The Thousand Secrets of the Tishomingo Hotel

Four residents of an old Tulsa railroad hotel, the Tishomingo, are the guardians of secrets about the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, secrets. These secrets are dangerous to know, life-threatening to make known. Opposing them is the menacing businessman Asher Dodd, who has a few secrets of his own, one of which directly threatens one of the residents. Who will outwit whom, and how, in this game of wits?

Four residents of an old Tulsa railroad hotel, the Tishomingo, are the guardians of secrets about the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. The secrets are dangerous to know, life-threatening to make known. The residents include the sheriff at the time of the Massacre, Solomon "Slow Man" Pickett; the deputy sheriff at the time of the Massacre, Sam "Traveling Sam" Key; a storefront preacher, DaVida King; and an embittered community organizer, Brother Sol Reddick. Opposing them is the menacing Tulsa businessman Asher Dodd. Someone will win this dangerous game of wits ... but who? And how?

I was born and raised in Tulsa and am a product of the public schools. My bachelor's degree in sociology came from the University of Missouri in Columbia. I earned a Master of Divinity degree from McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago; I have 25 graduate-level hours in newspaper journalism from the School of Journalism at the University of Missouri, Columbia; and hold a Doctor of Ministry degree from the Chicago Theological Seminary. All of my professional life has been spent serving rural and then urban Presbyterian churches. Since retirement I converted to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), where I am now a lay member. I am married to a hospice nurse, and together we have three middle-aged "boys" and five grandchildren. My hobbies include walking, astronomy for the layperson, reading and writing anything I can get my hands on. This is my first novel.