Author Mary Cronk Farrell

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Iconic American Legend on a White Horse Based on a Black Man?

2/11/2019

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White guys like John Wayne personify our image of the American West, so it might surprise you to know that roughly one in four cowboys riding the range was black.
 
On Saturday night when they went to town, these men couldn't stay in hotels or eat in restaurants. I'm not sure if they could drink and play cards in the saloons, but during the workweek, their skill with a horse, a rope and a gun, could gain them a level of respect. 
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Black cowboys at the "Negro State Fair" in Bonham, Texas, in 1913, photo courtesy Texas State Historical Association.
In the three decades following the Civil War at least 25 (probably more) African American men served as deputy U.S. Marshals for the U.S. government. There's some evidence to suggest that one of those rough-riding, straight-shooting black lawmen formed the basis for the iconic Lone Ranger. 

Deputy Marshal Bass Reeves grew famous in the late 19th Century, during his 30-years pursuing and arresting bandits and murders throughout what was called Indian Territory. The former slave has some distinct resemblances to Lone Ranger of radio, comic book, TV and movies.

​Bass was born a slave in Arkansas in 1883, and was taken to Texas his owner William Reeves as an 8-year-old boy. When the Civil War broke out, Reeves' son joined the Confederate Army and took Bass with him to the front lines as a servant.
PictureU.S. Deputy Marshal Bass Reeves
 Before the war's end, Bass escaped, heading west to what was then called Indian Territory and now the State of Oklahoma. Historians say there he learned horsemanship and tracking skills from Native Americans and also became handy with Colt 45 and a rifle. After emancipation, Bass was just one of many black men looking for work.
 
“Right after the Civil War, being a cowboy was one of the few jobs open to men of color who wanted to not serve as elevator operators or delivery boys or other similar occupations,” says William Loren Katz, a scholar of African-American history.

The Choctaw, Creek, Seminole, Cherokee, and Chickasaw tribes had been forcibly moved from their homelands to "Indian Territory" where they governed themselves, but the federal government was responsible for rounding up the lawless element hiding out there, thousands of thieves, murderers and fugitives.

​The call went out to hire 200 deputies for the job, and Bass Reeves fit the profile. Strong, steady, 6-foot-2, with a deep voice and commanding presence, he was appointed the first African-American lawman west of the Mississippi.

PictureU.S. Deputy Marshal Bass Reeves
By all accounts, he was one of the best, serving for more than 30-years in relentless pursuit of lawbreakers. The Oklahoma City Weekly Times-Journal reported, “Reeves was never known to show the slightest excitement, under any circumstance. He does not know what fear is.”
 
True to the mythical code of the West, Bass Reeves never drew his gun first. Though many outlaws aimed to shoot him, their bullets always missed. He was never even grazed by a bullet. Reeves admitted he shot and killed 14 men, but all in self-defense. 
 
He's credited with bringing in 3,000 outlaws alive. More than once, showing up at the District Courthouse in Fort Smith with ten or more prisoners in tow.

From the “Court Notes” of the July 31, 1885, Fort Smith Weekly Elevator: “Deputy Bass Reeves came in same evening with eleven prisoners, as follows: Thomas Post, one Walaska, and Wm. Gibson, assault with intent to kill; Arthur Copiah, Abe Lincoln, Miss Adeline Grayson and Sally Copiah, alias Long Sally, introducing whiskey in Indian country; J.F. Adams, Jake Island, Andy Alton and one Smith, larceny.”

Though he couldn't read or write, Bass Reeves always knew which arrest warrant matched his man, and he used his brains, as well as his brawn and firepower to enforce the law. He often wore disguises to catch criminals unaware, and that may be the first clue that connected Bass with the famous "masked man."

He rode a large light gray horse and gave out silver dollars as a calling card, similar to the Lone Ranger's trademark silver bullets.
 
At least one biographer says the deputy marshal at times worked with a Native American partner tracking criminals. And like the Lone Ranger, he demonstrated an unshakable moral compass, even arresting his own son on a murder charge, after which the son was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. 

