was that I rode diving horses, I went blind and I continued to ride for another 11 years."[10]
Sonora died at the age of 99 in New Jersey, on September 20, 2003[11]. She lived in Pleasantville, New Jersey at the time of her death.[12]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Ancestry.com. Social Security Death Index [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2007. Original data: Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index, Master File. Social Security Administration.
- ^ Kent, Bill. "The Horse Was in Charge And She Was on It, Making a Spectacle" The New York Times, May 4, 1997. (p. NJ12) Accessed May 1, 2008
- ^ Kent, Bill. "The Horse Was in Charge And She Was on It, Making a Spectacle" The New York Times, May 4, 1997. (p. NJ12) Accessed May 1, 2008
- ^ Kent, Bill. "The Horse Was in Charge And She Was on It, Making a Spectacle" The New York Times, May 4, 1997. (p. NJ12) Accessed May 1, 2008
- ^ Kent, Bill. "The Horse Was in Charge And She Was on It, Making a Spectacle" The New York Times, May 4, 1997. (p. NJ12) Accessed May 1, 2008
- ^ Kent, Bill. "The Horse Was in Charge And She Was on It, Making a Spectacle" The New York Times, May 4, 1997. (p. NJ12) Accessed May 1, 2008
- ^ Kent, Bill. "The Horse Was in Charge And She Was on It, Making a Spectacle" The New York Times, May 4, 1997. (p. NJ12) Accessed May 1, 2008
- ^ Kent, Bill. "The Horse Was in Charge And She Was on It, Making a Spectacle" The New York Times, May 4, 1997. (p. NJ12) Accessed May 1, 2008
- ^ Kent, Bill. "The Horse Was in Charge And She Was on It, Making a Spectacle" The New York Times, May 4, 1997. (p. NJ12) Accessed May 1, 2008
- ^ Kent, Bill. "The Horse Was in Charge And She Was on It, Making a Spectacle" The New York Times, May 4, 1997. (p. NJ12) Accessed May 1, 2008
- ^ Ancestry.com. Social Security Death Index [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2007. Original data: Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index, Master File. Social Security Administration.
- ^ Sims, Gayle Ronan. "Horse-diver Sonora Webster Carver, 99", The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 24, 2003. Accessed December 3, 2007. "Sonora Webster Carver, 99, the first woman to dive off Atlantic City's Steel Pier while riding a horse - a stunt she continued for 11 years after she was blinded during a performance - died Sunday at Our Lady's Residence in Pleasantville, N.J."
