December 27, 2007
Got several new books in this week: Missing White Girl by Jeffrey J. Mariotte, a border story about a dark world of bizarre supernatural forces. And Johnny-Behind-the-Deuce, Guilty Until Proven Innocent: The True Story of Mike O'Rourke And The Shooting of Philip Schneider by Roy B. Young. And Nantan: The Life & Times of John P. Clum, Volume I: Claverack to Tombstone, 1851-1881 by Gary Ledoux.

One of Deena Bean's oldest friends, Maki Sato, came by last night for dinner. Kathy made turkey and the fixin's and we caught up on her life. She is living in Salt Lake City and going back to college.

Several of my Kingman friends worked at Jordan's Engineering when I lived there and so it was a pleasant surprise to hear from one of the Jordan grandkids, Will Jordan, who now lives in Billings, Montana and is involved as Director of Sales in the Montana Sporting Journal a bi-monthly magazine dedicated to fishing, hunting and gear. Check them out here.

Will wanted to pick my brain about magazine circulation and making it in the biz. Fun talk, and I had plenty of experience to tell on What Not To Do. Ha.

Speaking of online goodies, we have our Official 2008 True West Magazine Reader's Survey up on the website. You can access it on the front page or click here to take survey.

The Skinny On Kinney
"Time you Kingmanites 'fessed up that at one time John Kinney operated a feed lot in your home town."
—Fred Nolan

John Kinney led a band of rogues in 1870s New Mexico, including a young Billy the Kid. Kinney later cleaned up his act and moved to Arizona, but I didn't know he spent time in my hometown (which kind of takes him down another notch). Amazing.

Here's Fred's update: "By his own account, after he was released from jail in 1886 he spent time in El Paso, Tex., Denison, Iowa, (his sister Nora Kinney lived in Crawford County) and Omaha, Neb. before returning to Arizona around 1890. He ran a feed lot in Kingman, and after service in Cuba during the Spanish-American War, mined successfully at Chaparral Gulch in Yavapai county, finally settling at Prescott, where he earned the reputation of being a valued and popular citizen."

"A large section of the intelligentsia seems wholly devoid of intelligence."
—G. K. Chesterton