One of my childhood heroes was Tom Fitzgerald, aka "The Great Brain". Tom was the main character in a series of children's books written about a family in turn-of-the-century southern Utah. This was a time when Utah wasn't just a place where Mormons lived, but also Indians, outlaws, miners and ranchers. This was a time when parts of Utah had the flavor of the real wild west.Mom read these books to us when we were kids, and I have read them several times since. Kristen and I read them last year... so did Creighton.
So, I knew the books were fiction and based on true stories, but I have always wanted to know what was true and what was not. I started the research. It led to a cemetery in Price, Utah where Kristen and I found the grave of Tom and his parents. Wow! This was just down the street from where I started high school! In fact, Tom went to the same school, (Carbon High), decades before I did. He died in 1988. I will always wonder if I ever bumped into him while living in Price. Wish I would have known that he was real and we lived so close so I could have talked to him and heard the stories straight from the source.
More info is at: www.findingfitzgerald.com