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So far, historians have not proven the Lone Ranger was based on the exploits of Bass Reeves, but the most convincing piece of evidence seems to be that many of the prisoners he captured and turned into authorities at Fort Smith, went to serve their jail sentences in Detroit, the city where George Trendle and Fran Striker created the character of the Lone Ranger.
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A children's biography Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal, won the 2010 Coretta Scott King Award. It was written by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson and illustrated by R. Gregory Christie.

One reviewer on Goodreads says, "This is a children's book, but still very informative." Because, of course, most children's books are not informative. (heavy sigh) 


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For more reading on the topic, check out Gary Paulson's historical novel for teens called the Legend of Bass Reeves: Being the True and Fictional Account of the Most Valiant Marshal in the West. Publishers Weekly called it a "compelling fictionalized biography...Effectively conveying Reeve's thoughts and emotions, the author shapes an articulate, well-deserved tribute to this unsung hero.

Sources: 
https://blackdoctor.org/482030/this-week-in-black-history-the-real-lone-ranger-was-a-black/
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https://www.history.com/news/bass-reeves-real-lone-ranger-a-black-man

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A Day with Bright Young Minds Can Really Fire You Up

5/8/2015

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Look at the enthusiasm of these students!
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They earned a field trip and pizza party for meeting their reading goals over the school year. One young girl more than doubled hers.  I knew we were kindred spirits as soon as I heard two kids confess they read when they were supposed to be doing their chores.

I had the privilege and delight of talking to them about writing, and sharing the topics of my books. Their many questions revealed their curiosity and eagerness to learn. I was impressed by their level of knowledge, which, of course, I attribute to the fact they are all terrific readers.  But they attend a unique school, as well.
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Examining historical photos of miners in the Coeur d'Alene Silver Mining District, the students drew inferences about conditions of the time and place.


 At left: The original Old Glory Hole at the Bunker & Sullivan Mine, Kellogg, ID.

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These museum quality artifacts I collected while researching Fire in the Hole! help students gain hands-on experience of the time period.



Below students take a turn with hammer and steel to get a feel for how hard miners' worked in the old days before power drills.

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These students attend the Continuous Curriculum School in the East Valley School District near Spokane, WA. They explained to me how they only get six weeks off for the summer, but get more breaks during the rest of the school year. 

My favorite part of visiting with students this week was hearing about the characters they developed during a short writing assignment. One character was a 6-year-old girl named Hannah, with neon-hair and freckles. Her goal was to pan for fools' gold, and to meet it, she had to climb a mountain and brave a river full of alligators. Now that's a story I want to read!



It was a terrific break from writing to spend a couple hours with these bright, curious and confident young people. It was inspiring how they shared their ideas with such eagerness and enthusiasm.  Several weeks ago, I met with a book club of mostly retired women, and is was similarly invigorating. Their life experiences and wisdom felt like a book I'd love to page through.


Let's hear from you! What do you gain from spending time with people outside your own age group.
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The Courage to Forgive

9/11/2014

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Today welcome Newbery Honor Author Kirby Larson, who's agreed to share her thoughts about courage.

Growing up, I associated courage with brave deeds and actions: John Glenn for rocketing to the moon, my cousin for diving off the high board, and, of course, Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin for fighting the evil agents of CHAOS.  As a comic book and movie lover, it’s not surprising that I thought the way I did. People admired Batman for swooping in to foil the Joker; John Wayne may not have always gotten the girl, but he almost always won the gunfight or the battle.

This is no earth-shattering revelation, but of course those romanticized and Hollywood influenced versions of courage only tell one small slice of the story. Once I came to understand that my true writing passion is historical fiction, my reading and research revealed to me many, many examples of genuine courage.

Sometimes the expression of courage is a small thing: a busy construction worker who cared for a stray dog and cat after Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans, despite his boss’ disapproval. This courageous (and kind) action inspired Mary Nethery and me to write Two Bobbies: A True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship and Survival.

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Sometimes people are courageous in large ways, like my great-grandmother and others like her who dared to homestead by themselves during the early 1900s, inspirations for my novel Hattie Big Sky. 

