Remarkable, Mark! Though not on the syllabus, could you put the book on reserve or some such--maybe for "extra credit" ?
I summarized the life and adventures of Mary Fields first in a 120 page screenplay, summarized it for an article, and for this venue, summarized it into a sonnet. (Did half of the screenplay as a terza rima epic and burned out!). Here's the sonnet again:
Stagecoach Mary Fields
c. 1832-1914
Just like the storied cowboys of the plains,
Mary finds Montana wild and free.
A liberated slave from Tennessee,
she’s odd in white Cascade, where cigar stains
on six-foot girls are rare. And she retains
her modesty, a shotgun keeping louts at bay.
The liberal mayor lets her drink and play
at cards in his saloon. She masters reins
to beat out angry men for stagecoach routes,
a first for women, making rounds when sun
sears and wind chafes. She wins those bouts,
protects the mail. With laughs and whiskey breath,
she tells of facing wolves one nighttime run
through snow—her knife and shotgun beating death.
__________________
Ralph
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