Customer Reviews

Doc Holliday: A Family Portrait

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Several years ago, Karen's mother wrote to me and wondered what to do with all the wonderful Doc Holliday memorabilia she had. In many cases, my radar warns me I am dealing with a faker who is trying to palm themselves off as a family member. Not this time. I promptly wrote back and in a few weeks, Karen Tanner, the author of this book was visiting us with her husband, John, who is a history professor. Her mother was in her terminal illness, but Karen, like her mother and her husband, thought they should do something with the treasure trove of inside family information they possessed. I had hoped that someday the Holliday family would step up and tell their story. This had been partilally done by Doc's relative, Susan McKey Thomas, but it was not as detailed as I had hoped. (A fine book, by the way, highly commendable, and everyone should read it that is interested in Doc.) All that aside, I encouraged Karen to do a book and she started it right where I am sitting on the word processor on which I am writing this. After two years of field work, assisted by her husband, Karen produced the Doc book I had hoped for. It will be the ultimate work, in my opinion. You have to read it to appreciate the riches of photos, family insights, memorabilia, recollections, and rich detail that brings us Doc as he was. I can hardly say more. Read it and judge for yourself. It will be a long while before a book of this unique nature graces the field of Western history. A true treasure. A delight to read. A remarkable comparison of fact vs. the former myths that passed as biographies. Glenn G. Boyer

The first time I watched the movie Tombstone, I was heartbroken that it chose to focus on the Earp family, rather than Doc Holliday who seemed SO much more interesting! After the movie, I realized that I knew very little about this man other than his nickname. I started to search for factual information about "Doc" Holliday, and not much is available.

This is a FANTASTIC book. Forget your romantic notions about the gunslinger, and be prepared to meet the real man who is much more fascinating and WORTHY OF ADMIRATION than you would have believed previously.

The greatest weakness of this book is also it's greatest strength since the book is authored by a Holliday cousin. She has access to a wealth of information and photos that the publisher claims has never been available before its 1999 printing of this book. However, when it comes to certain scandals, you can easily see how she chooses to represent history in a favorable light. Probably best read in conjunction with other first hand but less biased sources.

Definately worth owning. A very easy read. Would make a great gift to interest a teenager in reading or in history.

A true work of any historical person requires a lot of research.Karen Holliday Tanner not only uncovers a lot of research that disproves the "Fairy Tale" of Stuart Lake but uncovers facts unknown till now.Doc was a Southern Gentleman.How a person is raised,their family life,religious beliefs,whether they have a higher education background are factors that shape a man.
Thus it is appropiate this is titled "A Family Portrait".Ms Tanner explains in detail how all these factors and the life he had to live due to TB evolved into the person he had to become----not the life of Dentistry he wanted.Of course Doc was his own worst enemy towards the recovery of his TB.
Anyone who reads this and does not see a throughly researched book (such as reviewer Mr Warren----who must be clueless to excellent writing or beholding to Stuart Lake)has missed out on the closest to the truth as we can get on Doc Holliday.
If reviewers like Mr Warren can do better than a relative of Doc's then write the book and prove it.

THE TOMBSTONE EPITAPH, July 1998 -- Review by C. F. Eckhardt, Book Bag Editor.

From the publication of this book on, any work about or mentioning John Henry Holliday, DDS, which does not list this book as a source must be considered essentially the product of imagination.

Previous serious attempts at biography of Doc Holliday had their good points, but they lacked one thing: No one had any real information on the background of the young Georgia dentist who became Doc Holliday.

The Holliday Family, for over a century, refused to even discuss their notorious relative with anyone outside the family circle. As a result, the background information in those books was based upon rumor, gossip, and a few matters of public record, some of which was relatively accurate but much of which was pure moonshine.

At long last the Holliday's have broken the silence. Tanner writes, "Enough time has past so that there is no one left who feels either shame or guilt over the life ! of John Henry." Therefore, from the Holliday family Bibles, letters, unpublished family manuscripts, genealogical records, and the gathered memories of the family, she has given us the story of a shy, retiring, handicapped child whose life was turned upside down twice -- once by the War Between the States and Reconstruction, and again by the death of his beloved mother and his father's hasty remarriage to a woman only eight years the senior of his son -- who became the legend known across the American West as `Doc Holliday.'

