Melody Groves and Before Billy the Kid

 

Many stories have been written about the exploits of Billy the Kid, the charismatic outlaw of the Old West. Some have been pure fiction, designed to entertain and excite. Purple prose writers began chronicling the exploits of Billy as early as the late 1870s. Others have been biographical, researched by historians or recorded by those who knew him, including his murderer, Sheriff Pat Garrett.

But there was once a different side to the famous gunfighter, a softer more artistic side that seems at odds with Billy’s reputation for shooting, killing, and robbing. Born Henry McCarty, he was also known by the names Henry Antrim, Kid Antrim, and William H. Bonney. He didn’t shoot twenty-one men, as has been claimed. Four is a more likely number, three in self-defense. In Before Billy the Kid, author Melody Groves explores the early life of the infamous outlaw, the teenage boy who loved to sing and dance. The young man who was polite, educated, and popular. A boy who had the bad luck to be orphaned at fifteen and left with no one to guide him through life. How different history might have been if Billy had pursued his love of music instead of a life of crime. Copies of the books will be available to purchase during the event.

Melody was born and raised in Las Cruces, southern New Mexico, but spent a few years "growing up" on Guam and in the Philippines. A graduate of New Mexico State University (B.S. Education), she is also a graduate of the University of New Mexico (M.A. Education). Melody taught in Albuquerque until leaving the classroom to become a full-time freelance writer.

A deep love of anything cowboy and Old West creates a fertile playground for her imagination. After spending ten years with the New Mexico Gunfighters Association, she learned what it feels like going toe to toe with a revolver-wielding sheriff. Being both "good guy" and "bad guy" gives her a firsthand feel for what her western characters experience.

Melody is a contributing editor for Round Up magazine for Western Writers of America. She is also a contributing writer for "American Westward Expansion," a collegiate history encyclopedia. She also writes for Wild West, True West, New Mexico and other magazines.

When not writing, she's busy playing rhythm guitar with the Jammy Time Band.

David Caffey and Chasing the Santa Fe Ring

 

Chasing the Santa Fe Ring

During the Gilded Age, from about 1870 to 1900, great enterprises were built, fortunes were made, and opulent lives were lived. One of the features of the day was the appearance of “rings”—combinations of men who collaborated to use the powers of wealth and government for their own satisfaction and enrichment. The Tweed Ring in New York was the first to attain fame for its corruption, but the term was soon applied to cliques across the country. In the West, no alliance was more enduring or broad in its ambitions than the Santa Fe Ring in New Mexico. David L. Caffey set out to examine the who, what, why, and how of the Santa Fe Ring, producing a book, Chasing the Santa Fe Ring: Power and Privilege in Territorial New Mexico, which he will discuss through this illustrated lecture.

David Caffey

David L. Caffey grew up in Abilene, Texas, and became enthralled with New Mexico’s history in twelve summers on staff at the Philmont Scout Ranch in Colfax County. He later lived in New Mexico for thirty-three years, serving as Director of the Harwood Museum in Taos, and later in administration at San Juan College and Clovis Community College. His forthcoming book, When Cimarron Meant Wild: The Maxwell Land Grant Conflict in Colorado and New Mexico, will be published by the University of Oklahoma Press in spring, 2023. He and his wife now live in Lubbock, where they are watching a little girl grow up. 

Pat Smith - HOF Nominee

 

Oscar Adams - HOF Nominee

 

Bruce Rosenbaum

 

Bruce Rosenbaum has been dubbed the Steampunk Guru by the Wall Street Journal and Steampunk Evangelist by Wired Magazine. Bruce’s functional Steampunk artwork and design has been featured in the Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, The New York Times, Architectural Digest, CNN, NPR and featured on MTV, A&E, HGTV and Netflix. 

Bruce and his wife Melanie recently purchased an 1876 Victorian Church in Palmer MA to convert it into their home, gallery and workshop space. The Rosenbaum’s church conversion project – Steampunk Wonderland (episode 8) – is featured in the Netflix Original docuseries – Amazing Interiors. 

Currently – Bruce’s ‘Discover Steampunk’ Museum Exhibition is on a worldwide 5 year tour premiering at the Museum of Idaho.

Bruce’s company, ModVic, works with clients all across the world to take period, repurposed, personal and meaningful objects, and creatively infuse them with modern technology to transform the ordinary into incredible Steampunk functional art. The Steampunk art and design process celebrates history, while setting a path for a reimagined better future — telling the personal stories of individuals, organizations and places along the way.

He also now travels the country, not only educating others on how to do Steampunk design, but how repurposing and the ‘combination of opposites’ creative problem solving can help repurpose and transform our own lives with meaningful connections to the past, present and future.

About the Author: Marjean Purinton

 

About the Author - Lindy Bell

 A project ten years in the making, "Fully Involved" is Lindy Bell’s debut novel and avidly reflects her admiration and love of the fire service. Thoroughly researched, the quest for accuracy for the book led Lindy to participate in the Plano Citizens Fire Academy, attend classes and accompany firefighters on ride outs. With a retired fire chief and a current paramedic/firefighter in the family, Lindy has witnessed firsthand the dedication and humbleness of first responders which fueled the impetus to convey the importance of the legendary fire service brotherhood and create cancer awareness and

its growing effect on the fire service. 

A project ten years in the making, "Fully Involved" is Lindy Bell’s debut novel and avidly reflects her admiration and love of the fire service. Thoroughly researched, the quest for accuracy for the book led Lindy to participate in the Plano Citizens Fire Academy, attend classes and accompany firefighters on ride outs. With a retired fire chief and a current paramedic/firefighter in the family, Lindy has witnessed firsthand the dedication and humbleness of first responders which fueled the impetus to convey the importance of the legendary fire service brotherhood and create cancer awareness and its growing effect on the fire service. 

Lindy’s first book, Jane Austen Celebrates~Holidays & Occasions Regency Style, showcases Regency Era holidays and their impact on modern holiday celebration traditions. A member of the Jane Austen Society of North America and Friends of Jane Austen, Lindy has spoken to a variety of groups and taught Continuing and Adult Professional Education courses at Southern Methodist University (SMU).

A graduate of Hobbs High School and Abilene Christian University, Lindy currently lives in Plano, TX and works from home for a municipal government executive recruitment and training firm. As hobbies, Lindy enjoys volunteering with Plano Fire Rescue Associates, writing, reading an engaging novel, calligraphy, and cross stitching.
Lindy’s first book, Jane Austen Celebrates~Holidays & Occasions Regency Style, showcases Regency Era holidays and their impact on modern holiday celebration traditions. A member of the Jane Austen Society of North America and Friends of Jane Austen, Lindy has spoken to a variety of groups and taught Continuing and Adult Professional Education courses at Southern Methodist University (SMU).

A graduate of Hobbs High School and Abilene Christian University, Lindy currently lives in Plano, TX and works from home for a municipal government executive recruitment and training firm. As hobbies, Lindy enjoys volunteering with Plano Fire Rescue Associates, writing, reading an engaging novel, calligraphy, and cross stitching.