Publisher's Synopsis
Many of my fictional stories have a grain of truth in them. In this case, it is a story that I badly want to write, but which draws upon some personal experiences that were shared with a number of people I greatly admire. I have thought about writing my true experiences naming names, dates, places etc. but I never thought I had the right to do that because I would be invading the privacy of some people who generally have not put themselves in the lime light. However, I am not aware that any one has recounted some of these stories and they are too good to be allowed to die. Indeed (in 2014), most of the people that were involved are into their 70s by now and several have already passed away. So, I have struck a compromise with myself: This story originally published as part of a digital collection (2014) involves some people who start off as cave explorers in the 1970s; and after accurately describing some of their adventures, the story dissolves into a Wild West show in which they have encounters with some drug smugglers in Mexico. Those parts of this story that deal exclusively with cave exploration are based strongly on real events and real people. I tried to write the story in third-person with a bunch of fictitious names, but it just didn't work well. So, I compromised to write in in first-person and use only first names (unless I obtained permission) and avoid names where possible. The parts that deal with (as Warren Zevon might say) "lawyers, guns and money" are purely fictitious and I (first person) continue in first-person as a fictional character. When I decided to put this short story out as a stand-alone paperback edition (2019), I found that two old friends Dolph Hatfield and Don Belling who were leaders of the Mexico trips that inspired this fictional story were willing to be named and materially and morally supported the effort. Thanks deeply Dolph and Don! GEP, September 2019
