An Evening with Doc Holliday

When I first began researching and writing about Doc Holliday, I had the pleasure of being introduced by Doc’s family to historian Dr. Gary L. Roberts, then working on his own biography of the Western legend. Gary and I became good friends over the years as we shared our historical discoveries and discussed what each new bit of information meant in the context of Doc’s adventurous life. And although we were writing different sorts of books—Gary’s the scholarly biography Doc Holliday: The Life & Legend, and mine the historical novel trilogy The Saga of Doc Holliday—we were both working toward the same goal of bringing Doc’s true history to light, and I have appreciated Gary’s unfailing support of my own work.

In September of 2022, I had the privilege of hosting a long (nine hours!) interview with Gary in his hometown of Tifton, Georgia, where he was for years a professor of history at Abraham Baldwin College, named for another historic Georgia character and signer of the US Constitution. The event was produced by historian Eddie Lanham, and released as a series of nine video episodes on the Wild West History Association YouTube Channel. Titled “An Evening with Doc Holliday” and covering Doc’s life from his childhood in Civil War era Georgia to his last days in Colorado and beyond, the Doc Holliday interviews are both an in-depth exploration of Holliday’s life and a fascinating visit with a charming Southern gentleman.

In July of 2023, the nine episodes of “An Evening with Doc Holliday” were recognized with a special award for contributions to Western history presented at the Wild West History Association Roundup in San Antonio, Texas. The event was held at the historic Menger Hotel across from the Alamo where Teddy Roosevelt recruited his Rough Riders during the Spanish American War, an appropriate place to honor a video series about Doc Holliday, as the hotel was already in operation when Doc himself passed through town. He may have even stopped by the Menger bar for a drink after a night of gaming in the saloons of San Antonio!

 

 

Award plaques were presented to Dr. Gary Roberts, Eddie Lanham, and myself—a notable honor from an organization devoted to preserving and sharing the stories of Wild West history.

We are grateful!

WWHA YouTube Channel.

 

 

 

 

 

Fun Links:

Alamo
Menger Hotel
Roosevelt and the Rough Riders
Wild West History Association