July 22, 2005
Came into the office at seven. Had a very successful day. Gus, Robert Ray, Meghan and I wailed on CGII pages, hammering away at the loose ends and irritating holes and transitions. I rewrote two of the gunfights (Zwing Hunt and Billy Breakenridge; and the final Aftermath). Gus finished his Earp Exodus map and we put that in place. I finished two posse pictures last night and we put those into their allotted slots. Very nice.

We are printing out three page proof editions for our editors to look at this weekend.

In the meantime, this morning we got our first advance copy of the new Crown book, True Tales and Amazing Legends of the Old West. from the editors of True West magazine. And it is a thing of beauty. Congrats to Bart Bull, James Fitsgerald, Dan Buck and Anne Meadows, Leo Banks, Johnny Boggs, Gary Roberts, Larry Johns, Linda Wommack, Neil Carmony, Larry K. Brown, Tom Carpenter, Joseph Rosa, John Haradon, Downs Mathews, Mike Coppock, RG Robertson, Meghan Saar, Jana Bommersbach, Candy Moulton, and our entire design team, Dan Harshberger, Gus Walker, Abby Pearson and Robert Ray. They all did a fine job.

More smoke this morning. It was quite oppressive with the air a kind of gun metal gray and you could taste the embers. Eerily, there are no reported fires in our neighborhood. Still not sure exactly what’s causing it. Strange to say the least.

I haven’t heard from the road trip kids. They should be somewhere on the north rim of the canyon. Perhaps they’re out of cell phone range, or they’re tired of talking to me.

As you may have heard, Tombstone is on the verge of losing its National Historic Landmark status because "Tombstone’s historic integrity has declined to become a blend of authentic history and fake Hollywood flair," federal and state officials claim. Well, what should be done? We have some ideas on what exactly would improve the place, but we want to hear from you. If you’ve been to Tombstone lately, what’s wrong with the place, and what would you do to improve it? We want to hear from you. Click here to contact me and give me your best ideas and thoughts on how to fix Tombstone. We may use your comments in the article. Thanks.

"Being extremely honest with oneself is a good exercise."
—Sigmund Freud