CH 5: Old Men
The Old Men chapter is about half true – that is, about half of it was personal experience, while the other half is, well, fiction. I was hitchhiking in South Dakota in the summer of 1983, trying to get to Mt. Rushmore when an old man in an old red pickup truck stopped to give me a lift. Our conversation was similar to that relayed in the story, and the driver was indeed a potato farmer named Bud from Idaho. We did go to Mt. Rushmore, and did have dinner in Deadwood, but that’s where the similarity ends. There was no convocation of old buddies that spontaneously turned into a “personal Rushmore.” In fact, I didn't know that was going to happen in the story until I realized, at the very end, I had four old guys sitting at the table who could be a Rushmore of their own. Sometimes storytelling works like that -- you get lucky. This was one of those times. Which brings me back to fiction.
Deadwood, SD, courtesy of USATODAY.
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I mentioned the “fiction” topic again for two reasons: first, I think it’s fun to know when parts of a book are based upon actual events, and which ones they were, and second, “fiction” can be a confusing topic for author and reader alike. MITG is most definitely fiction, and McGhee is definitely fictitious. He’s not me, and his life is his own. The accounts related in the novel frequently correspond to my life events, but the reason isn’t to be slavish to my recollections. The reason, instead, is to leverage reality to authenticate how events can happen. Once one deviates from the reality, there’s a chance to get something wrong.
That said, there’s plenty of fiction going on. All of the guys McGhee and Bud meets at the restaurant are fictitious. I once had a friend who ran into Chuck Yeager while hiking near where I live, so some of the Beef character was informed by that. The important thing for me is knowing where the fiction ends and the memories begin. In a way, this novel is a tricky way for me to record some memories which I’d like to document, so it serves that personal purpose, for me, but doesn’t apply to the reader. I think that’s a legitimate thing to do – there aren’t really rules for what an author can put in, except that it remains readable, which brings me back yet again to the topic of fiction.
Despite these blogs which provide colorful (and hopefully amusing) backstory, the novel needs to stand on its own. I hope it does and you enjoy reading it, and that the seams between fiction and memory are not apparent. You’ll be surprised when you read these blogs to discover how much actually happened, but it’s not relevant to the tale.
One of the unsung heroes of the story is America itself. The Black Hills area is a special place, and I hope if you haven’t visited, McGhee’s tale will inspire you to do so. It’s a great country. My advice is to go out and see it regularly.
