Nick Pappas
I’ll go pretty much anywhere to speak about Dawson. So I didn’t give distance a second thought when I was invited to present this month at New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas, N.M., roughly a 130-mile, one-way trip from my Albuquerque home. Gary Torres did me one better. The 72-year-old son of a coal…
Read MoreWhere to begin? That’s the challenge in trying to describe what it was like to attend this year’s biennial Dawson reunion over Labor Day weekend on the old townsite. Two years ago, when I came to my first reunion, I was about a month away from submitting the final version of my manuscript to the…
Read MoreA funny thing happened moments into my Dawson book presentation Saturday afternoon at the Tucumcari Railroad Museum. A roaring freight train rushed by the depot, interrupting my talk and prompting laughter among the roughly 50 folks in attendance. “That seems appropriate,” I said, before playfully pointing to a gentleman in the audience. “Frank, that was…
Read MoreAs a first-time book author, I will forever be grateful to the writers and publications that have published positive reviews of Crosses of Iron since its release by the University of New Mexico Press this past October. That includes David Steinberg at the Albuquerque Journal, Jim Frost at the New Mexico Genealogist and David Caffey…
Read MoreThis list will be updated as new events are confirmed. No presentations or book signings are scheduled at this time.
Read MoreTwo years ago, while making revisions to my manuscript, I remember receiving a marketing questionnaire from a University of New Mexico Press publicist, seeking my input on marketing my upcoming book, Crosses of Iron. Among the questions: “Do you know of any awards for which your book qualifies that should be considered for submission? Please…
Read MoreEven in today’s uncertain times, there are certain things you can count on: The sun will rise in the East. Thanksgiving will fall on a Thursday. And, if it’s an even year, Dawson folks will come together for another reunion. So it came as no surprise to learn last week that the Dawson New Mexico…
Read MoreA funny thing happened a few weeks ago when I attended a book-signing event for a former Albuquerque Journal colleague. I was invited to do one of my own. On Feb. 17, I drove to the Martha Liebert Public Library in Bernalillo, New Mexico, to show my support for Rosalie Rayburn, whom I met during…
Read MoreDavid Caffey is no stranger to Dawson, New Mexico, having worked for a time as a chief ranger for the Philmont Scout Ranch in nearby Cimarron. That’s why I’m particularly grateful for his review of Crosses of Iron that appeared last month in High Country, the bimonthly magazine of the Philmont Staff Association. Coincidentally, I mentioned…
Read MoreTwo days after Christmas, I received an email from Jim Frost, editor of the New Mexico Genealogist, notifying me that his review of Crosses of Iron was published in the December issue of the New Mexico Genealogical Society’s quarterly journal. I got to know Jim as a colleague during my time at the Albuquerque Journal. He…
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