Indians Sculpted From Mrs. McAdow’s ‘Ear’
The nationally famous sculpture of two American Indians and wildlife totems in the parking lot of Best Western Hotel at Punta Gorda, Florida, faces relocation or destruction.
Strange. The “Whispering Giant” landmark by Peter “Wolf” Toth is estimated to be worth $100,000. It is a landmark greatly admired by residents and touring visitors.
The hotel owner -- struggling to rebuild after massive damage by Hurricane Charley -- wants to replace the artwork with a decorative fountain. He offers this piece of Americana to anyone who will come and get it.
The city would like to re-install this unique sculpture in vacant park space on the southeast corner of Aqui Esta and Bal Harbor Avenues.
The Punta Gorda Historical society would like to have it for the park of historic structures on Shreve Street.
Toth -- a Hungarian refugee and former itinerant sculptor -- tarried four months at Punta Gorda in 1974 to carve the giant image of two American Indians. Folks flocked to watch progress.
He was in the early stage of a journey to create a statue of an Indian in every state. He called all his carvings “Whispering Giants.” They were intended as gifts of appreciation for his new homeland and as a statement about Native American culture. Local citizens provided food and shelter.
Punta Gorda was his tenth location, with 43 to go. He had already carved one in Deland, Fla.
After his visit here, local folks lost track of him. He had not yet become famous.
Refugee TothToth’s life story, related to an interviewer years ago, is more gripping than a novel:
“I was born in Hungary -- one of 11 children in a family that lost its land to communist tyranny. We were among 200,000 people uprooted by the 1956 ‘Bloody Uprising’ against Soviet occupation.
“We finally were allowed to emigrate to Akron, Ohio, where I attended Akron University. I carved my first Indian sculpture on the side of a cliff at LaJolla, California, while on vacation. When I went back to Akron, I couldn’t find any rock cliffs so I used wood.”
“I respected the American Indians’ situation and the difficulties they face. I felt they were victims of abuse and injustice. My carvings were just a small thing I wanted to do to help their cause.”
For such dedication, the Cherokee Indian Nation bestowed on Toth the name “Wolf” which he proudly added to his natal name.
Since his early days at Akron, Ohio -- sculpting his dedicated statues in return for room and board -- Toth has completed his mission. He doubled up for commissions in several states and added 15 in Canada for good measure – 67 masterpieces in all.
Florida has four – at Deland, Fort Lauderdale, and Hollywood in addition to that at Punta Gorda.
The Punta Gorda statue was commissioned by the late Fred Babcock. He was owner and winter- resident of the Crescent-B ranch in east Charlotte County and president of the Babcock Lumber Company headquartered at Pittsburgh.
He bought the 1890 McAdow estate on the waterfront and built a motel there. He contributed generously to the Visual Arts Center and donated the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad depot to the Punta Gorda Historical Society.
Babcock set Toth on the road to fame and fortune with a commission of $10,000 for a second Florida statue.
Toth, now 57, settled at Edgewater, Fla., south of Daytona Beach, where he maintains his studio. Currently, he is refurbishing three Indian statues that show weathering.
The Punta Gorda statue is holding up well. Its sturdiness may be due to its dense wood similar to mahogany. It is the remnant of a “monkey pod” or “ear” tree imported from the Orient as a sapling by Marian McAdow in 1898.
She was a young teacher at Chicago when she met Perry McAdow. He was twice her age, legs paralyzed and confined to a wheel chair as a result of an accident neither he nor his wife would discuss to others.
The McAdows came to the old Hotel Punta Gorda for their honeymoon. They liked the climate and quaint fishing village so located there permanently.
He was wealthy from his Nevada gold mine. They built the largest home in town on the waterfront site, then a public park. Both became active in several business enterprises.
Mrs. McAdow, daughter of a Michigan nursery farmer, surrounded their home with a botanical garden. She had friends in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. They sent her tropical plants from around the world to test for propagation in the southern U.S.
Punta Gorda’s much photographed “banyan tree” (actually a giant fig) was a curiosity in Mrs. McAdow’s botanical garden -- now site of the Best Western Hotel.
Another of her exotic specimens was the ”monkey pod” or “ear” tree which grew to great size. It was killed by a lightning strike shortly before Babcock bought the McAdow estate in 1973 as a site for a motel.
Babcock, a timber expert and conservationist, noticed the dead tree and recalled a newspaper report about Toth’s Deland statue nearing completion. He contacted the sculptor and persuaded him to carve a second Whispering Giant in Florida for $10,000.
Babcock got his money’s worth – a “twofer.” The tree had grown two, main branches. Toth incorporated these into his sculpture.
He carved the face an Indian Brave on one side of the tree trunk and a Maiden on the other. From the big branches he fashioned “dreams” emerging from their heads.
Above the Brave he depicted a dying bison. Above the Maiden he carved an eagle struggling to become free.
None of the other Toth statues are as intricate and thought provoking. Fans of Toth and Native-Americans tour the carving sites to photograph them and compile a complete set of 67 Whispering Giants.
The Punta Gorda carving was moved to the center of the motel parking lot a few years ago to make way for a large hotel addition. It was painted bronze-red, surrounded by flowers and protected by a decorative fence.
Fittingly, a mural on the front of the motel depicts Babcock the rancher – and his famous three-horned “unicorn” cow Lulubelle -- gazing directly at the Toth sculpture. The mural also was badly scarred by the hurricane.
The Punta Gorda Whispering Giant is still sturdy. Other early Toth carvings, of pine, require refurbishing. He keeps busy preserving his beloved artworks.
Your writer understands his attachment.
When I was 17 -- many moons ago – I was quartermaster at the C.S. Mott Summer Camp near Flint, Mich., for under-privileged boys. There I carved a 30-foot totem pole from a pine log and painted its six figures in different colors.
This remained in place for many years outside the camp’s craft shop. When the totem’s in-ground portion succumbed to decay, the carved portion was moved into a corner of the mess hall where, I am told, it still stands.
This experience suggests another possible home for the Whispering Giant – a stunning centerpiece for the entrance hall of a new Memorial Auditorium. The county seems ready to replace the present Punta Gorda auditorium damaged beyond repair by Hurricane Charley.
As the old saying goes: “It’s an ill wind that blows no good.”
Author: Lindsey Williams
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Cutlines –3 col. each
Sun photos by Lindsey Williams
1 – Indian face with scowl
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2 -- Indian with eagle
Toth’s Indian Maiden
(March 20, 2005)