This is the single `must have' book on the subject of Doc Holliday. Any of the other biographies are worth reading, but only if you read them in conjunction with DOC HOLLIDAY, A FAMILY PORTRAIT will you get the full picture of the man who became Doc Holliday.

I was very impressed with Ms. Tanner's work on Doc. Most people
think of Doc as being an assasin but this simply was not the case. Doc obtained his manners in Georgia, as well as his card
playing ability, and unfortunately TB. Doc was a brilliant man
who proved himself in the world of Dentistry. Ms. Tanner uses
a lot of information only she was privy to convey the transition
of this unusual man from being a Georgia Doctor to becoming a
"sporting man." Yes, Doc did kill some people. The times were
much harsher back then. If you gambled, you better have a six
gun on standby and be ready to use it if a crooked player crawfished a bet and tried to throw down on you. In my view,
Ms. Tanner also conveyed one of the most outstanding characteristics about Doc...his loyalty. He proved this time and time again with the Earps. I loved Ms. Tanner's book, and if Doc
were still alive, he would be welcome around my campfire anytime.

Ms. Tanner has done a wonderful job. Her writing style is great, and she brings Doc Holliday to life. She shows the human side too this often misunderstood man who has become more of a myth than a real person. I think this book is a must read for any fan o the old west.

First off I would start by saying I am a Doc Holliday fanatic.
Mrs. Tanner has uncovered legal police, and court documents never seen before to create the truth behind the legend and the man. If you are on the side of the fense that believes Doc Holliday was a cold blooded, savage killer this book in not for you. However, if you are setting out to discover the TRUTH about him, this will be your first and only stop.
In truth, Doc was nothing more than a southern gentleman, who set out on his own, and never first seeked violence. However, if he was backed into a corner, yes, he would shoot first, as would anyone else. I hope more people can read this and dismiss all the fabrication, and fiction produced about this man for the last 120 plus years. May the TRUTH behind the legacy, and the man live forever!!
-Brian

In this book, we see more of the real John Henry "Doc" Holliday. His life included much more than the OK Corral street fight. This book is a required addition to the library of any serious researcher of the life and times of Doc Holliday. If you can only afford to buy one book about Doc Holliday, make it this one.

Even today people want to cling to the notion that J.H. "Doc" Holliday was a famous, notorious gunfighter despite the myths not being proven or sources listed. Although Tanner spends most of her book telling readers the history of the well-to-do Holliday family of Georgia, she pieces together the life of Doc Holliday as best as possible with the documentation available, including presenting new information, if not evidence, of what may have actually taken place (such as the killing of Old Man Clanton and Johnny Ringo).

Back in the 1800s stories were often-times embellished, especially in "the wild west" to placate people or to seek revenge. Additionally, this mis-information spread like wild fire throughout the country (much as it still does today); people love gossip and thrive on rumor (even "Wild Bill" Hickok was not the notorious gunfighter people made him out to be). Virtually every town in the West in the 1800s had at least one newspaper that told of the events occuring on a weekly, if not daily basis. Additionally, even back then, legal documents were filed, such as marriages, property ownership, court procedings, etc., all of which provide and, more importantly, can substantiate claims of events having taken place. Tanner clearly scoured these documents to prove, if not disprove, what Doc did or did not do during his time in the West as his family was left in the dark as to what he was up to, aside from infrequent written correspondence to his cousins.

Unless we can go back in time we never know what REALLY happened, whether it be that Doc killed 15 people before arriving in Tombstone or . After reading the comments of several other reviewers who were disappointed with Tanner's book, they clearly did not read that the title is "...A Family Portrait." Tanner's book is just that: a family portrait of a man who became a western icon and legend; a man who grew up in a southern, aristocratic family that felt shame upon hearing of their beloved John Henry's western exploits (as would have been the case in ANY wealthy family) and thereby never spoke of his name. In that respect, the one disappointment in Tanner's work is the fact that a few famous tales were left out. Shedding light on Doc's true relationship with his cousin Mattie (what made her become a nun?) and those famous last words of his (if Kate was really with Doc when he died, did he really say, "This is funny"? which Kate claims is not what he said).

All in all, a great read for Doc afficionados.

This book is good reading overall. Almost every paragraph is referenced with the source. The book also provides a good background on John Henry Holliday's early years. However, the book, does not go into as much detail about Doctor Hollidays more famous years as I had hoped.