Or like Reverend Emery Andrews who, at tremendous personal cost, not only spoke out against the “relocation” of people of Japanese descent during WWII, he left his church and uprooted his family to Twin Falls, Idaho, to help those who were incarcerated in Minidoka War Relocation Camp. Though he was spit upon, shoved out of cafes and even evicted from his first Twin Falls home, he never faltered in his desire and efforts to help. Thinking about what it would have been like to have such a man for a father led me to write The Fences Between Us.

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Recently, at an event to help launch my new book, Dash, I met a woman who has me looking at courage from a different perspective. Her name is Kay Sakai Nakao and when she was 22, she and her family were evacuated from Bainbridge Island, Washington and sent to a war relocation camp. 

Kay gave birth to her first child in the camp; after the delivery, she brought her infant “home” to rough barracks, equipped only with Army-supplied cots and a pot belly stove. Any other furniture in the “apartment” was made from scavenged scrap wood. With a babe in arms, Kay waited in long lines for meals – slogging through mud in winter, wilting in blistering heat and dust in summer – and at the latrines, (initially nothing more than modesty-robbing ten-hole outhouses) and laundry house. Can you imagine washing diapers in such an environment? 

Kay is now in her 90s and I was present when someone asked her if she was bitter or angry about what had happened to her as a young mother. (I agreed with the asker that I certainly would have been!). Kay smiled a gentle and serene smile and said that she had long ago realized that the only person hurt by holding a grudge or being bitter was herself. “I choose to live with joy,” she said.


When I think about all she lived through and all she has to be angry about, Kay’s life philosophy seems to me the supreme definition of courage.

Thank you, Kirby!  I love being reminded that joy is a choice. What about you? Have you faced a difficult time choosing to forgive someone?  Do you remember a time when you made a definite choice for joy, rather than resentment or frustration?



 To learn more about Kirby Larson and her books click here. 
 You can follow her on twitter, too. @KirbyLarson 

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Breaking Stalin's Nose

11/29/2013

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If you have a minute—1:23 to be exact—watch this video of Eugene Yelchin talking about growing up in the Soviet Union and the tough choice he had to make.  Yelchin’s 2012 Newbery Honor novel BREAKING STALIN’S NOSE is partially based on his own childhood. 
The book begins with a boy’s letter to Comrade Stalin telling the Soviet leader his greatest dream--to join the Young Soviet Pioneers.

Of course, as seems to happen to main characters, the boy Sasha runs into trouble reaching his dream. He comes face to face with a hard, life-altering choice and in that choice defines himself.

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Hard choices come with a cost. And though our own may not be as pricey as Sasha’s or Eugene Yelchin’s, they still demand courage. 

I think of my daughter making the choice to pursue a career in screenwriting.  

As she was going off to college to major in film, I remember speaking with the mother of one of her friends. The friend had also considered majoring in the arts, but her mother told me she had convinced the girl to major in business.

Perhaps that girl now has a good paying job and flew home for Thanksgiving with her family, while my daughter is twelve-hundred miles away in Los Angeles, working the holiday at a restaurant, sharing a bedroom with a friend to save on rent, and living daily in uncertainty about her future as a screenwriter. Sure, people all over the world are facing decisions that will cost them much more. But I am inspired by my daughter’s courage and willingness to bear the cost of following her heart.

What about you?  Share whose courage fills your heart and makes you want to live with more authenticity, or tell me about a life-altering choice you’ve made.


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 A Young Man, An Old Soldier, and a Fight to the Death

10/18/2013

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Click to pre-orderPre-order book now
Today I introduce you to Christine Kohler, author of NO SURRENDER SOLDIER due out Jan.18. Christine’s experience as a journalist gave her instant credibility in my eyes. Her YA novel is set in Guam and connects two wars–Vietnam and WWII.
Publisher's Weekly recently mentioned NO SURRENDER SOLDIER as a book helping teens make sense of war. Important for kids, whose country has been at war since they were born.


Welcome, Christine.

"War is a terrible thing, and many return with wounds invisible to the eye." -- Terry Pratchett, DODGER


This is true of all my characters in NO SURRENDER SOLDIER. The after-effects of war on people's lives are like contracting a genetic disease, even passing it down to future generations.

People often ask how I got interested in writing about war. I usually tell them about my experiences as a reporter living in Pacific-Asian nations. My heartstrings tugged when I heard the stories of refugees. So for decades I wrote about war refugees.

