Backstory

Dean Faulkner Wells (1936–2011), niece and ward of William Faulkner and the daughter of Dean Swift Faulkner, William’s youngest brother, was educated at the University of Mississippi and University of Geneva, Switzerland. Her first book was The Ghosts of Rowan Oak: William Faulkner’s Ghost Stories for Children. Wells edited The New Great American Writers’ Cookbook and The Best of Bad Faulkner and authored an autobiography, Every Day by the Sun: A Memoir of the Faulkners of Mississippi. Her articles have been published in The Paris Review, Parade, Ladies’ Home Journal, Southern Living, and other magazines. Lawrence Wells edited William Faulkner: The Cofield Collection, by Jack Cofield, and RIOT: Witness to Anger and Change, by Ed Meek. He wrote three historical novels, Rommel and the Rebel, Let the Band Play Dixie, and Fair Youth; scripted the Emmy-winning PBS documentary Return to the River narrated by James Earl Jones; and is a frequent contributor to the New York Times Syndicate. Wells’s autobiographies, In Faulkner’s Shadow: A Memoir and Ghostwriter: Shakespeare, Literary Landmines, and an Eccentric Patron’s Royal Obsession, were published by University Press of Mississippi.

• Introduction—Dean F. Wells1 Backstory: "The Man Who Walked in the Sky"THE MAN WHO WALKED IN THE SKY2 Backstory: "A Little Piece of America"A LITTLE PIECE OF AMERICA3 Backstory: "Little Bighorn Days"LITTLE BIGHORN DAYS4 Backstory: "Shakespeare Slept Here"SHAKESPEARE SLEPT HERE5 Backstory: "Tom Sawyer’s Hannibal"TOM SAWYER’S HANNIBAL6 Backstory: "Women and Jazz in California"WOMEN AND JAZZ IN CALIFORNIA7 Backstory: "Hitchcock’s Bodega Bay"HITCHCOCK’S BODEGA BAY8 Backstory: "Following the Santa Fe Trail"FOLLOWING THE SANTA FE TRAIL9 Backstory: "Spirits of Palo Duro Canyon"SPIRITS OF PALO DURO CANYON10 Backstory: "Draw, Pardner"DRAW, PARDNER11 Backstory: "History on Ice"HISTORY ON ICE12 Backstory: "Fast Break"FAST BREAK13 Backstory: "To Be a Scrub"TO BE A SCRUB14 Backstory: "Looking for Lady Luck"LOOKING FOR LADY LUCK15 Backstory: "Yoknapatawpha High"YOKNAPATAWPHA HIGH16 Backstory: "Down in a Hole"DOWN IN A HOLE17 Backstory: "Concord’s Authors’ Ridge"CONCORD’S AUTHORS’ RIDGE18 Backstory: "Patriots Day"PATRIOTS DAY19 Backstory: "Poe’s Mysterious Visitor"POE’S MYSTERIOUS VISITOR20 Backstory: "Architect of Monument Valley"ARCHITECT OF MONUMENT VALLEY21 Backstory: "Arizona’s Triassic Park"ARIZONA’S TRIASSIC PARK22 Backstory: "Saving Louisiana’s Wetlands"SAVING LOUISIANA’S WETLANDS23 Backstory: "When the Fish Come Up for Air"WHEN THE FISH COME UP FOR AIR24 Backstory: "The Days of Wine and Letters"THE DAYS OF WINE AND LETTERS25Backstory: "A Christmas Remembered"A CHRISTMAS REMEMBEREDAfterword—Lawrence WellsAcknowledgments

"Entertaining and insightful, the words come off these pages as if they were written this morning. - Walter Anderson, former editor in chief of Parade Dean Faulkner Wells, the niece of Nobel Prize winner William Faulkner, and husband Larry Wells, a noted historical novelist, offer a delightful collection of literate and invariably entertaining dispatches from their lifetime of journalistic storytelling. A must for readers who appreciate learning about fascinating people, adventurous journeys, and insights into cultural milestones." - John Clark, former editorial director of American Way and Southwest Airlines Spirit magazines "It’s fascinating to learn more now about Larry and Dean Wells’s stories and backstories . . . watching them search for the ‘real’ Shakespeare in England and inspiring Faulkner and Hemingway wannabes around the globe." - Doug Crichton, former editor in chief of American Way magazine