We received a letter today from a prisoner incarcerated at Abilene, Texas who claims he knows where Forrest Fenn's $1 million dollar treasure is. First, he says the article by Johnny Boggs is "COOL." He then states, "Sir, I truly believe I know where the gold is located. I can't give you a clue because to do so would reveal my guess as to where it's at. I will say one thing—if you should happen to contact Mr. Fenn, please mention it to him that 'they named that town like that for a reason.'" [the sentence is underlined] He then goes on to ask if we could blow up that map and send it to him and he wants to know what the 49 places Dal Neitzel has searched.
He tells of us another treasure he knows about that he deciphered by using the U.S. Constitution. He ends with, "Would you do me a favor—ask (please) Mr. Fenn that if I can pin point with accuracy (exactly!) where the gold is located can I claim it?" then adding, "It wouldn't hurt to give me a chance."
I sent this on to Forrest, who replied: "Bob, please tell #1253 that if he will pinpoint EXACTLY where the treasure is, he can claim it. But 'close' and "'general area' are not good enough."
We had a Design Review this morning and went over the December issue, which is out the door and started on the January issue. Here's a behind-the-scenes-look at how many versions our covers go through before we pull the trigger (final, at bottom right). This is the December issue which went to press this morning.
Eight True West Covers (there were actually 11, but some had tiny changes)
We really fret over these covers and Dan The Man Harshberger goes the extra mile almost every issue, giving us multiple looks and angles. A real pleasure and honor to work with him. We started working together (on the Razz Revue) in 1972, so it's been a long working relationship. The bottom line is, we both just want these cover to be the best they can be.
"The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become."
—Charles du Bois