June 2010 Archives
Dear Readers,
If I am going to live in Tombstone, I will have to build a castle. It will have to have a moat with crocodiles swimming around in it to fight off incursions by bad guys, train robbers, and no good gangs --- not to mention Apache Indians! That way I can bask on my sun deck near the turrets with my novel or magazine undisturbed by Wyatt Earp and his brothers.
Really, someone who is a veteran of the Lusitania shouldn't be mistreated in such a despicable fashion by the author! I deserve more respect for surviving all the trials and tribulations of the author's plot just as Edward Ware survived the Great War and the battlefields of Syria during the Arab Revolt under Lawrence of Arabia.
So I must not let the inhabitants of Tombstone cross the drawbridge into my refined British world with drawing rooms, lords and ladies, and English high tea. No, they can swill bear and hard liquor in their gambling halls and saloons instead, Hopefully our paths will not cross.
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. While I was writing volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb, I should have designed the castle.
If I am going to live in Tombstone, I will have to build a castle. It will have to have a moat with crocodiles swimming around in it to fight off incursions by bad guys, train robbers, and no good gangs --- not to mention Apache Indians! That way I can bask on my sun deck near the turrets with my novel or magazine undisturbed by Wyatt Earp and his brothers.
Really, someone who is a veteran of the Lusitania shouldn't be mistreated in such a despicable fashion by the author! I deserve more respect for surviving all the trials and tribulations of the author's plot just as Edward Ware survived the Great War and the battlefields of Syria during the Arab Revolt under Lawrence of Arabia.
So I must not let the inhabitants of Tombstone cross the drawbridge into my refined British world with drawing rooms, lords and ladies, and English high tea. No, they can swill bear and hard liquor in their gambling halls and saloons instead, Hopefully our paths will not cross.
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. While I was writing volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb, I should have designed the castle.
Dear Readers,
I am going to buy Tombstone, Arizona. Why not? I can afford to buy almost anything I want. My father, Wintrhop Benley, will provide the cash. He is a tire magnate back East in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Not that Tombstone is my favorite kind of place, mind you. I want to buy it because it is not.
If I own the city, then I can tear down all the honky-tonk, western bric-a-brac. I will build decent houses and not saloons, gambling halls, and whore houses. The O.K. Corral must go. So must the Crystal Palace Saloon, and I think we can find a more proper name for Toughnut Street. We don't want to name it after a silver mine.
Maybe I will rename the Longhorn Restaurant the Lusitania. It will at least be reminiscent of something far more grand. And the boarding house will become the Lawrence Hotel, named after Lawrence of Arabia. Again it will be far grander than anything the town can conceive.
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. I never thought to buy Tombstone when I was writing volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
Dear Readers,
Somebody in Tombstone, Arizona painted Edward's black Daimler blue. We located it sitting outside the Crystal Palace Saloon where Wyatt Earp used to work back in 1881. Whether a gambler stole it or the saloon keeper or an outlaw or Wyatt Earp himself we have no idea. But why they painted it bright blue is even more mysterious. It looked distinguished and sophisticated painted black. It didn't need any garish coloring.
But then everything about Tombstone is garish from the boom town atmosphere to the silver strike mentality. it's the place for quick riches, not for aristocracy and refinement. There was far more of that on the Lusitania. I am about as far away from it here as Edward was when he joined Lawrence of Arabia and rode with Bedouins.
After the Great War everybody started to act different. But these citizens of Tombstone were doing it back in the 1880's.
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. There were no mentions of the citizens of Tombstone in volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
Somebody in Tombstone, Arizona painted Edward's black Daimler blue. We located it sitting outside the Crystal Palace Saloon where Wyatt Earp used to work back in 1881. Whether a gambler stole it or the saloon keeper or an outlaw or Wyatt Earp himself we have no idea. But why they painted it bright blue is even more mysterious. It looked distinguished and sophisticated painted black. It didn't need any garish coloring.
But then everything about Tombstone is garish from the boom town atmosphere to the silver strike mentality. it's the place for quick riches, not for aristocracy and refinement. There was far more of that on the Lusitania. I am about as far away from it here as Edward was when he joined Lawrence of Arabia and rode with Bedouins.
After the Great War everybody started to act different. But these citizens of Tombstone were doing it back in the 1880's.
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. There were no mentions of the citizens of Tombstone in volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
Dear Readers,
Edward's Daimler has been stolen by one of these Tombstone ruffians who strut around Allen Street and Toughnut street in their cowboy boots. They've never ridden anytihing besides a horse, and they see Edward's flashy car and cannot stand the temptation. It's better than silver and gold to gamblers, saloon keepers, can-can girls, and outlaws.
These western types have never fought at Gallipoli or under Lawrence of Arabia. They don't know what it means to be honest. They earn a living any way they can. They certainly don't remind me of the upper crusty passengers on the Lusitania.
