Q. Why did you decide to write your story?
A. I had always thought that I might tell this story, mainly focusing on the pageant part of the narrative. It wasn’t until my mother passed, and I was able to look back in time, that I had the maturity and insight to see how what was happening at home actually influenced those same years. A challenge in a San Antonio hotel bar finally pushed me to write the story. (See preface)
Q. Did you find writing about this cathartic?
A. Yes, the writing was absolutely cathartic. During the process, I realized just how much my mother endured at the same time, even as I resented her interference in my life. My capacity to forgive her grew with each page I wrote.
Q. Did you want to focus on the story of the reluctant beauty queen?
A. Absolutely. The narrative about the association with GuyRex in conflict with my parents (and in context to El Paso) was most important to me. I wanted to bring the “western do-over” into focus. I’m a historian. What was novel for me was that I had to look at myself as a historic figure—separate me today from the girl then—so that I had an unbiased view of the context.
You did an increadible job of separating and looking at yourself as a historic figure.
Q. When you moved on your second marriage, was that the turning point in your relationship as a Guyrex girl?
A. This is an interesting question. I haven’t considered this before. At that point I began to view myself as “the adult” in the room and my parents as “the children.” Their repeated problems seemed childish. I had grown.
I think the turning point as a Guyrex Girl was at the 1980 Ten-Year Reunion Pageant. At that point, my personal life was a success, and I had a working partnership with Guy and Rex as equals. We had been building that since 1978. I had grown up, and so did they in a way.
Q. Will you ever write more on your personal story, home life etc?
A. Everything I write has a personal or family connection. My first book, Frank Little and the IWW, The Blood that Stained an American Family, is about my great-grand uncle. He was murdered in Butte, MT, in 1917. His story impacted my Little family dramatically. When my son had to write a document-based essay (DBQ) for his AP US History class in high school on Frank, I knew I would have to research and write that narrative. Likewise, my second book, also a biography, on Jane Street (The Girl Who Dared to Defy: Jane Street and the Rebel Maids of Denver), was because my own Danish grandmother worked as a housemaid in a Colorado mansion at the same time as when this narrative took place.
So, in a way, some of my story is told in the other books I have written. As well, I have personal connections to the current biography that I am writing, The Breath of a Buffalo, a Biography of Mary Ann Goodnight.
As far as another memoir of sorts, I think I have told everything. So much so, that one man who read The Pink Dress said he felt he was a voyeur! Women readers do not seem to have the same experience. I’m hearing from gals who say they have had similar experiences, who are thanking me for sharing my story. Many identify with me—sexual abuse, mother-daughter relationships, marriage, and self-body image—and they embrace that other women can share similar tales. Almost universal themes today. I had no idea that the memoir would be considered a read under Women’s Studies!
It’s funny you mention your other books as I was going to ask about that so thank you for giving me that little tidbit. Having written my own memoir, to be published soon, I was very interested in your story and thus asked the question. I truly thank you for this!
Q. Have you ever reached out to pageant directors or are involved in some way today?
A. No, I am not involved today in pageantry. I have enjoyed reading a few other books relating to this topic, particularly Amy Argentsinger’s There She Was, A Secret History of Miss America. We have discussed our books. Amy is a Washington Post journalist. Pageantry has changed much, and in this 21st century, carries an entirely different set of conflicts or problems. For me, it’s like going from using a chalkboard in a classroom to using tablets to teach students.
I am in contact with some of the movers and shakers during the GuyRex years, though they are getting fewer.
I hope you can get some meat out of all this. I appreciate your writing a review so much!
I just want to thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to answer my questions. Thank you for sharing your story and some of the other books. I truly loved reading it and look forward to reading your next book.
My Book Addiction and More 
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