Joan Jacobson He started his professional career at a small Minnesota newspaper, but eventually moved into advertising, public relations, freelancing, and later writing outlines and motions for law firms. From there, she turned to fiction and non-fiction books. Jacobson is a member of the Denver Women’s Press Club, History He Colorado, Colorado Her Authors League.
SunLit: Please tell us the backstory of this book. What inspired you to write it? Where did the story/theme come from?
Joan Jacobson: The idea to time travel through influential Colorados from the past to the present fell from the sky while hiking in Red Rocks Park. I was thinking: How would the park’s original developer, John Brisbane Walker, experience a concert today, how would he react?
I was familiar with Walker and his plans for Red Rocks from my time editing the Jefferson County Historical Society newsletter. He was a really funny guy and a big thinker. He went from a mercenary to a Cosmopolitan editor to a real estate developer. He owns an alfalfa farm and now has a Berkeley neighborhood.
He then built the Riverside Amusement Park on roughly the same site where Elitch is today. He sought to build the Summer White House for the President of the United States, the cornerstone of which is Mount His Falcon Park’s Castle Trail destination. Not everything he did went well.But what will happen to this distinguished gentleman from his twenties?th What if he stumbles upon a deafening rock concert and stumbles upon people in blue jeans pouring beer?
From what I knew of him, he was an open-minded person. After a bit of shock, I thought he might actually get a kick out of it. He wanted the amphitheater to be the most popular music venue in the world.
But why stop Walker? I also wondered: What does Chipeta think of the Sky Ute Casino?Will pioneer recreational skier Karl Hauersen be surprised by today’s ski resorts? Will Bernie Ford approve of our politics? How will Dr. Florence Sabin judge our response to COVID-19? Will Adolph Coors drink mango beer?
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I set out to identify and profile 14 or so influential Coloradans. They didn’t have to be famous, but they had to leave a legacy. For example, John Denver left music behind and moved towards renewable energy. For Dr. Stanley Bieber, it’s a world where transgender people can accept themselves for who they are. and so on.
And I had to come up with a mechanism for them to travel from that era to the present day. The geode was his one of brown rocks that broke to reveal crystals inside, which seemed to work well as a kind of Colorado-style magic lantern. Rubbing the geode creates a vision of the future. This is Phantasmagoria. And then the Genie appears and transports them to our time.
SunLit: Put this excerpt in context. How does it fit into the entire book? why did you choose it?
Jacobson: Most Colorado history books, at least those in stores, are obsessed with miners and madams. We wanted to showcase our diversity. As well as racial diversity, I wanted the book to start with a Hispano pioneer and an Ute leader.
There is a politician named Golda Meir. Restaurateur Bernie Ford. Musician John Denver. Medical researcher, Dr. Florence Sabin. and so on. And, of course, there have always been diverse sexual identities here, too.
One of my favorite chapters might be the story of Ola Chatfield and Clara Dietrich, women who eloped from Aspen in 1889 to marry each other. But almost 100 years later, her Clela Rolex of Boulder became the first clerk in the United States to issue same-sex marriage licenses.
But I think my favorite story is that of Wade Blank, the charismatic hippie preacher who led a group of 19 disabled heroes. In 1978, the so-called 19 gang abandoned their wheelchairs and he closed Colfax and Broadway for 24 hours to protest discrimination. It’s a great chapter in Colorado’s history and makes that American history, because it led directly to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
SunLit: Tell us about the making of this book. What influences and experiences influenced the project before you actually started writing?
Jacobson: I love history tours, European cathedral tours, and US Victorian mansion tours. In fact, Evergreen’s High One was a volunteer tutor at Homestead for several years. I am always amazed when people say history is boring.
I am fascinated by it! But one day I realized that my brain was “filling in the blanks” while reading. The truth is, most history is just a recitation of facts. Without a great imagination and an innate ability to relate past events to the present world, they are boring. I draw inspiration from Sarah Vowell, who is a huge fan of history books. Still, plain vanilla is the norm for history.
I recently spoke with a publisher who was interested in my forthcoming book, Prudery, Polygamy, and Politics, but she ultimately declined, saying it was “racy.” I mean, really? Lacey is good. People love to be racy!
SunLit: Did the story take any unexpected turns when you started writing it? If so, how do you handle stories that seem to have their own ideas?
Jacobson: I really, really, really wanted to profile Emily Griffith. Her School of Opportunities was and is a tremendous asset and source of inspiration. She was an advocate for immigrants, and immigrants still need advocates.
