Where did the idea for this book come from?
A few years back I read some books* that talked about alternative theories behind the dating and construction of the Great Pyramid at Giza (as well as it’s purpose) and the Sphinx. I found them intriguing and their premises very plausible. The mathematics of the Great Pyramid just blew me away. The books were very geek oriented (though I am far from being a geek – I was an English major) and I wanted to reach a broader audience, so I thought a novel would do it.
And so a Native American PhD anthropologist just popped into your head?
Gordon Tallbear’s genesis goes way back to my childhood. I was raised in the ‘50s when all there was on TV was westerns. I fell in love with the Indians. When we played cowboys and Indians, I wanted to be the Indian. I also was a big comic book reader back then, mostly ones about western (fictional) heroes. As I recall, each comic had a feature story followed by an advertising section where you could get all kinds of gadgets, then a short story, then a secondary comic feature. It was a one of the short stories that always stuck in my head. A Wild West show was in London and the cast and crew were invited to watch a polo match. The snobby Brits were giving the American Indians on the sideline a hard time and finally one Brit challenged an Indian to see if he could play the game. The Indian promptly humbled the Brit on the playing field. I wanted that as a chapter in my book. So if you extrapolate from there, that’s how you get Gordon Tallbear as the hero.
I also wanted to give Tallbear the experience of one of my favorite fictional characters, Larry Darrow from The Razor’s Edge. Like Darrow, Tallbear went through an intensive internal exploration that took him to the Far East. It was a way to add a dimension to his character. I also wanted him to have the moral fiber of my favorite fictional character, Shane. He had to be a physical stud, and morally capable of standing up – at all costs – to the evil that dwells among us.
What about the other central characters?
Johanna came from my own family. On my mother’s side, her grandmother came from Ireland, made her way to Norwich, CT, and was greeted on her arrival by her cousin who’s last name was Ring. On my Father’s side, he had an aunt in Ireland named Johanna.
Madison Tolles name came from the fact that in the early days of the Connecticut Turnpike there was a toll in Madison, CT. I always thought it would be a great name. I also have a high school friend in New Canaan who is a self-made millionaire, so I just let my hyperactive imagination go from there.
Chuck Kinoshi evolved from Michner’s Hawaii.
Ben Crowley is a composite of a ton of senior NCOs I met in the Marine Corps.
Sir Winslow Harrington is based on my watching the actor Jason Isaacs in both The Patriot and Brotherhood, the cable series set in Providence, RI. I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Isaacs and realized his stage persona, particularly as he was portrayed in The Patriot, would be a good model for Sir Winslow.
Damien Cooper. My oldest son’s name is Matthew Damien. My dear friend from Marine Corps Boot Camp was Jimmy Cooper. But it doesn’t stop there. Damien ‘s experience in Junior High School with “Agnes McGann” mirrored my eighth grade experience. I will not use her real name here as her surviving family would probably sue me. While Damien is a lot smarter than me (I mean really a lot smarter), the impact was the same. Mr. Norton was based on a real teacher who saved my adolescent emotional life in much the same way he rescued Damien.
Brendan Pell is named after my youngest son, Brendan, who also has a deep understanding of music, and whose insights had a great impact on the earlier drafts of the novel.
Fr. F. X. O’Reilly is the real name of my father’s first cousin, a Holy Ghost (now Congregation of the Holy Spirit) missionary who served in Tanganyka, Africa, from 1938 until 1960. The story he tells in the novel is the exact same story he told me at a family backyard barbecue in 1968. I tried to recreate what I felt when he told it to me. It absolutely terrified me.
The Gnomes of Zurich have been the world’s bogeymen for 200 years.
Where did you get the idea for Tallbear’s talent for taming the wild Taboo?
Years ago I read a book about a man who communicates with horses. Can’t remember the name of the book right now, but that was one of his methods. It made sense to me. Also, if you read Empire of the Summer Moon by S. C. Gwynne, you will discover how the Stone Age Native American tribes, particularly the Comanche, were able to tame the wildest horses in minutes.
You sometimes use Indian and sometimes Native American to describe our native peoples. What’s correct?
Beats me, I’m not one of them.
You throw in some interesting side issues such as the artwork in the headquarters building at the Denver Center and the mustang therapy program at Pine Ridge Reservation.
I just liked the idea that a brilliant man like Gordon Tallbear, a Lakota Indian, could be moved by great art.
The mustang therapy program run by Gordon’s father is based on real therapy programs that are run in isolated pockets around the country. I would love to see the federal government give custodial and stewardship rights of the wild horse herds to the Plains Indians. And what a way to utilize such rights. It would put the Indians in charge of solving the problems of substance abuse that plague each tribe as well as provide an employment program for their people. It would mean a lot of coordination and approvals from some hide-bound bureaucracies like the BIA, the Dept. of the Interior, the Bureau of Land Management and others, but I think it could be done.
* Fingerprints of the Gods by Graham Hancock and The Giza Power Plant by Christopher Dunn