Bragging Rights

Spent a good portion of last week in Las Cruces, New Mexico attending the New Mexico - Arizona History Conference. Submitted my paper entitled "The Called Her Madame Blanchard" for consideration, and did a presentation about Tucson's Queen of the Under World. The presentation was not as good as it could have been. but at least I got Eva/Annie's name out there. It has always been my intention, as it was with Edna Loftus and Augustine Chacón, to give Eva/Annie the attention she has long deserved. She should not be forgotten for she truly was a Tucson Pioneer.

Anyway, Jessie and I went to the awards dinner on Saturday night, and had some good food, compliments of the Double Eagle Restaurant in Mesilla (highly recommended if you are ever in the area). The woman I was sitting next to me won an award for her paper, which was derived from her doctoral thesis. I congratulated her, but thought to myself, "Well. I am not an academic historian, so my chances of being recognized are poor." The very next award presented was the Don Bufkin Award for Cartography, and or the Territorial History of Arizona. Well, I am not a cartographer... Then, my name was called. I was recognized for my paper on Eva Blanchard as a contribution to Arizona Territorial history. I was seriously taken aback.

Anyway, I got a small plaque, and a small cash prize (I'd already spent most of it on books - ha!). When I returned to Tucson, I wrote my editor at McFarland, Susan Kilby, and insisted, in the future, I be referred to as an "award-winning author." Ha. Seriously, it was quite an honor to be recognized by my peers in the field of Southwest history for my contribution.