I can barely stand the wait! Last Saturday while I was set up at a genealogical/historical book fair over in Greensburg KY, I was talking to a gal named Colleen Olsen who was also a distributor there. We have met before and hit it off; she is an archaeological cave specialist, a tour guide at Mammoth Cave and an author - I have her two books. She told me that there is a new book coming out, yet unnamed, done by a world famous author, Roger Brucker. You might not have heard of him unless you're interested in caving, but my girls and I met him in 1991 at the 50th Anniversary of Mammoth Cave becoming a national park. We were listening to the retired tour guides telling tales of interesting (and spooky) things that have occurred at the cave, and we were entralled - Franklin Gorin owned the cave of course for a period of time. After the presentation, the cave historian, Bob Ward, wanted to introduce us to an author who was there, Roger Brucker. He immediately recognized the last name and asked about the girl's cousin "Tank" who owns Cumberland Caverns in McMinnville TN. And then he and Bob arranged for us to go deep into the cave on a private tour to see Gorin's Dome. Anyway, Roger has authored several books on caves, 3 of which I have, "The Longest Cave" (Mammoth), and "Trapped", the story of Floyd Collins who was trapped and died in Sand Cave in the 1920's nearby, and one more whose title I've forgotten about when they connected Sand Cave and Mammoth Cave. Collen said that 4 of the people at the cave have previewed the book and that it deeply involves our Gorin family! It was written when Franklin, then Dr John Croghan (Bro-in-law of George Rogers Clark and Gorin kin). I went on the internet and did a search for Roger and bingo, had his email address. I was sure he didn't remember me, but would remember Tank so I took a chance and wrote him, never expecting a reply. Within 15 minutes, he replied and we shared quite a few emails that night. The result? He had one more person he wanted to have preview the book and yes! I'm it! This is a novel, his first novel, based on real people and real events spun into a story. The story is seen through the eyes of a little slave girl named Charlotte who was quite real. She worked for Dr. Croghan and lived at Locust Grove (George Rogers Clark family home). She was sent by Dr Croghan (pronounced crone) to Bells' Tavern in Park City KY. Franklin Gorin's sister, married to Robert Slaughter Bell, was there; Robert being the son of the world-famous inn owner, William Bell. Supposedly (truth or fiction I don't know), she was being harrassed there and asked Franklin for help. He bought her and moved her to the cave and there she met Stephen Bishop. Stephen, if you don't know, is still considered the most famous and daring of the cave developers in the world. He was a mulatto, bought by Franklin from a Bishop family here in Glasgow. Franklin educated him; Stephen spoke several languages, had an extremely analytical mind and was the favorite of all the tourists. Copies of his original maps are still available; he found Gorin's Dome, the Bottomless Pit, the blind cat fish and his name and Charlotte's (whom he married) are smoked into many of the cave walls. Stephen also went by Stephen Gorin too. When Franklin sold the cave, despite Stephen's love for the Gorin family, he chose to stay with Dr. Croghan who was building a tb hospital inside the entrance to the cave, so he could continued his explorations. The hospital was a disaster and the remains still are in the cave. Stephen supposedly was saving to buy his freedom to Liberia (Franklin had offered him his freedom but he chose to work it out). He died several years later, a very young man and eventually Charlotte remarried to another one of the slave guides there. I'm hoping that Roger was kind to the Gorin family ... not too many skeletons! I told him I'd have to ask him if this was truth or embellishment on any events I didn't know about! It will be about 18 months before the book comes out but hopefully I'll get to read it sooner then! Roger said that I'd recognize most if not all of the names in the book from this area; many family members are mentioned I think. This one will be #1 on my want list! Sandi