My first article in the mid-1980s was about Laotians who came to Hawaii to start new lives. My last news article on the topic was in the mid-90s when Russian Jews relocated to the United States.


Picture Author Christine Kohler
On Guam's annual Liberation Day I interviewed Guamanians who had been subjugated by the Japanese during World War II. It was out of these stories while I lived on Guam, Japan, and Hawaii, plus my travels to the Philippines, Saipan, and Korea that led me to write about war in Pacific–Asia in NO SURRENDER SOLDIER.

Even though NO SURRENDER SOLDIER takes place in 1972 at the end of the Vietnam civil war and revolves around events from World War II, I don't think of my book so much as being about war as dealing with the after-effects of war on the individual.

As General Sherman said, "It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, for vengeance, for desolation. War is hell."

And, regarding the survivors, he said, "Courage--a perfect sensibility of the measure of danger, and a mental willingness to endure it."

It is my hope that NO SURRENDER SOLDIER honors those-- on all sides of the battle lines-- who endured, survived, and rose above the pain of war.


Read more in-depth on this subject at Christine Kohler’s blog READ LIKE A WRITER.
Do you know someone who has survived war? Does anything in this article ring true for you? Please share your thoughts.

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Check out these Children's Authors

10/7/2013

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A month ago when Non-fiction for kids writer Kelly Milner Halls invited me to join in the Children’s Author’s Blog Hop, I happily told her I would love to. Then writing deadlines and prep for our Inland NW Regional Conference hit me head on. So here I am a month late.  Which worked out okay because since Kelly tagged me, she started a new venture– video episodes on MSN.  She’s written and filmed ten 3-minute videos, each exploring something odd and amazing. She’s perfect for this gig because she has written lots of books about odd and amazing things. Like     ALIEN INVESTIGATION and IN SEARCH OF SASQUATCH. Click here to see her newest video Lulu the Hero Pig. And find out more about Kelly’s books and videos at www.WondersOfWeird.com.

So what this blog hop is all about is authors answering four questions about their current project.

What are you working on right now?

Right now I am working on a YA historical novel set in 1660 Boston about Mary Dyer, a woman who challenged the towns religious persecution of Quakers. Some Quakers suffered whippings, had their ears cut off and were dragged out of town behind a horse and cart. But others, like Mary who would not stay away from Boston and refused to refused to renounce their faith, went to the gallows. Before her hanging, Mary said, “My live not availeth me in comparison to the liberty of the truth.”   

How does it differ from other works in it’s genre?

My novel will differ from other YA fiction based on American history because the main character actually lives in present-day Boston. Her witnessing the hanging of Mary Dyer is not magic, this book isn’t fantasy, but it is mysterious. Religion becomes a place of exploration for many teens. Sometimes what they have taken for granted all their lives, suddenly doesn’t make sense. This book delves into that religious space that is very difficult to quantify.

Why do you write what you do?

I have a passion for stories about people facing great adversity with courage. Writing  stories like the one about Mary Dyer and my upcoming book PURE GRIT: HOW AMERICAN WWII NURSES SURVIVED BATTLE AND PRISON CAMP IN THE PACIFIC has been my way of exploring courage. What it is, and where it comes from. One thing I see again and again is that in their darkest moments people have the opportunity to discover their true identity, and that gives them the courage to follow an inner compass toward some good greater than themselves.

What’s the hardest part about writing?

For me, the hardest part about writing for kids is the integrity it demands. I want to tell kids the truth, whether it’s the true story of American women in WWII, or a novel composed of events I’ve imagined. Writing the truth about war means you have to get very close to war. If you don’t experience it yourself, you listen to other people’s accounts of it, and you don’t turn away from the ugliness, the horrific loss of life. You let it move through you onto the page. Writing fiction, requires an honesty about your own life experience. What moves through you onto the page of a novel is the emotional truth of living in this world. I find the honesty of the writing process to be very difficult at times. 

Now if I’ve taken you down a path that is too serious and dark, I urge you to check out Author Stacy McAnulty.

