The Divorce Seekers: A Photo Memoir of a Nevada Dude Wrangler - Hardcover

McGee, William L.; McGee, Sandra V.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0970167814 ISBN 13: 9780970167811

Publisher: BMC Publications, 2004

Synopsis

"The story I'm going to tell you is about three of the best years of my life, from 1947 to 1950, when I was the head dude wrangler on the Flying M.E., the exclusive Nevada divorce ranch south of Reno that catered to wealthy Easterners, socialites and the occasional Hollywood celebrity, most seeking a six-week divorce. At age twenty-two, surrounded by all those women, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven." -Bill McGee

In the 1930s to 1960s, if you wanted a quick, simple exit from marriage, Reno, Nevada was the place to go. Divorce seekers by the thousands -- Eastern socialites, movie stars and housewives -- came running to Reno to seek a six-week divorce. Reno was known worldwide as the "Divorce Capital of the World" ... and "I'm going to Reno!" became synonymous with getting "a quickie divorce" and "taking the cure".

Former Nevada dude wrangler Bill McGee takes us back to the heydays of the six-week Reno divorce when Eastern ladies mixed it up out West with cowboys. The wealthy and the famous who wanted privacy from the press while they resided in Nevada for six weeks to get their "quickie divorce" often preferred to stay on a dude ranch outside of Reno ... and the Flying M.E. was the most exclusive of them all.

McGee provides an up-close glimpse into daily life on the divorce ranch and how the guests passed their time. He writes about his day job ... taking guests for trail rides in the Sierras ... and his night job ... escorting guests to their favorite watering holes in Carson City and the saloons in Virginia City. The author presents a collection of stories that illustrate the different types of guests who stayed on the Flying M.E., plus the occasional Hollywood celebrity like Clark Gable and Ava Gardner.

"The images -- with their smoky, black-and-white, retro allure -- are what brought the time and place alive for me so that I could bring my characters to life in my novel ... This book is a treasure if only for the photos alone."
-Deb Caletti, bestselling author "The Secrets She Keeps"

Part I, "Cowboyin' Memoirs" - The author's years in the 1930s and early '40s cowboying in the West.

Part II, "The Famous Flying M.E. Ranch and the Changing Cast of Characters" A collection of stories about the parade of fascinating guests and how they spent their six weeks on the Flying M.E.

Part III, "Gettin' Untied" - The serious business of divorce in Nevada.

Part IV, "Other Leading Nevada Dude-Divorce Ranches, Circa 1930-1960" - Profiles of the Pyramid Lake, Washoe Pines and Donner Trail guest ranches. Also a profile of the TH Ranch, Nevada's first ranch to take in paying dudes in the late 1920s. 

444 pp, 502 b&w photos (many never before published), plus maps, appendices, notes, bibliography, and index.

About this title

From the Author

"I may be the only former Nevada dude ranch wrangler...'still above ground'...who saw the Reno divorce era firsthand and can tell the stories." -William L. McGee

About the Author

William L. McGee's writing career has spanned six decades. He has written 22 books, including five World War II military histories and five memoirs. Bill and his co-author/wife, Sandra V. McGee, garnered critical praise for Bill's memoir set in the contemporary West, THE DIVORCE SEEKERS: A PHOTO MEMOIR OF A NEVADA DUDE WRANGLER. Eric Moody, Curator of Manuscripts at the Nevada Historical Society in Reno, cited THE DIVORCE SEEKERS as the "best book yet about Nevada's dude-divorce ranch business". Bill and Sandra are members of Western Writers of America.

Edition details

• Publisher: BMC Publications
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0970167814
• ISBN 13: 9780970167811
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 444