I am delighted to have a story in the July/August issue of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. "Law of the Jungle" is the second story I owe to Utah Phillips. (Or possibly the fourth. We'll get back to that.)
As I have written before, Bruce Phillips, also known as U. Utah Phillips the Golden Voice of the Great Southwest, was many things: veteran, pacifist, anarchist, Wobbly, singer, songwriter, raconteur, and railroad bum, to name a few.
His song about the Orphan Train movement inspired me to write "Train Tracks," which also appeared in AHMM. In fact, he wrote an entire album of songs about railroads and hoboes.
So when I heard about the book by Ian McIntyre it was inevitable that I bought it. On The Fly! is a collection of literature about railroad hobos, written by the hobos themselves. The publcations run 1879 to 1941. The most famous author included is Jack London (although, oddly enough, his piece is about a trip by boat). The book includes everything from cartoons and poetry to a death-row interview with a serial killer. It is utterly fascinating.
I was almost halfway through it when the part of my brain that looks for story ideas, the entity I call the Miner, finally woke up and said : "Hey! Write about this!"
So I did. "Law of the Jungle" is set in 1910 and centers on a teenager who runs away from home and meets an older hobo named Scottsdale Hank. They ride the rails and encounter a crime and the kid, who takes the moniker or road name Jersey White, learns about life on the bum.
Oh, why did I say I might owe Phillips for four stories? Well, since he was the highlight of the first folk festival I ever attended I give him a lot of credit for turning me into a folkie. And if that hadn't happened I wouldn't have written two stories about Kentucky fiddler Cleve Penny.
And I may have more reasons for gratitude because I am currently writing another story about Scottsdale Hank. Turns out I have a lot to say about hoboing.
I also wrote an essay about a different aspect of "Law of the Jungle" and you can read it at the AHMM blog, Trace Evidence.
