Pearl S. Buck left three contradictory wills, a dance instructor and her seven adopted children fought for six years, and a Vermont court found undue influence

Pearl S. Buck met Theodore F. Harris, a 32-year-old dance instructor, in 1963, when she was 70. In 1964 she founded the Pearl S. Buck Foundation and named him chief executive. In 1969 a Philadelphia Magazine story on the foundation's spending led state regulators to suspend its operations, and Harris was forced out. An audit ordered by a donor found missing records and mismanagement. Buck moved to Vermont with Harris, signed her foreign royalties and possessions over to a foundation he controlled, and made a will leaving him most of her belongings, including her literary rights. She died of lung cancer in 1973. She left three contradictory wills, and Harris, the foundation and her seven adopted children each claimed the estate. A Vermont probate court found that Harris exerted undue influence and rejected his claim. The New York Times reported on 18 November 1979 that the children had won after six years. The settlement left the children her literary works and gave the foundation the farm and her grave; Harris kept a small share of royalties. In 2007 an FBI recovery of her stolen Good Earth manuscript, valued at no less than $150,000, led to competing ownership claims by the foundation and the family trust. The U.S. Attorney filed no charges.