I hope I see Edward's Daimler again but I doubt it. Not in Tombstone!
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. I never imagined Edward's Daimler would be stolen while I was writing volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
Edward's Daimler has been stolen by one of these Tombstone ruffians who strut around Allen Street and Toughnut street in their cowboy boots. They've never ridden anytihing besides a horse, and they see Edward's flashy car and cannot stand the temptation. It's better than silver and gold to gamblers, saloon keepers, can-can girls, and outlaws.
These western types have never fought at Gallipoli or under Lawrence of Arabia. They don't know what it means to be honest. They earn a living any way they can. They certainly don't remind me of the upper crusty passengers on the Lusitania.
I hope I see Edward's Daimler again but I doubt it. Not in Tombstone!
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. I never imagined Edward's Daimler would be stolen while I was writing volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
Dear Readers,
They should serve high tea in Tombstone. It would make the afternoons go by more quickly to have crisp cucumber sandwiches and trays of savouries with hot tea and milk to look forward to. It would give you a reason to stroll down Allen Street or Toughnut Street and enter the Longhorn Restaurant. It would give you a reason to ignore all the hordes of tourists and the honky-tonk atmosphere.
After all, nothing really happened here. So what if there was a gunfight in 1881? Just think how many more guns were fired during the Great War! Edward saw far more fire power at Gallipoli and when he rode with Lawrence of Arabia. I daresay I saw more guns firing aboard the Lusitania when it was sinking and the saboteur tied Michael and I up in the engine room.
So, Tombstone, Arizona, give up your cans of Coke and your pizza joints. Savor the experience of tea at five o'clock in the afternoon.
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
They should serve high tea in Tombstone. It would make the afternoons go by more quickly to have crisp cucumber sandwiches and trays of savouries with hot tea and milk to look forward to. It would give you a reason to stroll down Allen Street or Toughnut Street and enter the Longhorn Restaurant. It would give you a reason to ignore all the hordes of tourists and the honky-tonk atmosphere.
After all, nothing really happened here. So what if there was a gunfight in 1881? Just think how many more guns were fired during the Great War! Edward saw far more fire power at Gallipoli and when he rode with Lawrence of Arabia. I daresay I saw more guns firing aboard the Lusitania when it was sinking and the saboteur tied Michael and I up in the engine room.
So, Tombstone, Arizona, give up your cans of Coke and your pizza joints. Savor the experience of tea at five o'clock in the afternoon.
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
Dear Readers,
There is nothing to do in Tombstone for us Great War types who remember the sinking of the Lusitania, Gallipoli, and Lawrence of Arabia's crusade against the Turks. All we can do is sit and talk in the Longhorn Restaurant or stroll on the boardwalks and remember the Armistice and the Paris Peace Conference.
Other than that there is nothing to do except watch endless gunfights and take rides in horse drawn buggies. We can buy western hats and guns and play gunslinger.
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. There was more to do when I was writing volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
There is nothing to do in Tombstone for us Great War types who remember the sinking of the Lusitania, Gallipoli, and Lawrence of Arabia's crusade against the Turks. All we can do is sit and talk in the Longhorn Restaurant or stroll on the boardwalks and remember the Armistice and the Paris Peace Conference.
Other than that there is nothing to do except watch endless gunfights and take rides in horse drawn buggies. We can buy western hats and guns and play gunslinger.
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. There was more to do when I was writing volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
Dear Readers,
It looks like rain here in Tombstone, Arizona this week with the coming of the monsoon. But the author has forgotten to provide us with umbrellas. You would think that any proper Englishman like Edward would always carry an umbrella. And he does --- back in England! Here in the desert southwest we have been deprived of almost everything. It feels more like a penal colony than a trip. We characters are being kept here against our wills.
I even had an umbrella on the Lusitania. Edward took one with him to Gallipoli. I daresay he even had one in his pack during the Arab Revolt under Lawrence of Arabia, for it rained a lot during the Great War.
But here in Tombstone we haven't got anything to put over our heads except rifles. And they won't keep us dry.
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. I always had an umbrella when I was writing volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
It looks like rain here in Tombstone, Arizona this week with the coming of the monsoon. But the author has forgotten to provide us with umbrellas. You would think that any proper Englishman like Edward would always carry an umbrella. And he does --- back in England! Here in the desert southwest we have been deprived of almost everything. It feels more like a penal colony than a trip. We characters are being kept here against our wills.
I even had an umbrella on the Lusitania. Edward took one with him to Gallipoli. I daresay he even had one in his pack during the Arab Revolt under Lawrence of Arabia, for it rained a lot during the Great War.
But here in Tombstone we haven't got anything to put over our heads except rifles. And they won't keep us dry.
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. I always had an umbrella when I was writing volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
Dear Readers,
The monsoon is coming, and we're still in Arizona. I can feel the coolness of England in my memory. Here it is hot and getting steamy. Now is definitely the time to leave if you don't want to get buckets of water dumped over your head and if you don't want to live in a sauna bath.