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She writes funny books for children, books that usually star dinosaurs or dragons or dogs. DEAR SANTASAURUS, published by Boyds Mills Press 2013, is her debut picture book. She has two additional picture book deals in the works. When she’s not writing, she’s reading. And when she’s not reading, she’s tweeting or playing around online. (She tells her family it’s “marketing.”) Stacy lives in a cluttered house in Kernersville, NC with her 3 kids, 2 dogs, and 1 husband. www.stacymcanulty.com

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I’m also tagging a friend who works with my same editor at Abrams/ Amulet--fantasy, steam-punk novelist Maureen McQuerry. Maureen’s published works include THE PECULIARS, a YASLA, Bank Street, Horn Book and Westchester YA best  book;  NUCLEAR LEGACY, an Independent Publisher’s Award winner and numerous poems in literary journals. In the tradition of the Dark Is Rising books, fantasy and myth come to life in Maureen’s forthcoming middle-grade duet. BEYOND THE DOOR and THE TELLING STONE are due out in spring and fall 2014. Connect with Maureen at www.maureenmcquerry.com.

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Lastly, I’m tagging Nancy I. Sanders, who I first introduced on this blog when she published FREDERICK DOUGLASS FOR KIDS: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. Nancy is the bestselling and award-winning children's author of  D IS FOR DRINKING GOURD: AN AFRICAN AMERICAN ALPHABET. Further, she has written more than 80 books for children, teachers and writers. Her favorite topics to write about are God, Bible stories, educational subjects, and African American history. Find out more about Nancy here http://nancyisanders.wordpress.com.

With these authors, I'm giving you a little of everything to choose from, funny picture books, fantasy YA & middle grade adventure, plus more non-fiction. Check 'em out!
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You Need a Book Trailer

7/10/2011

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Not long ago, if you heard the phrase book trailer, you might picture something like a bookmobile that drives around offering books in areas remote from the library.

But bookmobiles have been cast aside like card catalogs in this technology revolution. A book trailer is something your publisher says you have to have, along with your website, blog, Facebook, Twitter....

A writer would have to clone herself to do all the marketing and promotion necessary and still continue to write.

Or hire me and my new company to do it for you! Here's the first book trailer produced by Get Kdz Lit Media. You can find us at www.Getkdzlit.com.
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Literature & History

10/27/2010

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  I can’t wait to get my hands on the newly released second book in Y S Lee’s ­Agency series, The Body at the Tower. This time Mary Quinn investigates murder while disguised as a boy, a poor apprentice builder assigned to a building site on the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament. 

Lee, with her PhD in Victorian literature and culture, gives us a suspenseful and resonant glimpse of a fascinating moment in history. According to Kirkus Reviews“…the sights, smells and grim lives of London’s poor are richly detailed….”

Though Mary and the clandestine Agency operating out of Miss Scrimshaw’s Academy for Girls are unrealistic to the time period, they provide a terrific story against a backdrop of accurate and interesting history. I was hooked on Lee’s first book A Spy in the House, when Mary goes undercover during London’s Great Stink of 1858. A smelly situation that really happened. Says Lee,  

“It was a particularly warm year and the smell from the grossly polluted Thames became, quite suddenly, unbearable. People panicked. Those who could fled London for the country. And the Great Stink finally pushed the government into cleaning up the Thames and modernizing London’s sewer system.

We know the bare facts: toilets flushed right into the Thames, and Londoners pumped the water straight back out for cooking and bathing. People thought the smell made you sick – not germs. And future prime minister Benjamin Disraeli fled the House of Commons one day with a handkerchief over his nose, so evil was the stench.”

Ah! Those were the good ol’ days.
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Lee plans to unveil the cover of yet a third Mary Quinn detective story soon. I’m hoping it won’t be the last.  And not just because I won this tee at the twitter book launch of #2. Thanks, Ying!

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    Author

    ​

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    I'm an award-winning author of Children's/YA books and former journalist with a passion for stories about people facing adversity with courage.

    My books have been named Notable Social Studies Book for Young People, SPUR Award for Best Juvenile Fiction about the American West, Bank Street College List of Best Children's Books, and NY Public Library Best Books for Teens. My journalistic work has received numerous awards for excellence from the Society of Professional Journalists and two Emmy nominations.
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