December 17th, 2007

On Friday, December 14th I had the good fortune of being a part of a book signing at Amicus Books in historic Marysville, California. The ladies who hosted the event dressed up like characters from the book With Great Hope: Women of the Gold Rush and read aloud from a few of the chapters. It was a delight to meet the people that turned out for the event and I was honored that they liked the books enough to invite me to participate. I look forward to returning to the location in the near future. Tomorrow the production company that’s filming the documentary about John Wayne’s early years will be here to do an interview about the book The Young Duke. They sent me a list of talking points and I’ve been going over and over them in hopes that when the camera is on I sound like I actually know something about the Duke’s life. I feel like I’m studying for an exam – memorizing dates and places. He was a huge talent and I liked him because he was every man’s hero. He had a quiet strength. He was the good guy who always made the bad guy pay for his sins. I’m a big fan of that notion and believe the only place that ideal is ever realized is in motion pictures. I think that’s why so many are drawn to him. Who doesn’t want to see the Ned Peppers and Liberty Valances of this world shot? And who didn’t think Wayne was always the man for the job?