I'd rather sail on the Lusitania than stay in Tombstone, Arizona for even one summer. The Lusitania's last voyage was only one week. The monsoon lasts three months --- or more!
Edward says it reminds him of Cairo in the summer where it is often over 100 degrees and where it barely dips below 70 or 80 at night. Cairo is British Mid-East Headquarters. He and Lawrence were both headquartered there during the Great War.
But I am not used to deserts and neither are most of the characters in the novel.Please send us on an Alaska cruise!
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. I didn't mention the monsoon once in volume one of my memoirs, Kings Abdullah's Tomb.
Dear Readers,
We characters should write our own novel with our own ending. We shouldn't leave it to the author. That seems like the only way to get out of Tombstone, Arizona --- we have to write ourselves out!
The author stubbornly keeps us here near the O.K. Corral to wipe Wyatt Earp's boots and stand around for target practice. But we yearn to return to England, even if it means sailing on the Lusitania again and going back to Gallipoli. Lawrence says he's so frustrated here in Tombstone that he is ready to organize the local Indians to break out and rebel the way he organized the Bedouins during the Arab Revolt.
How would we write ourselves out of Tombstone? Naturally we will pretend that the Germans attack America and the world war extends over to New Mexico and Arizona. Then Edward would be mobilized and have to leave. I could sneak out as his wife.
Any other questions?
Sincerely yours,
Linda Cargill
P.S. I am going to rewrite volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb, so there's a breakout from Allen Street or Toughnut Street in Tombstone
Dear Readers,
We characters should unite and form a union. After all, I'm from Pittsburgh and I know how to do it. We should go on strike. If the writer doesn't appreciate all the stunts and tricks we have to do to play the scenes we will just refuse to cooperate. I won't sail on the Lusitania. Edward won't fight at Gallipoli or in the Syrian Desert with Lawrence of Arabia. Lawrence himself will refuse to ride a camel at the head of his Bedouin army. Michael won't board the Lusitania or hunt down Ali in the engine room. Edward's parents, Lady Ware and Sir Adolphus Ware, won't leave their English country garden. My father, Winthrop Benley, will refuse to talk about T.R. My mother won't shop at Sax Fifth Avenue or Harrod's in London. No one will do anything that they are supposed to.
If you want us to cooperate, get us out of Tombstone!
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. I never went on strike when writing volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb
We characters should unite and form a union. After all, I'm from Pittsburgh and I know how to do it. We should go on strike. If the writer doesn't appreciate all the stunts and tricks we have to do to play the scenes we will just refuse to cooperate. I won't sail on the Lusitania. Edward won't fight at Gallipoli or in the Syrian Desert with Lawrence of Arabia. Lawrence himself will refuse to ride a camel at the head of his Bedouin army. Michael won't board the Lusitania or hunt down Ali in the engine room. Edward's parents, Lady Ware and Sir Adolphus Ware, won't leave their English country garden. My father, Winthrop Benley, will refuse to talk about T.R. My mother won't shop at Sax Fifth Avenue or Harrod's in London. No one will do anything that they are supposed to.
If you want us to cooperate, get us out of Tombstone!
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. I never went on strike when writing volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb
Dear Readers,
Will I ever be permitted to leave Tombstone, Arizona? It's late June already. Tomorrow is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. The desert sun beats down on us. Soon it will be the monsoon. Can I go back to England?
I mean, the weather in London right now is much nicer. The highs are in the 60's and 70's in June.
Do I have to stay here forever? What is the point of it? How can the author work Tombstone into her plot about the Great War and Lawrence of Arabia fighting the Turks in the Syrian Desert? I know they are both deserts, but really! And the Lusitania is a whole ocean away.
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. Only the Syrian Desert was mentioned in volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
Will I ever be permitted to leave Tombstone, Arizona? It's late June already. Tomorrow is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. The desert sun beats down on us. Soon it will be the monsoon. Can I go back to England?
I mean, the weather in London right now is much nicer. The highs are in the 60's and 70's in June.
Do I have to stay here forever? What is the point of it? How can the author work Tombstone into her plot about the Great War and Lawrence of Arabia fighting the Turks in the Syrian Desert? I know they are both deserts, but really! And the Lusitania is a whole ocean away.
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. Only the Syrian Desert was mentioned in volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
Dear Readers,
The author must be very ungrateful for our performance in the book so far or we wouldn't be kept in an out of the way place like Tombstone, Arizona. It's like being in exile! Edward has tried his hardest to act like the son of an English country gentleman who was knighted for his car company, Adolphus Motors. He thought he added luster to the name of Ware by becoming not only a soldier but a General. And if that wasn't enough, he rode with Lawrence of Arabia in the Syrian Desert during the Great War.
The author forgets so easily that I sailed on the Lusitania and helped Michael fight the saboteur who set off the bomb in the engine room. I even swam to the lifeboat.
