Louis L'amour

Tamarron was located 15 miles North of Hermosa and ¼ mile from Purgatory ski resort.  A few of my friends were going to be working there as maids and housemen.  A houseman is the guy who goes around and stocks the maid’s carts and helps them out with any heavy lifting.

It was during this time that I met another guy named Wade Frarck.  Wade and I became good friends and ended up driving up together to go to work and were put on the same team.  It was good work and it kept us busy.  The resort had normal rooms like any hotel but then it had suites and penthouses also.  Don’t get me wrong here, even the normal rooms were top dollar if you wanted to stay.  At that time, I think the rooms went for $115 a night and the penthouses went for $400 a night.  All the big wigs and movie stars stayed here when they were in town.  The cool thing about working here was when guests would leave; they would always leave things behind.  Not just trash and junk but things like scratched up skis, full bottles of wine, clothes, etc.  We always made good hauls with the penthouses.

I remember one day when Wade and I were over at the condo units cleaning.  The condo units were separate from the main building and were rented for family condos.  Wade and I came to one of the units and knocked like we were supposed to.  You have to knock in case the guest is still there of course.

The guy inside said come in so we did.  Now I don’t know about other people but if I’m in close quarters with another person I don’t know, I try to make a little small talk between us so It’s not so awkward walking around.  Since we were cleaning the guy’s place, doing dishes, making beds and all, I thought I would at least say hi.  Well I did.  The gentleman in the unit was sitting at the dinning table in front of an old typewriter tapping away.  When I said hi, he came back with the same hi and asked how our day was going.  Well one sentence turned into another and soon all three of us were talking away and working.  When Wade and I were done and were leaving to go, I said goodbye.  The guy looks up from the typewriter and asks if we would like to stay for breakfast.

Hey, Wade and I had been working hard and it was break time anyway so what the heck, a free breakfast.  We sat down and the guy goes to work in the kitchen whipping up eggs, bacon, pancakes, etc.  I’m impressed, and talking.  While I’m talking, Wade pulls out a paperback book from his back pocket that he had been reading for weeks...a Louis L'Amour western.

As we are eating, I ask the stupid question...”So are you a writer”?  “Yep” he says.  “So, what kind of things do you write”?  “Lots of things, mostly western novels, books and stuff”.  “I come to Durango cuz I have family here and I get some good ideas from the place and people...got any ideas”?  Do I have any ideas he asks?  “So what are you working on now”? I ask.  “It’s a book called The Iron Marshall,” he says.  Then he introduces himself.  “Hi I’m Louis L’Amour”.  Wade falls over backwards in his chair literally.  OK, I’m feeling stupid...Louis L’Amour! only the most famous western writer of the day and I’m having breakfast with him!.  The book Wade is reading even has a picture of the guy on the back cover and Wade didn’t notice.  Nobody was going to believe this.  Wade of course had to have him sign his book.  I didn’t have anything right off hand so Mr. L’Amour took one of the guest paper pads off the desk and signs it for me.  It had to be the best breakfast I’ve ever had.  I kept that autograph in my wallet so long that the ink started bleeding through.  Now, it’s cool enough to meet one famous person in your life let alone have breakfast with them, but later on in my life, Mr. L’Amour comes back again.

        It was when I was in college at Fort Lewis.  At the time, I was 20 years old.  I was taking a literature class and had gotten to know the girl sitting next to me.  After time, we started going out once in awhile just to mess around, go to movies, etc.

        One night I took her to a restaurant downtown (it was a Mexican food place and I can’t remember the name).  Anyway, when we walked in, the place was obviously packed and there wasn’t any tables left.  As we were leaving, we heard some people shouting to us.  My date turned around and said that she knew the people and that we should go on over and join them...so we did.

        As we came up to the table, there he was Mr. L’Amour.  My date walked over to him and gave him a big hug and said, “Hi Uncle L’Amour, How are you?”  What’s even weirder is the fact that he still remembered me from Tamarron.  He got a big chuckle when I pulled out the autograph from my wallet that I was still carrying around.  Needless to say, dinner was on him.  I don’t even know who all of the other people were but I hate to guess.  How many other famous people were sitting there that I was too stupid to recognize?

Louis L’Amour’s Autograph from 1977