Frederick Manfred

I met Frederick Manfred, the author of Lord Grizzly, very briefly at a book signing at a bookstore in downtown Rapid City. It was June 25, 1988 and the day was miserably hot. He was sitting at a table in the front of the store and was not exactly overwhelmed by his fans. If I recall correctly, I was the only person in the store at that moment seeking him out.

Frederick Manfred was about 76 years old at the time and was signing a book he had written 34 years earlier. He looked like he would have rather been doing something else. When I approached him to sign my copy of Lord Grizzly I was somewhat intimidated as he reminded me of a very tall version of the actor John Carradine. However, he was friendly and probably would have given me all the time and conversation I would have wanted. That is, if I could have thought of something to say to him besides "thanks."

I'm not sure how much Frederick Manfred's works are read today. A quick scan of Amazon.com showed only a couple of his books for sale. It's a shame because he not only wrote of the West but also wrote The Golden Bowl, a novel of the Great Depression that has been compared to The Grapes of Wrath. Like many great authors, several of his novels were considered semi-autobiographical. He was careful researcher and great storyteller. Lord Grizzly is not only the saga of Hugh Glass but a great work of fiction as well.

In the next post, the fictional and non-fictional versions of the Hugh Glass cycle will be compared.

A quick sidenote. The Black Hills to me is not limited to the 125 mile by 60 mile geographical region of western South Dakota. Instead, the influence of the Hills stretches east to the Missouri River and west well into Wyoming and Montana. Therefore, for my purposes, I will consider the history and fiction of these surrounding areas as pertinent to the history of the Hills.

Also, I am not a book reviewer or critic. If I do not like a book I rarely finish it. Therefore, anything appearing in this blog will have my not-very-sought-after seal of approval.