All the other characters are offended, too. Lawrence, in particular, doesn't understand why he is being exiled to the Arizona Desert when he fought a continent away in the Near East. Is it supposed to be like the Gulag? It feels like it!
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. The author didn't ignore us when I was writing volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
The author must be very ungrateful for our performance in the book so far or we wouldn't be kept in an out of the way place like Tombstone, Arizona. It's like being in exile! Edward has tried his hardest to act like the son of an English country gentleman who was knighted for his car company, Adolphus Motors. He thought he added luster to the name of Ware by becoming not only a soldier but a General. And if that wasn't enough, he rode with Lawrence of Arabia in the Syrian Desert during the Great War.
The author forgets so easily that I sailed on the Lusitania and helped Michael fight the saboteur who set off the bomb in the engine room. I even swam to the lifeboat.
All the other characters are offended, too. Lawrence, in particular, doesn't understand why he is being exiled to the Arizona Desert when he fought a continent away in the Near East. Is it supposed to be like the Gulag? It feels like it!
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. The author didn't ignore us when I was writing volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
Dear Readers,
The author has put me through the paces as the girl destined to become Edward's wife. I've been asked to do all sorts of impossible tasks such as sailing on the last, doomed voyage of the Lusitania. If that wasn't enough, I've been asked to wait in Pittsburgh for four whole years while Edward fights under Lawrence of Arabia in the Great War and never see my fiance once. In the meantime I'm supposed to be chased by a mad Arab saboteur called Ali.Then Edward is supposed to get lost in the Syrian Desert. I have to go find him. And I've put up with all these obstacles with perfect good grace without complaining
But Tombstone and its rude ways is too much. It's like putting me in another novel all together!
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. I don't complain in volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
The author has put me through the paces as the girl destined to become Edward's wife. I've been asked to do all sorts of impossible tasks such as sailing on the last, doomed voyage of the Lusitania. If that wasn't enough, I've been asked to wait in Pittsburgh for four whole years while Edward fights under Lawrence of Arabia in the Great War and never see my fiance once. In the meantime I'm supposed to be chased by a mad Arab saboteur called Ali.Then Edward is supposed to get lost in the Syrian Desert. I have to go find him. And I've put up with all these obstacles with perfect good grace without complaining
But Tombstone and its rude ways is too much. It's like putting me in another novel all together!
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. I don't complain in volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
Dear Readers,
I don't want to build a house in Tombstone, Arizona. It's too hot around here in the summer for one thing. Temperatures are frequently in excess of 90 degrees. Even worse, they sometimes hit 100 or above. It would make all my flowers wilt. And you can't grow boxwood hedges like you can in England. Nor can you grow shade trees, though at least there are trees of a sort.
It's also too unrefined. The roads are even paved in town. And instead of sidewalks they have boardwalks like a western movie set.
There don't seem to be any proper businesses either. All they have are shops selling western wear.
It's hardly what someone who sailed on the Lusitania or fought with Lawrence in the Great War would want to call home.
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. I'm not stranded in such a place in volume one of my memoirs, KIng Abdullah's Tomb.
Dear Readers,
People in Tombstone are always stopping me on Allen or Toughnut Streets and asking me what silver mine I found. Apparently this is a silver boom town of the 1880's. Everyone around here is convinced that all wealth comes from silver.
No one believes that my father, Winthrop Benley, founded a tire company back in Pittsburgh. Instead they are convinced that I struck the Mother Lode.
When they see Edward they are convinced that he's some sort of con man. They are accustomed to British desperadoes coming out west, posing as British lords to impress others and make their fortunes. They can't believe that he's the real McCoy and a British officer who fought at Galllipoli and under Lawrence of Arabia anymore than they can believe I sailed on the Lusitania.
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. I never discuss silver mines in volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
People in Tombstone are always stopping me on Allen or Toughnut Streets and asking me what silver mine I found. Apparently this is a silver boom town of the 1880's. Everyone around here is convinced that all wealth comes from silver.
No one believes that my father, Winthrop Benley, founded a tire company back in Pittsburgh. Instead they are convinced that I struck the Mother Lode.
When they see Edward they are convinced that he's some sort of con man. They are accustomed to British desperadoes coming out west, posing as British lords to impress others and make their fortunes. They can't believe that he's the real McCoy and a British officer who fought at Galllipoli and under Lawrence of Arabia anymore than they can believe I sailed on the Lusitania.
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. I never discuss silver mines in volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
Dear Readers,
The longer I'm stuck in Tombstone, the more I have to tell people that I'm not a can can girl. Apparently the rustics here have never seen one who is destined to become Lady Ware. They think all women are whores, can can girls, barmaids, and the like.
When I was eating at the Longhorn Restaurant one of the locals pinched my cheek and asked me when I was going to put on a performance. Did I dance or sing?
