My desk covered with source documents

     Never say never.  I learned that lesson well from my mother, or at least I thought I had.  She impressed me with the seriousness of this by relating her experience.  Years ago, the day she had all her teeth pulled in preparation for dentures, she confidently told her dentist, “They say you should never say never, but I will never have another tooth pulled!”   A few weeks later, he reminded her of that rash proclamation when he was once again pulling one of her teeth.  It had been impacted, and this time, in the process of trying to remove it, he accidentally broke her jaw. (For you dental-phobics, let me assure you this was many, many years ago!)

     I have awesome teeth and have never even had a cavity, so I suppose overconfidence prompted me to say that ominous phrase to my husband a few years ago, “I will never…”  I was referring to something I decided I would never write, the Sid Wallace story.  Sid was a young man, a character in our local history, who was either a vile, cold-blooded villain or a noble avenger of wrongs. Take your pick.  There are about equal paper trails and stories to support either. I came across his story, again and again, in books, in modern day newspaper articles, and even one college term paper.  And I’ve been told differing versions numerous times.  It was a story that definitely did not need retelling.  Right? 

     By now I’m sure you’ve figured it out.  Yes, I am writing about Sid Wallace. He is not the main character in the novel I’m currently writing, but his story will be intertwined.  If you’re the curious sort, I’m sure you’re wondering why.  SOURCE DOCUMENTS.  Yep, they were my downfall.  While researching a totally unrelated subject, I found source documents with pertinent facts which were known in Sid’s time but had been lost in the intervening years, at least they never appeared in any of the articles or books I read, and they contradicted many things now alleged to be true.

     I am neither superstitious nor given to whimsy, but I could almost hear Sid’s voice crying out from the grave (or maybe it was his mother) begging that these facts come to light.  It won’t right what I believe was a horrific injustice, but¾to coin another old maxim¾better late than never.

     Lest you suspect that I’m leaning way overboard on the side of nonsensical romance, let me assure you that I am skeptical of tales that turn alleged villains into heroes.  I had assumed Sid was guilty, an interesting character with a story that lent itself to reinventing him as a knight in shining armor when he was probably anything but!  And I’m still not claiming he was heroic.  I am claiming he did not get a fair shake, so I’m compiling all the source documents and writing the novel based on them. The project is still months from completion, but when the novel and the supporting history book are finished, you, dear reader, can make up your own mind.  Until then I leave you with one final caution, “Never, no never, say never!”