Journal Notes

Thank you to all the people who emailed me and asked about the new book. Copies have gone out to the first five book lovers who expressed an interest in reading Outlaw Tales of California and I hope their time spent poring over stories about some of the Old West’s bad guys is educational and entertaining. The next book, A Beautiful Mine: Women Miners of the Old West, is set to be released in July. I’ve been asked to speak at a prospectors conference to discuss the brave ladies that dared to sink their gold pans into the rivers and streams in places like Nome, Alaska and Tombstone, Arizona. It was a hard life for a man and an even more difficult way of life for a woman. It was all worth it once they discovered gold however. I placed an ad for the new books in the April/May edition of True West magazine. The edition centers around books that transport readers back in time to the wild days of the Old West. True West magazine is one of the best such publications out there. Second only to Chronicles of the Old West. Both are essential reading for anyone who wants to know more about the rugged frontier. I finished chapter eight of the posse book and am off now to start chapter nine. Charlie, Wyatt, Bat, and Bill have just brought James Kenedy into Dodge to stand trial for killing Dora Hand. The story doesn’t end the way Bill Tilghman hoped it would, but Wyatt Earp was right about the unjust outcome. Wyatt had learned the same lesson I was forced to learn this past year that the color of justice is green.

Outlaw Tales of California is in bookstores everywhere today. The subject matter was incredibly interesting to research and I hope that the title does well for Globe. It is part of a series of books about outlaws from a variety of western states. I made plans to travel to Cody, Wyoming in May to complete the research for the Buffalo Bill Cody book I’m working on. Cody is a wonderful place and I look forward to going back. The last time I was there I was doing reseach for the Buffalo Gals book and got to go through some of Annie Oakley’s personal letters. The focus of the new book is the various love affairs Cody had while married to Louisa. It promises to be very entertaining. In the past when I had a new book come out I would give away a copy to the first five people who signed my guest book. I know longer have a guest book, but I do have email. You will find my email address in the contact section of this website. I’d like to give away five copies of Outlaw Tales to anyone who writes and ask for one. I look forward to hearing from you.

The book signing I participated in yesterday at the Placer County courthouse in Auburn was well attended. I met many nice people and some of them even brought their own historical artifacts along. One kind woman brought an autographed photo of the famed child actress Lotta Crabtree and a pair of Lotta’s earrings. I’m always hoping that I’ll come across a treasure like that. I’d like to be one of those lucky people who finds a rare photograph of Wild Bill Hickock hidden behind a velvet painting of dogs playing poker. The closest thing I thing I have to a real historic artifact is an old bottle with a piece of the Donner cabin inside that dates back to 1846. I keep it in my Bobby Sherman lunchbox. If the piece of the cabin has no significant value I’m sure the Bobby Sherman lunch will be worth a fortune someday. And I keep that on a dresser underneath my velvet painting of dogs playing poker.

I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get past the decisions I made concerning my brother. I shouldn’t have succumbed to threats and then asked him to take a plea. In doing the research about cases similar to my brother’s I’ve found a number of broken people who have had to live through the turmoil of false allegations of sexual abuse. Brad Mavis of Lee Summit, MO served 5 years of a 50 year sentence after he was falsely convicted of sexually molesting his step-daughter. His conviction was overturned in 2005, and he was acquitted at re-trial. After further review it was learned that The Lee Summit police detective who initially investigated the allegation was having an affair with Mavis’s then wife and framed Mavis on false charges to get rid of him. Mavis’s ex-wife subsequently married the detective and Brad Mavis is suing both of them.

In Texas, a 12 year-old girl accused her adopted father of sexually assaulting her. He phone CPS about the allegation and was arrested. Over the next two years his wife was also charged. The couple lost their business, their home and their two biological children. A jury found the father not guilty of the sexual assault charges and ruled that the girl had made the allegations up because she felt she was not getting enough attention from her parents.

In Brooklyn, New York a school custodian was accused of stockpiling child pornography and of being a child rapist. The two teenagers who accused the man of the heinous crime wanted to find a way to become famous. The custodian was found not guilty, but the man is now too scared to go out of his front door, he can’t sleep, he can’t wipe away the nightmare of being arrested, jailed, and wrongly accused.

For Michael Lenvens of Orlando, Florida the nightmare began in August of 2004 when his youngest daughter accused him of molesting her, a charge Lenvens absolutely and unequivocally denied. His first trial ended in a hung jury. Lenvens was convicted at his second trial in 2005, a conviction that the Fifth District Court of Appeals concluded rested on claims that Lenvens had a prior conviction of assault. (It was later found that it was another Michaels Lenvens that was charged for assault. How familiar this all sounds.) When the Court of Appeals reversed Lenvens’ conviction, the Orange County judge continued to refuse to allow Lenvens’ release from prison.