I frowned at them but they laughed and pointed at us in the old-fashioned costumes that looked like the early part of the twentieth century. I had to inform them that we were from the 19 teens, 1915 to be exact. I had been on the Lusitania. Edward had fought at Gallipoli. And he was seated across from Lawrence of Arabia.
This made the ignorant louts laugh even more!
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. There are no can-can girls in volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
Dear Readers,
The author has left us characters here with the hicks in Tombstone in southeast Arizona. We are not at home among country folk who like to drive fast and ride in pickup trucks and RV's. They wear cowboy hats, denim shirts, and jeans, unheard of in England or even in Pittsburgh. Some actually have straw in their hair! Edward would call them "rustic". They are not gentlefolk and certainly not members of the House of Lords.
Lawrence says they are not even good enough to be numbered among his Bedouins. They might be able to hold a rifle and shoot, but not on camel back during the Arab Revolt of the Great War. I didn't see any camels anywhere.
These ruffians would certainly not have been allowed to board the Lusitania!
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. There were no such ruffians in volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
The author has left us characters here with the hicks in Tombstone in southeast Arizona. We are not at home among country folk who like to drive fast and ride in pickup trucks and RV's. They wear cowboy hats, denim shirts, and jeans, unheard of in England or even in Pittsburgh. Some actually have straw in their hair! Edward would call them "rustic". They are not gentlefolk and certainly not members of the House of Lords.
Lawrence says they are not even good enough to be numbered among his Bedouins. They might be able to hold a rifle and shoot, but not on camel back during the Arab Revolt of the Great War. I didn't see any camels anywhere.
These ruffians would certainly not have been allowed to board the Lusitania!
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. There were no such ruffians in volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
Dear Readers,
When I lived in Pittsburgh all those years, I never dreamed I'd end up in a corral in Tombstone, Arizona. Instead I rode trolleys to downtown. I went to the Duquesne Club for lunch after shopping at Kaufmanns and getting my photo snapped underneath the Kaufmann's Clock.
Of course I never dreamed I'd sail on the Lusitania either. I certainly didn't picture myself getting engaged to a British lord who lived next to Hampton Court just outside London. Nor did I dream I'd be writing to him while he shipped off to the Dardanelles to fight under Lawrence of Arabia in the Great War.
But what a come down after all that pomp and circumstance, all that grandeur, to find myself stranded out in the countryside of southeast Arizona. Why, the Apache Indians lived here not long ago!
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. I don't mention the Apache Indians in volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
When I lived in Pittsburgh all those years, I never dreamed I'd end up in a corral in Tombstone, Arizona. Instead I rode trolleys to downtown. I went to the Duquesne Club for lunch after shopping at Kaufmanns and getting my photo snapped underneath the Kaufmann's Clock.
Of course I never dreamed I'd sail on the Lusitania either. I certainly didn't picture myself getting engaged to a British lord who lived next to Hampton Court just outside London. Nor did I dream I'd be writing to him while he shipped off to the Dardanelles to fight under Lawrence of Arabia in the Great War.
But what a come down after all that pomp and circumstance, all that grandeur, to find myself stranded out in the countryside of southeast Arizona. Why, the Apache Indians lived here not long ago!
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. I don't mention the Apache Indians in volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
Dear Readers,
The people in Tombstone don't like foreigners. They love Edward, of course, because he's an English lord. Americans admire the British nobility and always have. So he's not included in foreigners. Neither is Lawrence, naturally. He also was the son of a British baronet.
What I mean is that Wyatt Earp and his friends in Tombstone, Arizona don't like the Arabs in white robes who gather around Lawrence of Arabia. They find them sinister and suspicious. They wish they would go back to the Syrian Desert and leave them alone. When a townsfolk catches sight of one coming down Toughnut or Allen Streets, they tend to cross to the other side of the street and look at them askance.
I look at them askance, too, after my experience on the Lusitania. One helped sink the ship.
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. Volume one of my memoirs, KIng Abdullah's Tomb, is full of nothing except Europeans and foreigners no matter what Tombstone thinks.
The people in Tombstone don't like foreigners. They love Edward, of course, because he's an English lord. Americans admire the British nobility and always have. So he's not included in foreigners. Neither is Lawrence, naturally. He also was the son of a British baronet.
What I mean is that Wyatt Earp and his friends in Tombstone, Arizona don't like the Arabs in white robes who gather around Lawrence of Arabia. They find them sinister and suspicious. They wish they would go back to the Syrian Desert and leave them alone. When a townsfolk catches sight of one coming down Toughnut or Allen Streets, they tend to cross to the other side of the street and look at them askance.
I look at them askance, too, after my experience on the Lusitania. One helped sink the ship.
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. Volume one of my memoirs, KIng Abdullah's Tomb, is full of nothing except Europeans and foreigners no matter what Tombstone thinks.
