From Publishers Weekly
Using family interviews, photographs and memorabilia, Tanner offers what may well be the most detailed account of the legendary John Henry (Doc) Holliday (1851-1887). Tanner, the great-granddaughter of Doc's first cousin Robert A. Holliday (also DDS), dispels many of the exaggerations and myths surrounding his life. A product of pre-Civil War Southern gentility, Holliday was a well-educated, soft-spoken man who strongly believed in honor and justice. He was born with a cleft palate, which his uncle, a well-regarded physician of the time, surgically corrected. His mother worked diligently with him to overcome the resulting speech defect. Doc graduated from dental school after the Civil War, but soon after learned that he had contracted tuberculosis, presumably from his mother. Doc left for the dry climate of Texas, but despite receiving awards for the quality of his false teeth, his consumptive coughing made it hard to maintain a successful practice. His skill in gambling supplemented his earnings, but it also put him in with a rough crowd. In Fort Griffin, Tex., he took up with Kate Elder (a "soiled dove," as Tanner rather coyly calls her) and the Earps. Between the bullet in 1882 during the shoot-out at the OK Corral and his stints in prison, Doc's health declined. Tanner does bring a lot of detail, which is luckily interesting enough to shine through a merely workmanlike style. While Tanner may bring the insight of a family member, she also brings the diffidence as well, and her portrait doesn't entirely reflect the fluidity of law and lawlessness that characterized her ancestor or the West.
Copyright 1998 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
