June 20, 1912Aboard the L&R trainEn route to Petersburg, Virginia This is the first time since the primary that I have extended time to myself, and I’m savoring it. It has been nonstop since the election — not a day has gone by that I could sit for an hour […]
May 9, 1912Pensacola, Florida And so, the race begins again. Three weeks of nonstop activity. Live speeches in fourteen counties. It will be the most compressed, pressured project ever undertaken, and I cannot let on how damned tired I am, nor how my stomach turns over in knots whenever I […]
May 3, 2022Chevy Chase, Maryland Between January 7 and 11, 1912, Emmett said he was unsure about throwing his hat into the contest for U.S. Congressman from the third district; at least, that was the official story he told reporters for the Pensacola Evening News in the January 11, 1912 […]
September 29, 20154 pmPensacola, Florida Nancy opened a thick folder tabbed “The Kelly Family” on the table. It was full of copies of newspaper clippings, death certificates, funeral service information, and the like. “How the heck did Emmett Wilson and Byrd Kelly got together in the first place.” I pulled […]
October 4, 2021Chevy Chase, Maryland March, 1908 was a prime social month for Emmett: He was selected to be a Gentleman in Waiting for the Pensacola Mardi Gras court, featuring Miss Stella Clare Avery as Queen of the Mardi Gras. This was a huge accomplishment for Emmett. It meant he […]
July 20, 2021Chevy Chase, Maryland When the mail arrived to Emmett’s office (or, the John Kehoe house where he boarded, depending on where he preferred to receive his mail), I wonder what he thought when he unrolled his alumni copy of the Stetson Weekly Collegiate. This was what Emmett saw […]
April 30, 1905Cephas and Lula Wilson’s HouseMarianna, Florida7:25 pm I’m standing outside of Ceph’s house, in the front yard, looking up at the huge oak tree near the sidewalk. The tree has curtains of gray moss dangling, drifting with the soft wind. The sun’s set already, and it feels like […]
April 29, 1905Marianna, Florida5:45 p.m. After Long had shut the door behind him, and I knew I was all alone, I turned again to gaze out of the window at the courthouse; the shadows of the oaks around the building growing longer with the sunset. I didn’t want to go […]
Paul CarterOrmond BeachMarch 27, 1903 The first thing we noticed when we arrived at the crowded beach, walking down from the boardwalk where our hired hack from the hotel in Seabreeze dropped us off, was the chill in the air, and the crisp wind blowing in from the gray-blue Atlantic […]
East Hall Stetson University DeLand, Florida March 22, 1903 (As narrated by Paul Carter) The five of us (myself, Emmett, Sturgeon, Anthony, DeCottes) are sitting in various degrees of posture on the front porch of East Hall, a large, white frame house that serves as a dormitory for 14 or […]
Tell my story. 