The Fateful Tombstone Connection "The Pig Picture"

 August 9, 2023

  Why is it important to write down our stories?

"The old forget. The young don't know."

—Old Vaquero Saying

   So I asked Jeff Morey how he met Kevin Jarre and this is what he told me:

   "I first met Kevin Jarre at a gathering of Alamo buffs at Joe Musso’s apartment.  Dan Gagliasso told Kevin of the gathering.  So, Kevin popped into Joe’s but only stayed for a very brief time.  Dan told me that Kevin might attend.  Knowing that Kevin was an aficionado of the Old West, I gave him a copy of the 'Pig Picture' telling him that I believed one particular man in the photo was Wyatt Earp.  At that time Kevin was set to direct his first film, which was to be 'Dracula'.  However, when word got out that Francis Ford Coppola was set to direct a 'Dracula' film, Kevin’s project was abruptly cancelled. Jarre was crestfallen and desperate to develop a new project.  Then, Kevin’s eyes fell upon the 'Pig Picture' on his desk and immediately decided to make a movie about Earp. Upon hearing Kevin’s desire to do a film about Earp, Peter Sherayko, who was a good friend of Kevin’s, gave Kevin my phone number and advised him to contact me.  In those days, director John Milius liked to hold a kind of open house on Fridays at his office.  So I asked Kevin to meet me at John’s office that upcoming Friday.  Jarre and I talked about Earp for about 45 minutes.  The very next day, Kevin phoned again and asked me to be the historical consultant for his Earp script.  So, my advice to you is to present the 'Pig Picture' in True West as: The photo that inspired Tombstone. You would be telling readers something that hasn’t been previously disclosed."

The "Pig Picture"

From

"The Illustrated Life & Times of Wyatt Earp"

page 118

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

—Steven Wright