McFarland Publishing has accepted my latest manuscript. tentatively titled That Ill-Starred Street: A History of Tucson's Red Light Districts, 1870 - 1918, and the contract for delivery of the materials has been signed. Now, my life will get a little busy. Finding photos, writing a preface, finding someone to write the introduction, having an index done, having the manuscript edited. I would like to thank Jacqui Scherrer (editor) and Louisa Emmons (indexer) for applying their talents to this project. McFarland is asking that all the various elements be delivered to them in April, so I have some time.
One of the biggest issues in writing a manuscript like this, where one is concentrating not on an individual, but a specific place and time, is deciding which stories to include, and which to leave out. For example, Gay Alley was the scene of a number of crimes, but not all of them involved the women who worked there. Some of these were men being drunk and disorderly, fighting amongst themselves, and the like. These I left out for the most part as they did not have anything really to do with the subject, although they did indicate how disordered and chaotic the atmosphere of the place was.
Then there are those items which one discovers after the manuscript is complete. An example of this is the letter which I received yesterday from Rod Werner, which contained information on Lillie Swilling, the daughter of Jack Swilling, the founder of Phoenix. Lillie was working in Gay Alley, and in August of 1907, committed suicide. The two Tucson newspapers reported her death differently. The Daily Star identified Lillie as "Gypsy," and stated no one knew her real name. However, The Daily Citizen identified Lillie by name, gave information about her family, and even included her alias, Josie Bell. I had found the former article, but did not discover the latter until yesterday after I got the missive.
Unfortunately, I sent the manuscript to Jacqui two days prior. Fortunately, Jacqui had not begun working on it , so I was able to revise it, add the information about Lillie, and send it off to her again.
Such is the nature of writing histories. As much as one would like to include very story, it simply isn't feasible. Inevitably, there are items which will be overlooked or will remain undiscovered. Even if one could access every source, the manuscript would be prodigious and ungainly.
Anyway, I will keep you, my readers, apprised of developments as they occur. Meanwhile, I will be working to finish my evisceration of the Arizona Rangers legend.
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