Lenvens, who is awaiting his third trial on the same charges stated, “I am 54 years old and must have been sleeping all those years not to realize that the trial courts and the prosecutors in this country are so corrupt only looking for the conviction and not the truth. The people of this country need to be told about the state of affairs in the judicial system in this country. Until this happened to me I thought that this country was a very good country to live in. The people of this country need to vote to change the system back to what our founding fathers wanted. Without the knowledge of the broken system though people will not know to make the changes.”

I guess you never forget your first love. You relish in the anticipation of when you will see them next and imagine what you’ll say or do. It’s a glorious sickness. I never would have thought someone like Buffalo Bill Cody would have remembered his first love, but he did. I’ve been writing a book about his life and loves and have learned that the first girl to capture his attention was Mary Hyatt. They were 12 and although she liked Bill she was mostly interested in another boy in their class. Bill grew up to turn the heads of many a young women, but always looked back with fondness on the one who first captured his fancy. I’ll be speaking at the Nevada County library this evening. It should be fun. Maybe I’ll get a chance to talk about Cody and his life and loves and spur the attendees to remember their first heart-throb. I know I’ll never forget mine.

I’ve never enjoyed writing about a subject as much as the posse story I’ve been working on. The heart of tale is about the pursuit of justice and atonement for a horrible wrong. Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, and Charlie Bassett would sooner yield to frontier style justice and shoot the man who killed Dora Hand on the spot, but Bill Tilghman insisted that the law must be upheld and the murderer brought be brought to trial. Dora Hand’s killer is devastated when he learns the bullet he intended for the Mayor of Dodge City found its way to Dora. At one point in his arrest he pleads for forgiveness. Bat responds with a comment I’ve been pondering for days. “How do you forgive the devil?” He asks rhetorically. The enemy disguises itself in many ways. He can be an outlaw, a lawyer, a neighbor, even someone you used to call family. How do you forgive the devil? I don’t think men like Bat and Wyatt ever learned how. Maybe that’s because their brothers had been taken from them. Bill did not have the same point of reference that the other lawmen had. He was the cooler head that prevailed. He was the voice of reason that held the others back when the devil changed his tune and insisted he was justified. We all need a voice like that when the enemy cries out that hes the victim. Until next time…I’m off with the posse.

The book signing at Barnes & Noble in Citrus Heights was a real pleasure. There were many people waiting to get a copy of the John Wayne biography and hear stories about the women of the Old West containted in some of the other titles. It’s a treat to meet such avid readers. Some of them have wonderful stories about their ancestors that traveled here during the Gold Rush. They are so excited about their heritage and their connection with the history of westward expansion. Mike Troyan is the manager of the store and a wonderful author in his own right. He penned a book about Greer Garson and is working on a tome about MGM. All in all it was a nice day. I haven’t had too many of those in the last few years so I cherish them all the more when they come around. Thanks to all the good people who attended the event. You were all a delight.

Buffalo Bill Cody was one of the most famous characters in the Old West. By the time he was eleven he had ridden shotgun on a freight wagon and killed a man trying to attack the teamsters pushing supplies to Utah. Articles were written about him, fame was eminent. He was a household name when he met Louisa Frederici, the woman who would become his wife. One of the books I’m working on is about their marriage and the numerous affairs he had. He was a striking looking man and women threw themselves at him. Louisa was jealous, and rightly so, but didn’t not want to give Cody up. She made his life miserable and his three sisters resented her for it. Cody’s sisters were dedicated to their brother and would have done anything to protect his name and position. They couldn’t stand Louisa and believed the biggest mistake Cody ever made was marrying her. I didn’t expect the story of Louisa and Buffalo Bill to resonate with me personally, but that’s the thing about writing. You find something to identify with in every tale you venture into.

I’m dressed in my Old West garb and ready to hit the road to speak at a book store about marketing books and promotions. I’m looking forward to the program, but am heart broken for my brother Scott and his wife, Linda. Linda lost her son this past week and both she and Scott are suffering over the loss. The funeral is today and I pray they will find comfort in the loved ones that surround them. I feel particularly blessed to have a sister-in-law like Linda. I wish my brother had met her a long time ago and further wish my brother, Rick had been as lucky to have had someone like her in his life. Statistics show that 90% of your happiness is derived from the person you marry. Scott is living that statitic out. If I’d been a better sister I would have made sure Rick would have had a chance to meet someone as wonderful as Linda.

The least stressful part about working on the Roy Rogers Dale Evans movie project has been dealing with Clint Black and Lisa Hartman Black. Not only are they the best choice for the roles of Roy and Dale, but they are kind, humble people. I had the pleasure of going back stage at Clint’s concert this past weekend. We spoke briefly about Roy and Dale’s story and about the television series he’s doing with CBS in the coming weeks. Both he and his wife are very talented and it’s going to be a real pleasure to make a movie with them. I’ll be speaking to a group of aspiring writers this week at Amicus Books. We’ll be discussing the business end of writing and reviewing the publicity campaign for both of the Roy Rogers/Dale Evans books. It’s always great to be at Amicus Books. The folks that run the store are quality individuals and a joy to be with. Their store is beautiful as well.