"It is easy to find yourself fascinated with Bass Reeves," says Sidney Thompson, a professor of creative writing and African-American literature at Texas Christian University. "He just took over my life!"
Thompson is the author of "Follow the Angels, Follow the Doves," released in 202o, and "Hell on the Border," new this year. His historical novels have won numerous awards for narrating the real-life story of Bass Reeves, the Arkansas native who, after escaping slavery, became arguably the greatest lawman of the American Old West.
Thompson will speak Aug. 9 at the Fort Smith Museum of History. He answered these questions for What's Up! River Valley:
Q. Tell me a little bit about you, please: Where did you grow up? What inspired you to write? Were there readers in your family?
A. I grew up practically in a temple of books. Both of my parents were university professors and were always reading, and my older brother's voracious appetite for books eclipsed even theirs. I sometimes wonder if I decided to write to get their attention or approval, and it seemed jazzier to me than just being a reader.
Q. At what point did you get interested in African-American narratives and why?
A. An interest in African-American narratives was, in a way, my birthright -- a family heirloom I organically inherited. My father published articles and presented at conferences in the 1970s and 1980s on what was then termed Black English, some of which he co-authored with his best friend, an internationally renowned African-American linguist. When I was in elementary school, my father gave me "Black Like Me" to read, and since I loved it, he gave me "A Raisin in the Sun." It was as simple as that. My hometown of Memphis played a significant factor as well. So I eventually grew interested in race relations, in the civil rights movement, in Memphis music, in becoming a bridge over a deep, dark river of misery and hope -- also my birthright.
Q. What brought Bass Reeves onto your radar as a subject?
A. When I heard Morgan Freeman declare in an interview on CNN in 2010 that Bass Reeves was his dream role, I suspected, like a good deputy with a hunch, that I had just found my next project, my next obsession -- even my next life, which is what a new perspective should inevitably give a writer, if it's a worthy one. "You ain't heard a lot of stuff about Bass Reeves," said Freeman, appearing already to slip into character. "Nobody's ever tackled him. He was one of the most well-known deputy marshals in the West in his time. I want to do Bass Reeves." Freeman was right. I had not heard a lot of stuff about Bass Reeves; in fact, I had not heard the name once. Wanting to get to the bottom of how that could be, I ordered the only two books I could find that existed on the subject of Bass Reeves: Art. T. Burton's "Black Gun, Silver Star," a scholarly compilation of court documents, newspaper articles, interviews and photographs, and Gary Paulsen's "The Legend of Bass Reeves," a 137-page novel for young adults. I had never attempted or even considered writing an historical novel, yet found myself, like Freeman, wanting to do Bass Reeves -- and was surprisingly open to the challenge.
Q. How much did you study Bass Reeves?
A. I began my project believing I was going to write only one novel framed solely around his years as a lawman, but as I began to imagine the events of Reeves' life, I realized that readers would never believe his grandiose accomplishments without also learning what in his youth as a slave could have possibly prepared him to become the most feared and successful lawman in the most dangerous federal jurisdiction in American history. How exactly does an uneducated, tortured slave learn enough about the world and repair his psyche to achieve greatness? These questions broadened my research so that what simply started out to be narrowly focused on Bass Reeves inevitably became a plethora of rabbit holes: the Civil War on the frontier, railroads, cattle trails, Jim Crow, Native Americans, plants and animals indigenous to the Southwest, 19th century guns, clothing, medicine, language and customs, etc., etc. Essentially, the life of Bass Reeves teaches us American history.
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FAQ
Author Talk:
Sidney Thompson
WHEN — 6 p.m. Aug. 9
WHERE — Fort Smith Museum of History, 320 Rogers Ave.
COST — $7 adults; $5 veterans and military; $2 children 6-15
INFO — 783-7841, fortsmithmuseum.org