People often ask me how I came up with my story about Mount Rushmore. It started with a funeral. In the early nineties I took a children's writing class from Alexis O'Neill. I needed a project for the class and I didn't have a clue what to write about. The next day I had to attend a funeral service of an elderly neighbor held at Forrest Lawn Memorial in Glendale, a very old cemetery in Los Angeles known for many fabulous pieces of art.
After the
ceremony I walked around the place
and came to the famous "Last Supper" stained glass window in the Court
of Honor. It took up
a whole side of the mausoleum. Among the rich and famous spending
eternity under the window there was the most unusual site. In the
right hand corner a small relief of Mount Rushmore stuck out with the
names of Gutzon and Mary Borglum etched below. It is a huge deal to be buried in the Court of Honor, one has to
go through an election process and a chosen few are
buried under the window. I had no idea who they were. I decided to research the
Borgulms and I found out two things. One, that the goverment wanted to bury
Gutzon on the mountain, but no provision had been made for his wife. Gutzon and Mary were totally devoted soul mates and would have wanted to be together for eternity. So Mary and
the family decided to find a place for the both of them and that was Forrest Lawn. The second was that he had a son
who had worked with him on the mountain. It was fascinating that this 12 year old kid was with Gutzon when he got the job to carve a mountain, was with him when Gutzon went back to find the mountain to carve and eventually gave up college and stayed on the mountain to work for free. In the end Lincoln ran all construction on the mountain and finished the job when Gutzon passed away. Lincoln Borglum was only 29 years old when it was completed. It was a remarkable American story. When I brought the idea to
class the next week it was agreed that I should tell the story of the
son, Lincoln Borglum. That began my 12 year journey to write the story of a boy, a father and a mountain. Of course at the time I thought I could write it in 2 days!
Tina - For all the years I've known you, this is the first time I heard "the rest fo the story" about your inspiration for the Rushmore book. Very cool! I love how curiosity is the driving force behind all stories, don't you?
Posted by: Alexis | May 08, 2007 at 08:49 AM