When One Thing Leads To Another

Before releasing the moniker Cash Laramie into the wonderful world of fiction, I Googled the name to make sure the it hadn't already been taken, and, outside of Six Ways To Make Cash fast in Laramie, WY, I found I was free to use it. Later, after the first Cash Laramie tale had been published, I ran across several interesting links for Cash's partner Gideon Miles. Which brings me next to "The Sins of Maynard Shipley," my latest piece of crime fiction for the upcoming issue of NEEDLE. I dug the old-fashioned sound of the name, but, as you can tell by the story title, Maynard is not the finest of folks. As a matter of fact, he's downright evil but I'm digressing. After I sent editor Steve Weddle the story I came across the OAC site with the following:

Born in Baltimore, Maryland on December 1, 1872, Maynard Shipley was educated at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. A self-taught musician, Shipley gave music lessons to pay his way through college. At Stanford he specialized in the study of science and became a writer and lecturer on scientific subjects. For twenty years he lectured on astronomy and evolution, both on the platform and over the radio. In 1898 he founded the Academy of Science in Seattle, Washington and later became its second president. During the 1920s Shipley took an active part in the Fundamentalist-Modernist controversy, lecturing and debating on the side of science and liberalism. In 1924 he founded the Science League of America Inc., a national association to protect freedom in teaching and to resist attempts to unite church and state in the United States. Shipley wrote The War on Modern Science (1927), The Key to Evolution (1929), and was the author of thirty-three "Little Blue Books" on scientific subjects as well as numerous articles on science and criminology. He married Miriam Allen de Ford, a writer, in 1921. Shipley died in June 1934.

While this non-fiction Maynard Shipley sounds like someone I would have like to have known as a very productive member of society (sidebar: Ms. de Ford is interesting in her own right), my fictional Maynard is the polar opposite: self-centered with a penchant for killing the geezers at the Witherbee Assisted Living Center.

I'll let you know as soon as the next NEEDLE issue is out. But, for now, my question is for all you writers. No matter how small the character is in your story do you research a name or say the hell with it?

When One Thing Leads To Another

I stopped in Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania a couple of months ago and posted about phone booths. A comment about the size of the town got me wondering so I did a quick check of Wikipedia and got sidetracked by this interesting tidbit:

An infamous 19th-century murder in Fort Indiantown Gap resulted in a trial of six defendants who all had blue eyes. They became known as the Blue Eyed Six, given the moniker by a newspaper reporter who was attending the trial. Their murder trial, held in the county courthouse in Lebanon, received worldwide publicity and inspired Arthur Conan Doyle while he was writing "The Red-Headed League". Five of the six defendants were hanged at the county jail. One of the defendants, Franklin Stichler, was buried in an unmarked grave on his family's farm. Another defendant, Israel Brandt, a Civil War veteran, ran a rather seedy hotel along Hotel Road. The murder site along Indiantown Run, Stichler's family farm, and the hotel site were all later encompassed by the Fort Indiantown Gap installation.

Jay Thomas' "Lone Ranger" Story

Thanks to James for mentioning this very funny story told by Jay Thomas.

When One Thing Leads To Another

I was about to watch another episode of Bat Masterson on Hulu when The Lone Ranger caught my eye instead. I've never watched the old show and decided I was long overdue. "Enter The Lone Ranger." It reminded me that the first time my generation saw Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels was in this 1970’s commercial for Aqua Velva -- I still crack up when he jumps on his horse. There’s also this ad with Silverheels on his own for Chevy Blazer. I was always a Johnny Carson fan, so I had to look up this clip when Jay Silverheels appeared on the show.

Sadly, when plans for the (horrendous) 80s film version of the Lone Ranger were in the works, the owner of the character obtained a court order preventing Clayton Moore from wearing the costume and famous black mask. Here's Moore wearing sunglasses while receiving a star on Hollywood's Walk Of Fame.