May 6, 2009
It is so cool to have a daytimer morgue. I have been keeping a daily record of my life since 1994. Yesterday, I realized we're coming up on the tenth anniversary of owning and running True West magazine and I went upstairs in the studio and grabbed the year 1999. Here is a runup, and a few of the other events that happened Ten Years Ago:

January 23, 1999
Theraputic talk with Kathy this morning. We are both down about our kids. We are still angry at Tommy for his asinine, stupid behavior, and Deena is lost at school (she called crying about her "friends" who have abandoned her: Maki wrote her a "Dear John" letter). Talked about their good points (both are sweet and good-hearted) and ways to get through this. My biggest consolation is it could be worse.

January 25, 1999
Cooked salmon for dinner on new grill. Really makes it good. Had salad, homemade banana bread by Matthias [a foreign exchange student from Germany].

Feb. 1, 1999
Kathy's chair was delivered on Sunday. Deena has dubbed it, "The Mother Ship."

February 4, 1999
Tommy played superb last night! He has a real talent for crashing the boards. Very aggressive on defense too. Had two steals, three boards, one stuff and seven points! Wow! I was so proud of him. He has potential to be their go to guy when he's a senior.

February 15, 1999
Kathy has written a detailed response for Thursday's school board meeting regarding Tommy's expulsion.

Valentine's Day was quite wonderful. Kathy made chicken friend stead with cornbread, green beans and gravy. Really good. Enjoyed it immensely.

February 19, 1999
Cheapest gas in years: 85.9 a gallon

April 14, 1999
Returned Bob McCubbin’s call and found out True West magazine is for sale! Bob is serious this time [earlier I had suggested to Bob that we buy True West but he claimed later he was joking about it] and I have money. Need to run the numbers.

April 19, 1999
Took a car trip with the family to Tucson, Patagonia, Nogales and home. Got some good photos of Mexican Revolution, five books at an outlet mall, great inspiration: the Mickey Free story.

April 20, 1999
We are waiting for a number (price) for True West. Marcus Huff [the editor of True West and actually, the broker for the deal] has found a warehouse in Guthrie for about $75,000.

April 22, 1999
Called Jim Larkin [co-owner of the New Times alternative weekly empire] about the True West investment. He was coming in from Cleveland. Good advice: get a transactional lawyer, be careful on buying debt, lean on internet selling.

April 23, 1999
Today’s show was on fire ( The Jones & Boze Radio Show on KXAM 1310, Live From the Mineshaft in Cave Creek, Arizona!”). Really hot. Kathy called and said me considering True West was tantamount to having an affair on David. He chimed in and said if I do the mag, our radio show is over. Lots of tension, good calls.

May 1, 1999
The current owners of True West [the two Steves, who are selling to the two Bobs] want $170,000 for the purchase price.

May 6, 1999
Still, the Bad Men book will not die! I spent all afternoon yesterday trying to plug all the missing photo credits. Still came up a half dozen short, plus the Yellowstone entry and the cover blurb. Jeesh! Really exasperating. Regarding the True West buy, I need to call my friend Charlie Waters.

Tommorrow I’ll start with a day by day, bloody account of the long road to acquiring True West magazine.

"I stayed in a really old hotel last night. They sent me a wake-up letter."
—Steven Wright