March 19, 2008
Scrambling to finish the May issue. Tweaking and fixing the big Fandango party layout. Lots of images and very few captions. Meghan Saar is pulling it together. Robert Ray is finishing the Brazen Bill Brazelton layout on Classic Gunfights and Dan Harshberger is tweaking the cover and Western Women We Love. Really a stellar issue, chocked full of amber glow (in fact I confessed to my obsession in the editorial).

Exits Exit Update
Not so many weeks ago, Charlie Waters and I made a bet about whether we would break 100 RSVPs for our final gig at the Old Elks Hall in downtown Kingmanistan this weekend. Last night I got a call from Jim Powell, Claudia (Williams) Dodge, Eleanore (Logas) Fanire and Joany (Logas) Legg and they RSVP'd for 12, bringing our total to well over 300. Now we are worried about crowd control. Ha.

No Good Deed Goes Unpublished
"You helped me with a book I was writing about my family, who started Kohls Ranch Resort. I really appreciated the help and enjoyed doing the book. That ended my writing career for now, but have liked the results. I enjoy sharing their history as they were such fine people. Even Granddad that I only recently heard had a whiskey still on a nearby mountain. Who knows?

"I am wrinting to remind you of one of the many people you have taken time to help, and the good you do. It isn't forgotten.

"The other reason I am writing is to tell you on behalf of myself and our family, who all watch the western channel, that your 'shorts' are the highlight. We love them and always wish there were more of them. Raised by cattlemen and growing up with "the talk" I still didn't know much of what you tell about.

"Just about the time we have had our fill of Gene Autry (one film) we don't cancel because of your presentations and the occasional westerns we haven't seen in a long time or at all. Wade reads your magazine every month and really enjoys it.

"I hadn't read you diary in quite awhile (busy with life) and really enjoyed reading it again. What is it about your writing that we would take the time to read your diary? It is fun though. Sense of humor and creativity help, I assume. Why I even enjoyed reading that you had left over pizza for lunch. "
—Bettie Kohl Adams

Daily Top Secret Project Update
It's true I ran in a wild crowd, especially in the early eighties, after my third divorce. I kind of lost my moorings and found solace at Hooter's and Bourbon Street A Go-Go, among other clubs in the Tempe area. For some reason all the exotic dancers flocked to me.



Maybe it was the bags of cocaine, I don't know, but I kind of went off the deep end and forgot about the waterlogged sketchbook for several years. It didn't help that I was spending quite a bit of time at Perryville and didn't get out much.

But by 1992, I was ready to reclaim what was rightfully mine. Not only did I retrieve the long lost Remington sketchbook from my ex-wife (there went $50Gs), but I was also fortunate enough to come into possession of a manuscript Remington was working on when he suddenly died while shelling corn for his chickens.

I wrote up this preface to an article I propose to run on the pages of True West magazine, but who knows if those whores will run it.

—Richard Wahd

Long Lost Remington Manuscript Found!
On the eve of the Centennial of Freddy Remington’s death, a long lost manuscript, complete with unfinished drawings and paintings, turns up at an odd outpost on the Arizona-New Mexico line.

Although controversial, it contains a first-person account of Remington’s first two trips to Arizona in 1886-88, and a subsequent research trip in 1907 when Remington interviewed Mickey Free and others. Portions of the bombshell manuscript deal with the mystery of The Apache Kid and what happened to the elusive outlaw. In fact, based on the claims in the manuscript, researchers have now unearthed compelling evidence that points to a new and final conclusion in the Apache Kid mystery.

Remington, in his bombastic style, ferrets out the missing links in the case and finally, we have a clear picture of what happened to the handsome, but deadly Apache Kid.

Supplemented with graphic novel storyboarding, done with authentic detail and faithul to the Man Who Knew The Horse, this will be a welcome addition to the annals of the Wild West and the legend of Freddy Sackrider Remington.

"I shut my eyes in order to see."
—Paul Gauguin