Snyder was born on a small farm near Duvall, Washington. He was the youngest and smallest of five piglets. His older siblings were greedy little pigs and pushed Snyder aside at feeding time. Fortunately for Snyder—and us—the owner of the farm, Wilfred Olsen, brought the hungry piglet into the farmhouse and bottle-fed him.

Mr. Olsen allowed Snyder to listen to the bedtime stories he read for his youngest daughter, three-year-old Susie. Snyder’s favorite stories were narrative poems, with rhyme and rhythm. He liked them so much that he imitated the sounds as well as he could. Eventually, he could speak English well enough to be understood.

Snyder listens to a bedtime story with his “sister” Susie.