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Dee Brown and Mari Sandoz Feature of Talk
On July 28th at the Fort Phil Kearny Interpretive Center beginning at 6 p.m., Author Shannon Smith will present a talk on Dee Brown and Mari Sandoz and the book, Fort Phil Kearny: An American Saga.
According to Smith, “In the winter of 1962, Mari Sandoz received a courtesy copy of Dee Brown’s Fort Phil Kearny, from the Bulletin from Virginia Kirkus’ Service—a marketing publication that promoted publishers’ newest books.
“Having written dozens of successful histories of the West, including Old Jules; Crazy Horse, Strange Man of the Oglalas; and Cheyenne Autumn, Sandoz was a respected author and renowned expert on Plains Indians and Western History.
“Kirkus, who had corresponded with Sandoz over the years, likely hoped for a positive comment to add to its authority and build public interest. Instead, Sandoz marked up the book commenting on errors she believed Brown had made in his research.”
Forty years later, during Smith’s own research on Fort Phil Kearny, she stumbled upon Sandoz’s marked-up copy of Brown’s book and was inspired to dig deeper into the story of the fort, the Fetterman Fight, and the women who ultimately shaped the story. In this talk, Smith will compare the two best-selling authors’ approach to telling history and explore how their different upbringings shaped their perspectives.
