Zane Grey: His Life, His Adventures, His Women

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments One of the best parts of this project was all the kind, interesting people who aided my search for information. Early on, while I was deliberating whether to write this biography, I decided that I needed to meet with Loren Grey, Zane’s son and the current head of Zane Grey, Inc., and find out what he thought about this possibility. During our first luncheon together, which lasted over three hours, he was remarkably open about his father’s secret life and very interested in what I had learned so far. He reassured me that he and the rest of the family no longer wished to suppress the truth about Zane. So long as he could read the finished result and did not object to my treatment, he would allow me to quote from the unpublished writings of his father and mother. Several years later, after more lunches and memorable conversations, he granted me this permission. Although Loren did not allow me immediate access to his holdings of photographs, letters, and journals, he informed me that his materials and those owned by his sister, Betty, had already been photocopied by professors Candace Kant and Joe Wheeler, and he encouraged me to contact them. Both responded warmly to my letters and agreed to share what they had. Candace did an enormous amount of photocopying and mailed me several 00.FM.i-xvi_Paul.indd 9 8/10/05 1:48:26 PM Acknowledgments x huge boxes that included many helpful books and articles. Joe invited me to visit him, and provided me a room in which to examine his carefully catalogued materials. Not only was his library impressive, but he freely shared with me all that he had found and learned as well. Further investigation carried me to Pat Friese, the daughter of Claire Wilhelm Carlin. When I contacted her and asked if she knew about Claire’s relationship with Zane Grey, she said that she indeed did and was positively excited that I was interested in her mother. She told me immediately about her many letters and photographs as well as the ten journals that Claire had written during her trips with Zane. She invited me to see everything and, shortly after I arrived, I learned that Elma and Dorothy had been frequent visitors to her home while she was growing up. Pat recalled their animated conversations with her mother and convinced me that they lost little of their spunk as they aged. She spent a whole summer with her aunt Lillian in Arizona. She was pleased that I thought her mother and her friends were remarkable women. Better still, as I cautiously informed her about their unconventional lives, she grew even prouder of them. George Houle and Dan Brock were equally generous. George has bought and sold Grey materials for years. I explained that I was a scholar and not a collector, and he nonetheless allowed me first to examine his extensive holdings and later to quote from them. Dan Brock and his friend Stan Vath are collectors of tackle and own many rare and unusual items. When I called for information about Grey’s 18/0 reel, I learned that he had a large collection of Grey materials that ranged far beyond tackle. I was lucky enough to visit him during a major exhibition of his fishing tackle. Bridget McMahon not only enlightened me about the typescript that launched my investigations but also showed me many letters that she had not included. However, the high point of my peregrinations was the day that X (who asked that his name be withheld) allowed me to see his collection of photographs and journals that confirmed and far exceeded my long-standing suspicions. Although very few of Grey’s letters and journals were in library archives when I initiated my research, I nevertheless incurred a huge debt to librarians along the way. Ben Helle promptly answered my early questions about the Grey materials at the Ohio Historical Society and Liz Plummer responded quickly to more recent appeals from me. At the Beinecke Library, George Miles and Leigh Golden did all they could to ensure that my visits went smoothly and gained me the information I was seeking. I also wish to thank the staff at the Cline Library at the University of Northern Arizona; Gail Morshower, the librarian at the IGA Museum; Mary Francis Travelli at the 00.FM.i-xvi_Paul.indd 10 8/10/05 1:48:26 PM...