The Turtle was originally published in the New Letters Magazine of the University of Kansas City Press in the summer of 1958.  It has been reprinted numerous times in high school English textbooks and in several collections of short stories.  It appeared in the Bantam Books Top Ten Stories paperback published in 1964.

The story also appeared in the “Counterpoint in Literature” textbook in 1967 in the chapter marked “Encounter”.  At the end of the story were discussion questions and a “From the Author” statement.

Here is the statement George provided to the textbook about his story:

“The Turtle actually happened.  We were driving up to fish the White Creek for German Browns.  The false dawn was purpling the Wisconsin countryside.  And we did spot the huge humpbacked object in the middle of the sand road.

 

Back in Madison, I set everything down on paper, as faithfully as possible.  I read the first draft and felt that Old Tony was a kind of backwoods Albert Schweitzer defining the philosophy of “Reverence for Life.”  I then committed a cardinal sin of writing.  I went back and padded.  I had Old Tony discuss Albert Schweitzer. I had him mouth beautiful lines of Schweitzer’s.  I had him quoting Schweitzer a though they were old school chums from way back.

 

Mari Sandoz, my teacher at the University of Wisconsin, put a stope to all this nonsense.

 

“What’s the point of the story?” she asked.

 

I told her “Reverence for Life.”

 

“Fine,” she said, “but you’re preaching.”

 

I cut the references to Albert Schweitzer, to “Reverence for Life”; I cut to the bone.  Miss Sandoz read the story again.

 

“You’re not preaching now,” she smiled.  

 

“The Turtle” has stood unchanged from that moment.  If the story comes off for you, you can thank Mari Sandoz.  I did.

In his novel Fisherman’s Beach, George dedicated it with a simple “For Mari Sandoz.”