Journal Notes

The last permission form needed to complete the schoolmarm book came in today and I can finally send the manuscript off to the publisher. I’ve walked away from the experience writing this book with a great deal more respect for teachers than I did have. It’s a tough job and when it’s done well has a lasting, positive impact on a student. I finished chapter six of the posse book today and think I became even more enamored with Bill Tilghman. He was tough and had a love for the law and seeing true justic served. His wife Zoe wrote an amazing biography about him. She was quite the author in her own right. She wrote several books and I bet when Bill returned home from a long ride had great stories for her to draw from. I think a book about her life would make a good read. Maybe I’m just looking for a reason to spend more time with Mr. Tilghman.

I’ve been spending the last few days with Wyatt Earp. He was part of the posse that went looking for Dora Hand’s murderer and iatrical to the story I’m working on about the manhunt. So much has been written about him it’s hard to find a fresh approach to the material. He was a fearless man and very good with his fists. I didn’t realize that until I started my research. He seldom if ever went for his gun first. He preferred to physically beat his opponent down. He spent a great deal of time at saloons and railroad worker camps watching boxing matches and picked up tips that aided him in his pugilistic endeavors. I suppose a man like Earp is just born a soldier of sorts. I don’t know how it was that at the age of 22 he was so unafraid to confront the worst sort of man. His yes meant yes and his no meant no. I admire his strength of character and the fact that he stood up for his brothers in times of trial. My yeses are cheap and I can’t go to the extent to stand up for my brothers like he did. I’d lose my very soul in the trying.

The article in today’s Sacramento Bee generated a great deal of interest in the books. I’m pleased that so many people want to read about women’s contributions to the Old West. I got a call from Christina Richter, the Community Relations Manager at Barnes & Noble in Roseville, this afternoon. She wanted me to know that folks had been into the store and were asking about the titles. Fortunately they had a few books on hand. In the seven years I’ve been traveling around promoting the titles I’ve never met anyone at any of the bookstores more accomodating and generous as Christina. She likes authors and wants them to do well. That attitude contibutes to the success of that particular store and does wonders for an author. She’s a joy to work with. Most of the books I’ve written are at Barnes and Noble and can also be found at the Placer County Museum Gift Shop in Auburn. I’ll be at both locations for signings in February and March and I’m looking forward to it.

It’s always good to hear from readers who like the books you’ve worked on. Writing is such a solitary profession and you never know if anyone has given the material a look. It’s amazing how much encouragement a postive remark about the books gives you. I’m grateful. I spent part of Friday with a reporter from the Sacramento Bee. Al Pierleoni was kind and asked a number of thoughtful questions. The article is to appear in the Wednesday, January 16 edition of the paper. These are all very positive things, but I still miss my brother and would do anything to get beyond that darkness. Any day now…

I’ve been finishing up the book about schoolmarms of the Old West and remembering the truly inspirational teachers I’ve known. I was in Germany during my eigth grade year and enjoyed all the art classes I had with Mrs. Lucille Ramsey. She was smart and well dressed and had done away with the traditional desks and chairs and replaced them with pillows and stools. It was the mid-70s and she was very progressive. She was an encourager too. No matter what outlandish art project students worked on she praised us for our effort. That’s what I remember best about Mrs. Ramsey. She made you think you had potential just in your trying and it made you want to try harder.

I’ve been working on the final chapter for the book about schoolmarms of the Old West and was impacted by the affection Bethenia Owens-Adair had for her teacher. She was 12 years old when she entered his class in 1852 and terribly upset when he left to teach in another location. The following is a piece from the chapter.

“Bethenia blinked away more tears. Mr. Beaufort took her hand in his and led her out the door. The two walked down the dusty roadway to the gate and continued on for a bit without saying a word. Finally, Mr. Beaufort stopped and bent down next to the faithful student. “Now little one,” he kindly said, “you must go back. You are a nice little girl, and some day you will make a fine woman, but you must remember and study your book hard, and when you get to be a woman everybody will love you, and don’t forget your first teacher, will you?” Mr. Beaufort scooped Bethenia into his arms, kissed her cheek, sat her down in the direction of her home, and went on his way. Bethenia hurried back to the house where she found a quiet spot to cry over the loss of the teacher she so worshipped.”

If I had never experienced the effects of a vindictive teenager I would look upon the above as wholly innocent. But one person has changed the way I see such tales forever. All I could think of as I wrote about Mr. Beaufort was how afraid he should be. He was being kind, but a depraved person would see it differently. They would twist his actions to fit their own devious plan. And in this day and age Mr. Beaufort would be in prison for life…because all it takes is one false claim, one awful allegation. No proof. Just a claim…just an allegation.

A major storm is brewing outside and the wind is gusting violently. I’m pleased to be safe inside my office writing about the Old West. The men in the posse I’m writing about were stuck in this kind of weather for a couple of days. The conditions beyond my window help me to imagine what Wyatt, Bill, Bat, and Jim were up against. I received an email from Lisa Rea. She is the president and founder of The Justice and Reconciliation Project. She’s a dedicated woman with a heart for God and a great desire for hurting hearts to be mended. She emailed me the story of a man who had been in prison for 26 years. He was accused of raping a young woman and DNA testing recently revealed that he didn’t do it. It turns out the woman, who was a teenager at the time, had been having sex with her boyfriend and was afraid to admit that. She accused an innocent man of a vile act and the circumstantial evidence along with her false statements brought about a conviction. It’s tragic and all too familiar. The FBI has announced that they are looking into more than one thousand such claims young girls made like this. Any woman who makes such claims and is determined later to have lied should be jailed along with the overzealous prosecutors. There ought to be a law….

It’s a new year and my prayer is that I can redirect much of the sadness and bitterness that I still feel into something positive. I enjoy reading about such sports greats as Vince Lombardi and George Allen. I covet their attitude. Lombardi said, “It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.” And George Allen said, “The big thing is not what happens to us in in life, but what we do about what happens to us.” I’m going to make that my focus this year. I have a children’s book coming out in September of this year and half of the proceeds are going to go to Prison Fellowship Ministries. In some small way I hope this helps that ministry to continue on. The book is called The Christmas Adventures of Cowboy True. The illustrators working on the project are gifted artists and I’m proud of the job they’ve done. Can’t wait for everyone to see it.

Living in the high sierras of Northern California you get a sampling of all kinds of weather. As I write this the snow is coming down and the sun is trying desperately to make an appearance. The inches of snow and ice that cover my driveway have left me stranded in my house for a bit. I am able to use the time to answer many emails that have come in from readers who are anxious to read the book I’m writing about my brother’s situation. There are many people who have had to live with the loss of a loved because of fabricated evidence and the like. There are many authentic victims of injustice and it makes every authentic victim related in some sense. Books, movies, television shows, etc., on the subject of the bad guys getting what they deserve will always be popular. The desire to balance an account long overdue is powerful and universal.

It was a great pleasure to have been a guest on Loyce Smallwood’s radio program and discuss the books. She’s a sweet lady and is a gracious interviewer. I appreciate the calls and the questions about The Lady Was A Gambler. Hope readers enjoy the book and encourage those who sign my guest book who want a copy of the material to email me with their address. I am looking forward to getting back to work on the book about the most intrepid posse in the west. I’ve had to put it on the back-burner so I could finish the books about schoolmarms and women miners of the Old West. I am inspired by that story and am anxious to get back into it. I’m hoping that the book I’m writing about the situation involving my brother will help me feel less guilty and less sad. I feel haunted at this point and would dearly love to be at peace. I don’t know if that’s possible.