Street roots., January 15, 2016, Page 12, Image 12

S tre e t R o o ts • Jan. 15-21, 2016
IRON RIDERS, from page 12
the late l800s.~How do you think the Bicycle
Corps was able to even exist?
P.D.: Well, tow ards th e e n d of th e 1800s,
Asiatic as w ell as E u ro p ea n c o u n trie s w ere
begin n in g to u s e th e bicycle in th e m ilitary.
W e caught o n to th a t and w a n ted to te s t th e
bicycle fo r m ilitary p u rp o se s, to s e e how a
solid er could g et from p o in t A to p o in t B,
b e ca u se h o rs e s and calvary w e re beginning
to g e t p u sh e d out. T h e y trie d sho o tin g guns
from a bicycle an d it didn’t w ork, an d so it
d ied away. I t w as a n e x p e rim e n t an d th e
c o u n try n e v e r really u s e d th e bicycle for
com bat d u ties.
A.W.: Whaf twadeyow reewacf the bicycle
trip in 1974?
P.D.: I w a s going to do it alo n e in 1973
and I w as o utvoted. W h at b e tte r w ay to -
re e n a c t t h e 1897 trip th a n o n th e v e ry
sam e day th e y left, an d go acro ss th e
c o u n try to th e ra tio n s tatio n s th a t a re now
cities o r tow ns on th e sam e day th a t th e y
did. We gave little le c tu re s a n d ta lk ed to
peo p le. T h e v alue o f th e trip w as twofold: I t
w as in th e ir h o n o r an d to sh o w th a t th e
black s tu d e n ts a t th e U n iv ersity o f M o n tan a
could re e n a c t h isto ry an d p u t o u r
d e p a rtm e n t o n th e m ap. P eo p le still talk
a b o u t i t to th is day.
A.W.: Why did you choose to write “Ole
Freedom ” as a historical novel? Why not ju st '
research a non-fiction book?
P.D.: I th o u g h t th a t a fictional a cc o u n t of
w h a t h a p p e n e d w ith h is to ry w as a b e tte r
w ay to. te ll th e story. P eo p le can re la te to
sto rie s b e tte r th a n th e y can a h isto ry book.
I w a n ted to c re a te c h a ra c te rs a n d th e
en v iro n m e n t t h a t fam ilies an d individuals
w ould enjoy an d also to show th a t th e re w as
real co m p assio n and h a tre d in society
Page 13
News
during th a t tim e. T h e b e tte r w ay to show it
is to show th e w ays th a t pe o p le h a d to
c o n fro n t th e ir ow n individual pre ju d ic e s and
to su cc e ed th ro u g h th a t.
A.W.: 77zere is owe poinZ z'w the book where
a white officer refers to an African American
as “son, ’’ not “boy” and it is not meant
derogatively, b ut affectionately. Then you write
“Time stood still.”
P.D.: In t h e h isto rical c o n te x t of ra c e
re latio n s, so m etim es th e do m in a n t society
w ill have a relatio n sh ip th a t g o e s beyond
c o lo r an d ra c e. In th e building of th o s e
re latio n sh ip s, so m etim es a p e rso n will slip
into a d ifferen t fo rm of hu m an ity w h e re
th e y a c c e p t th e p e rs o n as a p e rs o n in ste ad
of accep tin g th e m as a color o r a race.
W hen th o s e p h ra s e s are u sed , it illu stra te s
th a t th e p e rs o n h as achieved a p e rso n al
b eh av io r t h a t e x ceed s o r ex te n d s beyond
w h a t so ciety h a s given. I did th a t a couple
tim e s ju s t to sh o w t h a t th e re is com passion
an d th a t th e relatio n sh ip s d uring th a t
p e rio d of tim e w e re n ’t all negative,
A.W.: From listening to you speak, Ole f / ,
Freedom is the culmination o f your thoughts
and opinions o f how you would like society to.
be and how. different racial groups and
ethnicities ought to co-exist. You think that
relationships and empathy are key.
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N IC K Y U S A
«■»«• M t n o i SMW » ——
o th e r p e rso n . In society, w e do have th a t.
T h a t’s w h a t h a p p en s w hen you h a v e .
relatio n sh ip s an d you can b re a k dow n and
p e e l back th e onio n layers. You grow. T h a t
is w h a t I w as w an ting to do w ith “O le j
»
Laurelhurst M arket
-LMJ
In
F ree d o m .” I w a n t a r e a d e r to grow.
•
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