By Debby Lee
On April 3, 1860, a wiry fellow
working for Russell, Majors, and Waddell, jumped on a horse in St. Joseph
Missouri and with a whoop and a holler carried a mail pouch east. Cheers
erupted from a crowd of spectators. Ten days later that mail reached San
Francisco, and thus the Pony Express rode into history.
One hundred and six years later, on
April, 3 1966, the day I was born, a different kind of noise reverberated
across America. The number 1 song on the pop music charts was My Soul and Inspiration by The Righteous Brothers. On the country charts, I Want to Go to You by Eddy Arnold held
the number 1 spot.
At the movies, the musical, Frankie and Johnny, graced theater
marquis from St. Joseph to San Francisco. Elvis Presley and Donna Douglas
starred in this show. Records were available from the movies sound track, and
contained songs like Please Don’t Stop
Loving Me and Down by the Riverside. Donna Douglas by the
way, starred in The Beverly Hillbillies. Now who doesn’t remember that opening
theme song?
The Dodge Charger rolled off
conveyor belts and proceeded to cruise along roads all across the country.
Technically, this car came out in 1964 but was only for show. It wasn’t
available to the public until 1966. Although it probably made much more noise
than the average pony, it could get you from St. Joseph to San Francisco a lot
faster.
News of the Vietnam War occupied
airwaves and newspaper columns, as protesters, took to the streets and chanted
for peace. Flower Power was the slogan of the day, but demonstrations rose in
volume and intensity before it was all over.
No matter what kind of noise was
made in 1860, 1966, or even today, one thing remains the same. The Pony Express
makes us think of thundering hoof beats, brave riders facing dangerous
circumstances, and a special kind of romance that comes along for the ride.
Debby's novella in The Pony Express Romance collection is RIDE INTO MY HEART.
Kimimela,
a member of the Sioux tribe, works at a Pony Express station where she
struggles to cope with the death of her sister. When she’s kidnapped by gun
smugglers, can her Cherokee friend, Pony Express rider Gabe, rescue her before
it’s too late?
Debby
Lee was raised in the cozy town of Toledo, Washington. The American Christian
Fiction Writers and Romance Writers of America are two organizations Debby
enjoys being a part of. She is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the
Steven Laube Literary Agency. As a self proclaimed nature lover and avid
listener of 1960’s folk music, Debby can’t help but feel like a hippie child
who wasn’t born soon enough to attend Woodstock.
1 comment:
Hi Mary, thanks so much for hosting me today. It's a pleasure to be here.
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