Doc Holliday: A Family Portrait
by Karen Holliday Tanner
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Description
John H. Holliday, D. D. S., better known as Doc Holliday, has become a legendary figure in the history of the American West. In Doc Holliday: A Family Portrait, Karen Holliday Tanner reveals the real man behind the legend. Shedding light on Holliday's early years, in a prominent Georgia family during the Civil War and Reconstruction, she examines the elements that shaped his destiny: his birth defect, the death of his mother and estrangement from his father, and the diagnosis of show more tuberculosis, which led to his journey west. The influence of Holliday's genteel upbringing never disappeared, but it was increasingly overshadowed by his emerging western personality. Holliday himself nurtured his image as a frontier gambler and gunman. Using previously undisclosed family documents and reminiscences as well as other primary sources, Tanner documents the true story of Doc's friendship with the Earp brothers and his run-ins with the law, including the climactic shootout at the O. K. Corral and its aftermath. This first authoritative biography of Doc Holliday should appeal both to historians of the West and to general readers who are interested in his poignant story. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
THE best biography of Doc Holliday. While it's no doubt best to balance it with a less sympathetic portrait, Tanner, a Holliday relative, has access to papers and artifacts no one else has and presents the most complete view ever (especially fascinating about his childhood) of a very complex, compelling, and enduringly mysterious figure.
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Author Information
4 Works 91 Members
Common Knowledge
- Original title
- Doc Holliday: A Family Portrait
- People/Characters
- Doc Holliday
- Important places
- USA
- Important events
- Shootout at the O.K. Corral
- Related movies
- Tombstone (1993 | IMDb)
- Dedication
- To Mary Holliday Olson (1913-95)
- First words
- In September 1873 John Henry Holliday, D.D.S., of Atlanta, Georgia, boarded the Western and Atlantic train.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)In addition to the Sheffield straight razor found among his personal toilet items, only a small knife, a gold stickpin from which the diamond had been removed, and a few gambling devices testified to the real career of John Henry Holliday, D.D.S.
- Original language
- English
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, Biography & Memoir, History, General Nonfiction, Politics and Government
- DDC/MDS
- 364.15 — Society, government, & culture Social problems and social services Crime Criminal offenses Offenses against the person
- LCC
- F594 .H74 .T36 — Local History of the United States, Canada and Latin America United States local history The West. Trans-Mississippi Region. Great Plains
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 78
- Popularity
- 400,185
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.71)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 2
