December 7th, 2009

My grandmother died on November 27. I returned to Missouri for her funeral last week. I was able to keep my emotions in check until I saw my 24 year-old nephew helping to carry her casket. In a flash I remembered how the two of them used to watch the movie E.T. together and play games on the floor. I heard them laughing. When I saw my nephew dressed in his Navy uniform hoist the coffin up and help march it out of the church, I understood fully then that my grandmother was gone. She and I spoke almost every other day over the phone. I missed talking with her yesterday and found myself scrolling through the speed-dial numbers in my phone until I got to her number. I almost called. She was a bright spot in my childhood and she will be missed. It’s back to work today on the book about Elizabeth Custer. Tales Behind the Tombstone is the book of the month for the excerpt section of this site. Because I’ve been spending so much time with the Custers I wanted to include an excerpt from Tales about George’s death and Libbie’s life after the Battle of Little Big Horn. She has indeed been one of the most fascinating women I’ve had the privilege of writing about. I’ve been in talks with a couple of production companies about doing a documentary on women of the west for the Discovery Channel. If all works out I’ll be in Los Angeles next month to discuss the matter further. The film projects for Playing for Time and Thunder Over the Prairie continue to move slowly ahead. It’s a long, laborious process, but one I hope will be well worth it. Until then, I’m off to Fort Riley with George and Elizabeth.