Annette Gray

My father, a quiet, unassuming man, was a great mentor. He taught me to believe in myself. Under his guidance, I became a writer with hundreds of articles and short stories published in the USA and Canada. I also have eight books to my credit: Butterflies In The Dark, Mountains and Moonbeams, Twisted Heart; Twin Hearts; Rearview Mirror; Journey of the Heart—a true story; Westport's Tarnished Star-in defense of Johnny Behan; and Keep The Peace At All Cost, the diary of a first WWI machine gunner.

Although my books have been received well, Journey of the Heart-a true story has been my best seller. It won a Santa Fe Trail National Award in 2005 and in May, 2023, I was given an honorary life-time membership to the Westport Historical Society (Kansas City, Missouri) for writing Journey of the Heart and Westport's Tarnished Star.

When I set out to write Westport's Tarnished Star, my aim was to write the truth about Johnny Behan. His reputation had been badly tarnished, so I fully expected to write about an evil sheriff. To my surprise, the more I dug through archival material, the more amazed I was to find Mr. Behan was a humble, good-hearted sheriff who diligently followed orders to the letter of the law, and in a most compassionate and understanding way. Of course, my findings fly in the face of Stewart Lake's 1930 fictional story of Wyatt Erp, and for some readers who have done little or no research, presenting a different (and more correct) view of Johnny Behan is unfathomable. One way to recognise a true Behan researcher is to listen to the way he or she pronounces Behan's surname. The name is not pronounced as Bay-hen or Be-an as is commonly thought. It is correctly pronounced as BEN. Ask his relatives in Kansas City, many of whom use the name Behan (pronounced Ben) as their given names.

I truly hope you enjoy my writing and have many restful hours of reading.