Synopsis
THE MOJAVE CHRONICLES offers the reader an escape from a contemporary society fraught with government intervention and mistrust into another era where a self-sufficient band of disparate characters whose common love is the serenity and purity of the land in the high Mojave Desert and respect and affection for each other is the way of life. Here is prospector Death Valley Shorty; mining engineer Charlie Koons; Japanese/American Misuko; Indian Chief Little Bear; Southern widow Gracie; engineer’s assistant Jeb; and Megs, a young woman without family who’s traveling the desert in a jalopy. The threads of their lives come together at Cactus Charlie’s Saloon. In this community they all live nearby and eventually establish the Shoshone Valley Advisory Board, a compact of their own making. It is a tribal council of sorts where discussion, compromise, and one vote each determine the working out of all concerns, whether major or minor.
The narrative evolves as another character, Peg, discovers a letter among her late mother’s personal items and vows to find out more about a grandmother she never knew of but nonetheless has come to despise. So begins her journey to the West and to self-discovery, compassion, trust, spirituality, friendship, and understanding. As Gracie and Shorty now in their twilight years reminisce, Peg unravels the history and mystery of this small, connected unit.
Seen through the eyes of his characters, the book reveals an apparent respect for the natural order of life as well as intimate knowledge of the desert through 0lyrical descriptions of beauty during the course of the day, the weather, or the seasons or of its life forms, animals, and predators. The chronicles are enriched by Indian lore and historical accounts embedded in the larger narrative and give insight to earlier decades.
The male characters are charming and endearing in their rascally, rough-edged ways; the women strong, determined, and loving. Each conjures wistfulness for a way of life and for characters we wish were real and we wish we knew. They are based on the people of the desert who had the desire to perpetuate their values.
Stump, now retired, taught for 36 years at the University of Southern Maine where he held the title of Distinguished Professor of the Performing Arts. He was born in Barstow California. His grandfather was the last six-gun toting sheriff of Arizona’s Mojave County. His grandmother was the Indian agent in Peach Springs Arizona. Stump’s uncle, Jack Brown, was Deputy Sheriff of San Bernardino County and his other uncle, Charlie Stump, was a well-known figure in Death Valley. Stump’s father, Walter G. Stump, sold cars throughout the desert and who sometimes took his son while visiting friends and customers. “My dad and I climbed old roads to ghost towns such as Calico, Bodie, Oatman, Rhyolite and even the lost Panament City.” Like the ancient Anasazi, these once thriving communities were deserted overnight. Some still contained old timers with impressive degrees in engineering and mining. They all had stories. Cactus Charlie’s Saloon is actually an amalgamation of several different places in several different locations in the desert. THE MOJAVE CHRONICLES can be purchased on www.Amazon.com
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