Killing Pat Garrett, The Wild West’s Most Famous Lawman – Murder Or Self-Defense? Named 2020 Pasajero Del Camino Real Award Winner, honoring a significant historical publication on New Mexico history.
Last year I wrote the play performed in the 2019 Pat Garrett Western Heritage Festival. The play was based on research I did for my “Killing Pat Garrett” book. It was satisfying seeing the words I wrote spoken on stage. But the real thrill was communal. A play is a group effort. Everyone on the team, from stagehand to actor, are critical to the success of the performance. You could feel the communal sense growing in the rehearsals, and during and following the performance, an engulfing feeling of we, we did this. We presented this to the audience. Actors in the photo, left to right: John Wood, Teddy Aspen-Sanchez, Scott Galbreath, Bob Gamboa, Rick Eldridge, Jason Wyatt, and Mozart Pierson.
The 2020 Pat Garrett Western Heritage Festival will be held Leap Day, February 29, 2020, at the Rio Grande Theatre in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
The Festival celebrates the Western Heritage of Southern New Mexico. The 2020 Festival begins with original Western Music at 12:00 pm. At 2 pm, author David G. Thomas will introduce the dramatic re-enactment of the Albert J. Fountain and Henry Fountain murder trial. The abduction and apparent murdering of Colonel Fountain and his eight-year-old son Henry is the most famous murder in New Mexico history. The re-enactment is based on the trial transcript of the men who were indicted and tried for the crime. At 7 pm, the rarely seen 1958 movie “The Left-Handed Gun“ will be shown. Paul Newman plays Billy the Kid in the movie.
December 2019 Smithsonian Mazazine
The December 2019 issue of the Smithsonian Magazine has an excellent 10-page article on Giovanni Maria de Agostini. The article quotes extensively from author David G. Thomas’ book, “Giovanni Maria de Agostini, Wonder of the Century — The Astonishing World Traveler Who Was A Hermit.” Author Thomas was also interviewed by the editor of the magazine.
Giovanni Maria de Agostini was an Italian born in 1801 who traveled extensively in Europe, South America, Mexico, Canada, and the United States. He was murdered in 1869 in the Organ Mountains located east of Mesilla, New Mexico. Agostini was the subject of the 2019 documentary film “The Wonder of the Century,” based on Thomas’ book.
Killing Pat Garrett, The Wild West’s Most Famous Lawman – Murder Or Self-Defense?
Named 2019 Royal Dragonfly Book Award Winner, Second Place, Historical Non-Fiction.
Killing Pat Garrett, The Wild West’s Most Famous Lawman – Murder Or Self-Defense?
Named 2019 Best Indie Book Notable 100 Award Winner.
Killing Pat Garrett, The Wild West’s Most Famous Lawman – Murder Or Self-Defense? Named 2019 Best Book Awards Finalist, United States History Category.
