Ann Kirschner

What makes this book remarkable is that the author's mother, Sala, was able to save all the letters from friends and family that she received throughout her five year ordeal in seven different labor camps. These letters, along with Sala's short diary, form the basis of the book and allow the reader to hear directly from the participants themselves at the time--rather than a retelling or telling many years later. The author fills in the context skillfully so that one doesn't feel jolted from show more letter to description. Altogether I was reminded of The Diary of Anne Frank. The voices of Sala and her sisters and friends reach out to us from the past in a way that is compelling, authentic, and innocent in the face of the horrors that descend upon them. show less

There were three women he had considered himself married to before her, but Josephine Marcus Earp was Wyatt Earp’s common-law wife for fifty years. She was around for the famous shoot out at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona, she panned for gold by his side in the wilds of Alaska, and she tried to mold his image to her liking in the early days of Hollywood while leaving herself as far out of the story as possible.

Josephine was Jewish, but though she returned to her roots and buried show more Wyatt in a Jewish graveyard when he died, religion wasn’t a big part of her life during the years she and Wyatt were together. Her family had moved from Poland to New York City and then San Francisco while she was still young, but the limitations of city society didn’t offer Josephine the life she wanted. She left for Tombstone as a teenager seeking adventure, and she and Wyatt were living as husband and wife to other people when they met. The fact that Wyatt deserted a woman who later died as a prostitute to be with her was embarrassing to Josephine, and it was part of the reason she didn’t want the particulars of her past tainting the legend of the man she loved.

Since Josephine actively tried to suppress her own part in Wyatt’s life, author Ann Kirschner had a challenging job researching this book, but she has succeeded in making Lady at the O.K. Corral fascinating as both a biography of a spirited woman and a history of the rapidly changing American West. Though Josephine only wanted one side of his story told, Wyatt Earp was a lot more complicated than the brave, courageous and bold frontier man who cleaned up the West in the 1950’s TV show. It’s true Wyatt was briefly a lawman but he also spent time in jail himself, and he earned his living as a respected saloon owner, a prospector, a gambler and a pimp while he and Josephine moved from boomtown to boomtown, seeking their fortunes. show less

This is less a biography about Josephine Earp and more about the attempt to white wash the history of the old west and the part the Earps played in it. Josephine was constantly concerned about her own past and kept it buried as well.
DeBlank does a good job describing all the attempts to write a biography of Wyatt Earp by various authors as well as making television shows and movies and the role Josephine played in keeping secrets.

The biggest barrier to writing about any famous or semi-famous person from the old west is the lack of information on the background of the person or even reliable information beyond the sensationalistic current day accounts of their exploits. Even newspapers at the time were sensationalistic and relied as much on hearsay or political leanings as they did accurate reporting.

Enter Wyatt Earp's common law wife Josephine Marcus Earp. Not only has very little been known about her, she is greatly show more overshadowed by her more famous "husband."

It is clear that Josephine was a rebellious party girl who ran into the eventual enemy of Wyatt Johnny Behan, Sherriff of Cochise County. Johnny Behan lured Josephine to Tombstone where, to make a long story short, she met Wyatt Earp who she left Behan for. Of course she had a lot of reason to leave Behan who was consorting with other women and had essentially not married her and left her to care for his house and son he was raising. Thus not only were Wyatt Earp and Johnny Behan political enemies, they were personal enemies over Josephine.

Have you ever heard of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral? Well, that was the apex of Wyatt's time in Tombstone, Arizona with Josephine right in the middle.

But that was just the beginning of this relationship. While Wyatt sent his other common law wife Mattie Blaylock home to his parents, where she eventually committed suicide, Wyatt picked Josephine up in California and were together for the 50 years.

Regardless of what one wants to say about the sordid nature of their relationship and Wyatt abandoning his common law wife, the fact they were together for the rest of their lives speaks volumes about their love for one another.

The story told here talks a great deal about Josephine trying to cover up the fact she was lured to Tombstone and cover up the eventual fate and suicide of Mattie Blaylock. But after Tombstone she and Wyatt lived a vagabond life, moving to various locales to try to scrape out a living, even including Nome, Alaska where they spent a few years.

After Wyatt's death much of Josephine's effort were around trying to preserve the image of Wyatt and make money with stories and movies off his death. In some ways it seemed like a sad life as she was trying to build up Wyatt's reputation but also wanted to cash on her long-term relationship with him and legal rights as common law wife.

Overall, I have to give this effort a very positive review because the author really brings Josephine to life and tells an honest, clear story about her. show less