Dear Readers,
The author has seen fit to drag us characters all over Tombstone. We've been to Allen Street and Toughnut Street, walking up and down the boardwalks gawking at western shops and stagecoaches drawn by horses where no motor cars are allowed. We've been to the Rose Tree Museum where the lady from England grew the big rose. Also we've visited the old Courthouse built around the turn of the century. It is now a museum. Last but not least, we've been to the O.K. Corral and listened to the talking figures re-enact the gun battle from October of 1881.
In addition the author has made sure we've eaten at the Longhorn Restaurant and stayed at the Best Western Lookout Lodge with views of the Dragoon Mountains. This is certainly something new to someone who sailed on the Lusitania and fought in the Great War.
Edward, Lawrence of Arabia, and I are all too well-acquainted with Tombstone --- even the Border Patrol 3 miles out of town.
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. There was no Border Patrol askng iif you were a U.S. citizen at the time I wrote volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
The author has seen fit to drag us characters all over Tombstone. We've been to Allen Street and Toughnut Street, walking up and down the boardwalks gawking at western shops and stagecoaches drawn by horses where no motor cars are allowed. We've been to the Rose Tree Museum where the lady from England grew the big rose. Also we've visited the old Courthouse built around the turn of the century. It is now a museum. Last but not least, we've been to the O.K. Corral and listened to the talking figures re-enact the gun battle from October of 1881.
In addition the author has made sure we've eaten at the Longhorn Restaurant and stayed at the Best Western Lookout Lodge with views of the Dragoon Mountains. This is certainly something new to someone who sailed on the Lusitania and fought in the Great War.
Edward, Lawrence of Arabia, and I are all too well-acquainted with Tombstone --- even the Border Patrol 3 miles out of town.
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. There was no Border Patrol askng iif you were a U.S. citizen at the time I wrote volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
Dear Readers,
We will dine at the Longhorn Restaurant in Tombstone, Arizona tonight. We will be served beef steaks with baked potatoes or French fries with a side salad. We will order apple crisps for dessert. If we get tired of that we can have cake or ice cream.
After that we can go out onto Allen Street or Toughnut Street and watch the costumed cowboys slug it out with their handguns. We can watch re-enactments of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
This is not the sort of entertainment you would find in Piccadilly. But since we are no longer in England and no longer in 1915, since the Great War is not being fought around us and nowhere is anybody boarding the Lusitania, we will have to make do. Even Lawrence of Arabia will have to put up with it.
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. Nowhere in the first volume of my memoirs, KIng Abdullah's Tomb, do I mention Toughnut Street,
We will dine at the Longhorn Restaurant in Tombstone, Arizona tonight. We will be served beef steaks with baked potatoes or French fries with a side salad. We will order apple crisps for dessert. If we get tired of that we can have cake or ice cream.
After that we can go out onto Allen Street or Toughnut Street and watch the costumed cowboys slug it out with their handguns. We can watch re-enactments of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
This is not the sort of entertainment you would find in Piccadilly. But since we are no longer in England and no longer in 1915, since the Great War is not being fought around us and nowhere is anybody boarding the Lusitania, we will have to make do. Even Lawrence of Arabia will have to put up with it.
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. Nowhere in the first volume of my memoirs, KIng Abdullah's Tomb, do I mention Toughnut Street,
Dear Readers,
Tombstone, home of gunslingers, should appreciate that Edward is the real McDoy --- a Major General. One doesn't get to be a Major General for nothing, you know. He had to demonstrate his cleverness not only with guns but with strategy. He had to lead armies of soldiers. He even had to learn to ride a camel when he was riding with Lawrence of Arabia in the Syrian Desert duirng the Great War. He would have upheld justice aboard the Lusitania if he had been a passenger.
I bet Wyatt Earp never even saw a camel, let alone learned to ride one.
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. Gunslingers don't get mentioned in volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
Tombstone, home of gunslingers, should appreciate that Edward is the real McDoy --- a Major General. One doesn't get to be a Major General for nothing, you know. He had to demonstrate his cleverness not only with guns but with strategy. He had to lead armies of soldiers. He even had to learn to ride a camel when he was riding with Lawrence of Arabia in the Syrian Desert duirng the Great War. He would have upheld justice aboard the Lusitania if he had been a passenger.
I bet Wyatt Earp never even saw a camel, let alone learned to ride one.
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. Gunslingers don't get mentioned in volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
Dear Readers,
I don't want to be stranded in Arizona. That, of course, is where Tombstone is located in the southeast corner of the state. It's too hot. There are nothing but cactuses and scrub bushes everywhere. In Tombstone there are yucca plants, which are a kind of succulent. It's impossible to even grow a decent grass lawn. And the folks here . . . well, let's say that General Sherman was right. When told that the Arizona territory needed a little less heat and a better class of people, General Sherman replied, "Sir, that's all that hell needs!"
Sometimes I think Arizona is worse than being on the Lusitania. At other times I think it's worse than the Great War or the Turks that Lawrence of Arabia fought.
