I’m in the middle of reading the biography of Dare Wright written by Jean Nathan (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2004). While on a research trip to London, Wright wrote (about her historical research): “…You have to be careful not to get too fascinated by obscure bits of information.”
Bits! That’s exactly the word I use to describe a lot of my Laura Ingalls Wilder research findings, things that aren’t the mundane, everybody cuts-and-pastes them birth/death/marriage facts, where things are, and what people were doing when pieces of the big puzzle that is “all things Little House.”
I have notebooks full of obscure bits! It’s the bits that make characters become three-dimensional living, breathing people. It’s nice to know that Charley’s chum Alfred was the son of lumberman Charles Ely. Laura never told us that. All Laura Ingalls Wilder tells us is that he and Charley get into mischief together. For that matter, she never tells us who Charley was, either; he was Mary Power’s younger brother. It’s a bit more interesting to know that Alfred was named after Mr. Ely’s commanding officer during the Civil War. It makes Alfred even more interesting to know the bit about him growing up to be a professional singer and cutting an early RCA Victor record in New York.
It’s all about the bits; trust me.
