HONORS TO ANOTHER INCREDIBLE WOMAN

If my cowboy hat were not stapled to my head (see post for April 11), I would definitely doff it in tribute to yet another amazing woman who has made it possible for me to appear to do well what I actually do very badly--promote myself and, in her case, look like a superb researcher.  Christie Wright, president of the Park County (Colorado) Local History Archives Board, has done more to make my upcoming nonfiction book on the Espinosas exact in detail and visible in excellent period photographs than I could have done in weeks of wandering around Central Colorado with a dog-eared DeLorme atlas in one hand and a camera in the other looking for museum collections, death sites, graves, ambush canyons, etc.  Christie is a determined advocate for her beloved South Park, one of Western America's most amazing landscapes and the site of an incredible history; and is writing her own book about mayhem in that spectacular area titled South Park Perils, which will be published March 1, 2013, by Filter Park Press Books, Monument, CO, about the same time as mine on the Espinosas who terrorized the Park in 1863.  She knows her history and its compelling cast of characters better than anybody and, even more amazing, is both willing and eager to share what she knows--or find it out if she doesn't know and in record time too.  It's an honor and a privilege to work with her.  I'm unbelievably fortunate in having talented women like Christie, Ruth and Britt (mentioned below) to help me in my writing--especially now that I seem to be approaching my dotage.  Christie's photo is above.  Check out her website at www.southparkperils.com.