“Colorado Phantasmagoria”
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Emily was murdered. This was a tragic end for a woman of great achievement. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get my imagination to work on her story. Very disappointed.
On the other hand, I really, really, really did No I want to create a profile for Adolph Coors. What an idiot he was. But the image of him dumping 560 barrels of beer into Clear Creek on the eve of Prohibition was too compelling to ignore—a story not told on his tour of Golden Beer.
SunLit: What were the biggest challenges or surprises you faced in completing this book?
Jacobson: When the COVID quarantine was imposed in 2020, I was over 90% complete in my on-site, in-person surveys, but there were some places I wanted to revisit in person for the travel guide section. A trip to Aspen is one of them. one of them.
At first, I thought I would wait until the lockdown was lifted, but after months with no end in sight, I had no choice but to rely on my memory. Plus the internet, of course. I ended up taking a trip to Aspen and nothing I saw or learned changed me.
Still, I wish I had completed my research 100% before publication.
SunLit: Did the book raise questions or provoke strong opinions among readers? How did you deal with them?
Jacobson: My favorite comment came from a reader who said, “I didn’t know the history of Colorado was the history of the world.” That’s true! I recently visited Finland and I believe the curbs have been cut and wheelchair ramps have been installed. The accessibility movement started here at the corner of Broadway and Colfax in Colorado when Wade Blank and the Gang of 19 closed the intersection for his 24 hours.
Then there’s Golda Meir. When she was Prime Minister of Israel in the 1970s, she made a huge impact on world history. Although she only lived in Colorado for a few years, she always said that it was here that she got her political awakening.
As for the strong negative reaction, I’m surprised to hear so little. I really expected people to criticize the book for being too “awake” or whatever.
SunLit: Tell us about your writing process: where and how do you write?
Jacobson: I try to avoid any “process” advice. Should I get up before lunch every day and he should be the writer who hammers out 2,000 words, or the one who goes to the vendor and suffers from one sentence for a week?So confusing!
I’m at a point in my career and life where I’m just doing what I have to do. For my first book, a literary novel called Little Secrets, I actually wrote in a real office environment. Desk and chair with ergonomic keyboard. Very professional. And I was making it all up!
For Colorado Phantasmagoria, I sat in my recliner with my computer on my lap and my notebook on the tray. Some days I write thousands of words. On other days I bake bread.
When I can’t write or I don’t know the best way to say something, I go hiking. The hike was so helpful that I almost added a note of thanks to “Colorado Phantasmagorias” Jefferson County for his open space. Ultimately, we decided it was getting too cheesy, but we appreciate every hike he trails.
SunLit: What exactly is Phantasmagoria?
Jacobson: It’s an old term for hallucinations. It was also the name of an eerie light and shadow show that was popular in the 1800s, a kind of magic lantern, or an early movie.
Readers have commented that the term phantasmagorious is unusual, but the Denver Post describes the new Meow Wolf convergence station as phantasmagorical, and that’s exactly what it is.
In my book, the characters see visions of the future, which I believe to be hallucinations or phantasmagoria, where genies appear and time travel to the present, where they experience their legacy.
SunLit: Why did you include the travel guide part?
Jacobson: We want readers and their families to get out of their homes and experience how the past has shaped the present. That’s it.
One of the reasons people think history is boring is because they think it’s over. In fact, the past lives side by side with the present. Fun to see, walk and eat.
SunLit: Tell us about your next project.
Jacobson: Here’s the beginning of “Prudderly, Polygamy, and Politics: The Very Strange World of Dr. Mattie Hughes Cannon.”
The first female senator elected in the United States was Martha Hughes Cannon.
1896.
in Utah.
she was a doctor
and polygamous wives.
4th out of 6.
Her opponent was . . wait for it. . .
her husband.
She defeated him by 4,000 votes.
From its opening pages, it places Dr. Mattie’s life in the context of Victorian America, which is far sexier and progressive than we’re led to believe. There were religious sex communes across the country. . There were more female doctors in the United States in the 1890s than at any time until the 1970s.
At the time, Utah was a leader in women’s rights. Politicians, as rowdy and scandal-plagued as they were then, paid a heavy price. I mean, it wasn’t that big of a price to pay. My take on Victorian social history and Dr. Cannon’s story is all true, but I salt it with a lot of snark. Genie doesn’t appear in Geode or Time Travel, but it’s a fun read.
