I won't be able to attend the Everett Ruess discussion on Sept. 25 in Escalante. I really wanted to enjoy seeing all the "players" involved with the Everett Ruess story. But for this event, I was asked to be a participant and I honestly don't feel comfortable at this point (in my research) in transitioning into this participant-status. I, like dozens of other people who are emerging as stenographers of Ruess, need to remain an observer of the myth-making. Even my Disciples of Everett Ruess Group (with activities limited to Facebook and this blog) was hard for me to launch.
As I continue to watch this story unravel I know that the aspects of the story I have learned about continue to be found in an informational abyss ... and I like it that way. Let all of this other publicity about Everett's discovery continue for a couple of years and then I will be ready to push forward with a published version of what I see happening to the Everett Ruess story. I can’t even get Gibbs Smith to make good on his promises to publish my research. As a result, I am contemplating taking down all the electronic versions of my thesis to avoid future plagiarism. As the list of people saying they are doing projects about Everett grows, I know that it is only a little while until I see my research ripped off. So far, I've only seen my thesis used a couple of times by the media, but those times that it has been used I was never given credit for reporting the information that was used.
That said, I am mostly not attending the ER chautauqua for a long list of additional reasons that I would rather not get into. I will, like most everything else related to ER, wait for the press coverage. Afterall, that has also been my primary interest in Everett Ruess.
