Lady at the O.K. Corral: The True Story of Josephine Marcus Earp - Hardcover

Kirschner, Ann

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0061864501 ISBN 13: 9780061864506

Publisher: Harper, 2013

Synopsis

Lady at the O.K. Corral: The True Story of Josephine Marcus Earp by Ann Kirschner is the definitive biography of a Jewish girl from New York who won the heart of Wyatt Earp.

For nearly fifty years, she was the common-law wife of Wyatt Earp: hero of the O.K. Corral and the most famous lawman of the Old West. Yet Josephine Sarah Marcus Earp has nearly been erased from Western lore. In this fascinating biography, Ann Kirschner, author of the acclaimed Sala's Gift, brings Josephine out of the shadows of history to tell her tale: a spirited and colorful tale of ambition, adventure, self-invention, and devotion. Reflective of America itself, her story brings us from the post–Civil War years to World War II, and from New York to the Arizona Territory to old Hollywood.

In Lady at the O.K. Corral, you’ll learn how this aspiring actress and dancer—a flamboyant, curvaceous Jewish girl with a persistent New York accent—landed in Tombstone, Arizona, and sustained a lifelong partnership with Wyatt Earp, a man of uncommon charisma and complex heroism.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

The author of the acclaimed Sala’s Gift delivers the definitive biography of Josephine Marcus Earp, a Jewish woman from New York who became the common-law wife of famed lawman and gambler Wyatt Earp.

For nearly fifty years, she lived with the most famous lawman of the Old West. Yet Josephine Sarah Marcus Earp has nearly been erased from Western lore. In this fascinating biography, Ann Kirschner brings Josephine out of the shadows of history to tell her full story—a spirited and colorful tale of ambition, adventure, selfinvention, and romance reflective of America itself, from the post–Civil War years to World War II.

How did this aspiring actress and dancer—a flamboyant, curvaceous Jewish girl with a persistent New York accent—land in Tombstone, Arizona, and steal the heart of Wyatt Earp? What inspired five decades of adventure-seeking that led from the Arizona Territory to Alaska to Hollywood? And what sustained her lifelong partnership with a man of uncommon charisma and complex heroism?

Answering these questions, Kirschner offers a rare look at a woman’s life on the frontier and sheds new light on the iconic gunfight that made Wyatt Earp a legend, revealing Josephine’s place at its center. Lady at the O.K. Corral introduces a vivacious woman with a magnetic personality who was equally at home in the deserts of the American Southwest and the boomtowns of the Alaskan Gold Rush; in the opulent hotels of San Diego and San Francisco in the Gay Nineties; in rough mining camps, gaudy gambling casinos, racetracks, and boxing arenas; as on Hollywood back lots visiting Cecil B. DeMille and Samuel Goldwyn.

Spanning more than half a century, this engaging narrative biography brings Josephine to the forefront of her own story and offers a fresh look at a remarkable era in American history.

About the Author:

Ann Kirschner is university dean of Macaulay Honors College at the City University of New York. She began her career as a lecturer in Victorian literature at Princeton University, where she earned her PhD. A writer of wide-ranging interests, she is the author of Sala's Gift and an innovator in education, media, and technology. She lives in New York City with her family.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0061864501
• ISBN 13: 9780061864506
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304