Modern times

I wish I knew who Nancy Jane Pence was, or why she is dressed in men’s clothing in this long-ago Eureka Springs vignette. Sadly, that story has been lost to the maw of time. This being Eureka, you never know. It could be anything.

My upcoming book, Welcome to Eureka Springs: The I-Sh*t-You-Not History of America’s Quirkiest Town, will cover the town’s earliest days all the way up to modern times.

Documenting the town’s past half century without mentioning its gay community would be impossible. I recently completed my chapter about the late Gary Eagan. It will be the first of three chapters to illuminate why Eureka Springs has been called “the gayest small town in America.”

In honor of Pride Month, I plan to read that chapter at this Thursday’s Poetluck at the Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow. Grab good grub and hear short snippets by wonderful writers. Doors open at 6.

Gary Eagan played a role in Eureka’s art scene and early ’70s downtown renaissance. But he never knew why his name belongs in history books. I’ll reveal the astonishing reason for the first time in my reading Thursday. Some stories should not be lost.