Pardon me if I brag a bit

 

Owen Wister Award for Lifetime Achievement
Western Writers of America

I’ll just put this right out there: there is now a Wikipedia page about me and my career as a writer. Makes me feel like one of the grown-ups!

I’ve used Wikipedia a lot, never scorned it was much as some academics do, recognized it for what it is: a good way to begin research on a project and get an overview. What it is not is a reliable source to quote in a scholarly paper or book. But then again, it’s a great marketing tool.

For years I wondered how you got to the point that Wikipedia decided you deserve a page. Along the way I discovered that’s not how it works. Someone submits a page for you, following Wikipedia’s guidelines. They frown on a subject submitting a page or editing their own page. So here’s what happened.

Facebook from time-to-time posts memories from several years ago—if you follow, FB you know this. Recently they posted a memory about a 2016 trip to Lubbock where I was inducted into the Western Writers of America Hall of Fame. I’m not very good at blowing my own horn—in fact, I’m shy about it—but I decided to share this memory. It’s been a while since I’ve been really active in the western writing community, so a whole new crop of writers has come along to whom I’m unknown, even though I am publishing new books and older titles are being reprinted.. And then there’s the mystery community, where I am definitely on one of the lower rungs of success. It would be nice to let them know of the credibility I have in the western writing world. My motives weren’t exactly pure, but I shared it.

A friend I haven’t seen in thirty years or more contacted me. Suzi Swaim babysat my children when she was in high school, so it was a shock to have her tell me she’s nearing retirement age. No!  She’s still in high school, even though she has a grown son. We have stayed in contact through Facebook, and Suzi said she thought I should have a Wikipedia page and she would do it for me. I was delighted and grateful to say the least and got to work gathering information for her, using friends’ pages as models. And before I knew it, the page was up. Son-in-law Brandon, a software engineer, did some final tweaking like adding dates and the picture he took.

So far, I’ve gotten a good reaction, and I admit it is satisfying to see what I’ve done all these years collected in one place. I’ve never been a good record keeper, so this forced me to organize.

What’s my favorite of my books? Probably the one that diverges from my usual areas—The Gilded Cage, set in Chicago in the latter half of the nineteenth century. And the accomplishment I’m most proud of? Probably the Owen Wister Lifetime Achievement Award from Western Writers of America. It came with a marvelous statue of a buffalo.

It’s been a great ride, and it’s not over yet. I’ve got irons in the fire, ideas in my mind. Meanwhile, here’s a link to the page: Judy Alter - Wikipedia