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. You won't find Arizona in volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
I don't want to be stranded in Arizona. That, of course, is where Tombstone is located in the southeast corner of the state. It's too hot. There are nothing but cactuses and scrub bushes everywhere. In Tombstone there are yucca plants, which are a kind of succulent. It's impossible to even grow a decent grass lawn. And the folks here . . . well, let's say that General Sherman was right. When told that the Arizona territory needed a little less heat and a better class of people, General Sherman replied, "Sir, that's all that hell needs!"
Sometimes I think Arizona is worse than being on the Lusitania. At other times I think it's worse than the Great War or the Turks that Lawrence of Arabia fought.
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. You won't find Arizona in volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
Dear Readers,
The author seems to want us characters to live in Tombstone, Arizona forever and ever. She has all but bought a house there. We are lodged day after endless day at the Best Western Lookout Lodge. We are allowed out only to go to town and see fun sights like the O.K. Corral.
But I have to put down my foot. I sailed on the Lusitania. I deserve better. Lawrence helped to win a war. He made the Turks sign an Armistice. He deserves better, too.
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. I don't live in Tombstone at any time in the first volume of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
The author seems to want us characters to live in Tombstone, Arizona forever and ever. She has all but bought a house there. We are lodged day after endless day at the Best Western Lookout Lodge. We are allowed out only to go to town and see fun sights like the O.K. Corral.
But I have to put down my foot. I sailed on the Lusitania. I deserve better. Lawrence helped to win a war. He made the Turks sign an Armistice. He deserves better, too.
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. I don't live in Tombstone at any time in the first volume of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
Dear Readers,
Edward and I were noticed in Tombstone as not quite fitting in. Lots of other tourists asked for our autographs. They thought we were Hollywood stars in costume. I tried to explain we were really characters from the time of the Great War put in the wrong place by an errant author. Lawrence was even more out of place in his white robes. When he explained that he was Lawrence of Arabia, the other tourists said, "Oh yes, I just saw the movie on DVD!" When I said I'd been on the Lusitania, they said, "Oh yes, the Titanic! We saw that movie, too."
So you see our predicament, readers.
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. In all of volume one of my memoirs, KIng Abdullah's Tomb, we characters are in the right milieu.
Edward and I were noticed in Tombstone as not quite fitting in. Lots of other tourists asked for our autographs. They thought we were Hollywood stars in costume. I tried to explain we were really characters from the time of the Great War put in the wrong place by an errant author. Lawrence was even more out of place in his white robes. When he explained that he was Lawrence of Arabia, the other tourists said, "Oh yes, I just saw the movie on DVD!" When I said I'd been on the Lusitania, they said, "Oh yes, the Titanic! We saw that movie, too."
So you see our predicament, readers.
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. In all of volume one of my memoirs, KIng Abdullah's Tomb, we characters are in the right milieu.
Dear Readers,
Among all the most outrageous things the author does to us, she keeps us standing in lines at attractions at Tombstone and at restaurants such as the Longhorn in western gear. She doesn't bother to buy us decent shoes or clothes for that matter. We are not clothed like the British aristocrats we are supposed to be. I haven't had a new ball grown in ages, but then in Tombstone they do country dances. They don't have balls like they did on the Lusitania before she sank. There were also lots of dances at Ware Hall when I first met Edward before he left for Gallipoli to rendezvous with Lawrence of Arabia.
They don't know anything about balls in this duty cow town!
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. You will find descriptions of my clothes in volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
Among all the most outrageous things the author does to us, she keeps us standing in lines at attractions at Tombstone and at restaurants such as the Longhorn in western gear. She doesn't bother to buy us decent shoes or clothes for that matter. We are not clothed like the British aristocrats we are supposed to be. I haven't had a new ball grown in ages, but then in Tombstone they do country dances. They don't have balls like they did on the Lusitania before she sank. There were also lots of dances at Ware Hall when I first met Edward before he left for Gallipoli to rendezvous with Lawrence of Arabia.
They don't know anything about balls in this duty cow town!
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. You will find descriptions of my clothes in volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
Dear Readers,
Among other insults that the author bestows on us, she puts us in Tombstone where everyone brags about the exploits of Wyatt Earp back in 1881 before Edward or I were born. But what was Wyatt Earp? A saloon keeper? A ne'er-do-well? An Alaska Gold Rush junkie? He was certainly never a soldier like Edward is. Edward is professionally trained with a gun. He knows how to shoot. He could have cleaned up Tombstone in 1881 with one hand tied behind his back.
What would cattle wrestlers and ranch hands mean to a veteran of Gallipoli who won the Victoria Cross for his service in that battle from the Great War? Howt would silver miners and western bad guys scare a soldier who won the Battle of Petra alongside Lawrence of Arabia and would have caught the saboteur aboard the Lusitania if he had been given a chance?
LIeutenant Edward Ware would have given Wyatt Earp a run for his money.
