December 28th, 2008

The trip to Missouri for the holidays was long and I had plenty of time between flights to work on the next idea for a book proposal. A month ago, Howard Kazanjian, the film producer I’ve had the pleasure of collaborating with on several occasions, suggested looking into the life of a lawman named Sam Sixkiller. Sixkiller was a Deputy Marshall in Oklahoma who became the first captain of the United States Indian Police headquarters in Muskogee. As Captain, Sixkiller had 40 men under his command. He was an exceptional officer who was eventually shot down in the line of duty. He led an interesting life and I’m anxious to write about him. I can either get a lot of writing about Sam done at my office or at an American Airlines terminal should I ever have to fly with them again. And I probably will. I’ve had to fly with them a lot this past year. American boasts painfully long layovers and numerous crying children once the flight boards. When did it become a federal regulation that you have to have at least seven crying babies on every flight? I just want to know: Where are they going? Why are they on planes? They have no appointments, they were just born days ago. Are times so hectic that babies are born and instantly tell those around them, “I just popped out of the womb, I gotta dry up, learn to breathe-I’ll be on the two o’clock, it’s the best I can do?.” If I had a good time at Christmas I can’t remember because the flight itself drained all my good will and pleasant memories. I took a lot of pictures so something good must have been happening. It’s great to be home and making plans for the new year. I’ve got three new books that will be released over the next 12 months. How I pray 2009 is better than 2008, or 2007, or 2006, or?. I’ll keep the website updated on that subject or, you can drop by the American Airlines terminal at the Dallas/Forth Worth airport to find out how it’s going. I seem to spend a lot of time there.