Readers, when I told my colleagues I was headed down to Pensacola for a week to do work on Emmett’s book, and that I was thrilled and antsy to get there and get going, this was the picture they had in their minds of my ‘research’ setting: In reality, this […]
Readers, yesterday, I posted a photo of downtown Montgomery from 1906. Today was spent trying to identify some of those buildings to see what Emmett saw when he visited the city. Although Dexter Avenue has changed a lot from the time the 1906 photo was taken, and there are very […]
Tonight I’m in Montgomery, Alabama, one of the first stops on the Emmett Wilson research trip. Montgomery is an important stop, not just because it breaks up a really long drive down from D.C. to Pensacola, but because Emmett did visit the city from time to time. Also, Emmett’s twin […]
The Emmett Wilson Odyssey (in my Honda Odyssey) begins tomorrow morning. I’ve driven in that car with my family across the United States four times; so, this jaunt down the East Coast seems like a wimpy road trip in comparison. My friends, the true test of resilience (or, a marriage) […]
Friends, I’m packing for the trip to Pensacola this weekend to walk the paths that Emmett trod! This trip has been a long time in planning. I’m so thrilled that it is almost here! Of course, those paths may be four-lane highways today, but still. The notion that I get […]
Readers, I consider myself a junior member of the History Detectives. I love that show. Of course, I realize that they have a big team of people going around and digging and researching the topics they show on television. It isn’t just the one host doing all that digging, although […]
Readers, I wish it were that simple with Emmett. I’d love just to pick up the phone, dial the Great Beyond, and ask Emmett about his life, directly. As much as I love the research process, it is frustrating at times, because while I believe a lot of Emmett’s information […]
There are five things I’ve learned over the past several months with regard to writing a biography on Emmett: Question Authority Librarians (God bless them) are incredibly busy, generous souls. They have a lot of information at their disposal, but they are not computers. They may have databases, but they […]
I’m going to Pensacola in a few weeks to see Emmett! I’ve been looking forward to this trip for a few months now, and to be honest, I’m thrilled, but a little nervous. I know. He died almost 100 years ago. What’s to be nervous about? It isn’t like the […]
In the past week, I’ve come across what I consider the turning point, the downward slide, in Emmett’s career and life. It’s October, 1914. Up until this point, Emmett was the Golden Boy of West Florida, he was getting appropriations for his constituency, he was serving on important committees, he […]
Tell my story. 