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. Never once was Wyatt Earp mentioned in volume one of my memoirs, King Abullah's Tomb.
Among other insults that the author bestows on us, she puts us in Tombstone where everyone brags about the exploits of Wyatt Earp back in 1881 before Edward or I were born. But what was Wyatt Earp? A saloon keeper? A ne'er-do-well? An Alaska Gold Rush junkie? He was certainly never a soldier like Edward is. Edward is professionally trained with a gun. He knows how to shoot. He could have cleaned up Tombstone in 1881 with one hand tied behind his back.
What would cattle wrestlers and ranch hands mean to a veteran of Gallipoli who won the Victoria Cross for his service in that battle from the Great War? Howt would silver miners and western bad guys scare a soldier who won the Battle of Petra alongside Lawrence of Arabia and would have caught the saboteur aboard the Lusitania if he had been given a chance?
LIeutenant Edward Ware would have given Wyatt Earp a run for his money.
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. Never once was Wyatt Earp mentioned in volume one of my memoirs, King Abullah's Tomb.
Dear Readers,
We characters eat cowboy steaks every night. They are charbroiled and grilled over the open flame out here in Arizona. What are we eating beans and Mexican food for when we should be dining on caviar and wine? We don't need player pianos. We don't need can can girls and Wyatt Earp. We just want the Pall Mall and Westminster. Doesn't that sound more appropriate for characters from the Great War who sailed on the Lusitania and fought with Lawrence of Arabia?
Marooned in Arizona! Help! Take me back to England.
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. We didn't eat one cowboy steak in volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
Dear Readers,
The author has stranded us at a bizarre, hilltop lodge by the name of the Best Western Lookout Lodge in Tombstone, Arizona. When we leave our rooms, we encounter pictures of life-size gunman with their rifles and handguns drawn painted on the walls of the motel. They are everywhere, and we cannot escape them. There is even a painted tombstone along the walkway that reminds us if we smoke in our rooms at the nonsmoking motel we will be shot on sight.
Even the passageway between our bedrooms and the vanity dressing area in our rooms has swinging doors that imitate those found in a western saloon.
Is this really the place to lodge characters from a novel about the Great War who just got back from the Lusitania or the battlefields of Syria fighting alongside Lawrence of Arabia?
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. You won't find paintings of gunslingers painted on the walls in volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
The author has stranded us at a bizarre, hilltop lodge by the name of the Best Western Lookout Lodge in Tombstone, Arizona. When we leave our rooms, we encounter pictures of life-size gunman with their rifles and handguns drawn painted on the walls of the motel. They are everywhere, and we cannot escape them. There is even a painted tombstone along the walkway that reminds us if we smoke in our rooms at the nonsmoking motel we will be shot on sight.
Even the passageway between our bedrooms and the vanity dressing area in our rooms has swinging doors that imitate those found in a western saloon.
Is this really the place to lodge characters from a novel about the Great War who just got back from the Lusitania or the battlefields of Syria fighting alongside Lawrence of Arabia?
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. You won't find paintings of gunslingers painted on the walls in volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
Dear Readers,
I feel like a character marooned in the wrong novel. Has the author forgotten who we are? We are supposed to be players in the drama of the Great War. I am the daughter of a tire tycoon who lives in Pittsburgh. My fiance, Edward Ware, is the son of an English baronet who also runs an auto company, Adolphus Motors. We are supposed to be engaged while he is fighting in the Syrian Desert with Lawrence of Arabia and his Bedouin army. I am supposed to read letter after letter from the front. Then I am supposed to sail to England and to France looking for him.
We are not characters in a western novel. We didn't travel west to participate in the Silver Rush to Tombstone, Arizona in the 1880's. We are not saloon girls, saloon keepers, gunslingers, cowboys, sheriffs, ranch hands, lawmen, or anyone else who would fit into that milieu.We sail on ships like the Lusitania. We don't ride on stagecoaches.
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. You won't find a western mentioned in volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
I feel like a character marooned in the wrong novel. Has the author forgotten who we are? We are supposed to be players in the drama of the Great War. I am the daughter of a tire tycoon who lives in Pittsburgh. My fiance, Edward Ware, is the son of an English baronet who also runs an auto company, Adolphus Motors. We are supposed to be engaged while he is fighting in the Syrian Desert with Lawrence of Arabia and his Bedouin army. I am supposed to read letter after letter from the front. Then I am supposed to sail to England and to France looking for him.
We are not characters in a western novel. We didn't travel west to participate in the Silver Rush to Tombstone, Arizona in the 1880's. We are not saloon girls, saloon keepers, gunslingers, cowboys, sheriffs, ranch hands, lawmen, or anyone else who would fit into that milieu.We sail on ships like the Lusitania. We don't ride on stagecoaches.
Sincerely yours,
Dora Benley
P.S. You won't find a western mentioned in volume one of my memoirs, King Abdullah's Tomb.
