Remembering a local author, Bill Mann
By Stevie St. John / City Editor
Desert Dispatch [Barstow, CA]
BARSTOW — Harvey House overflowed at noon on Saturday as family, friends and community members gathered to remember prominent local author Bill Mann, who died from acute leukemia in August.
Among the speakers was Mann’s younger brother Dennis, who read a letter to Mann’s widow, Dottie, from her nephew Larry Mann.
“The journey is at least as important as the destination,” he read.
And the way those remembering told it, Mann loved a journey, particularly the parts that involved getting to know others and telling a good story.
Mann always had a new story, his brother said, “and they were great.”
From 1988 until Mann launched his writing career in the 1990s, he and Gene Stoops led field trips to introduce people to some of the desert’s secrets such as mines and ghost towns. Mann previously led the trips but had stopped for while after his wife was hurt in a wreck that left her a wheelchair-user.
“He never met a stranger,” said Stoops, who credits Mann with getting him to be more open by encouraging him to tell stories around the campfire.
The pair led nine trips each year with one excursion per month starting in October. Stoops continued leading the trips until last year.
“We just really had a ball doing those trips over the years,” he said at the reception at Idle Spurs after the memorial service.
And over the years, Mann collected stories. Finally someone suggested they be written down, and Mann went on to pen several books.
Still, the prominent citizen was remembered not as much for his books as for himself. People described him as a joker, a devoted grandfather, someone who raised children teachers raved about and a man who told great tales.
BOOKS BY BILL MANN
• “BILL MANN’S GUIDE TO BIG BEAR AND ITS HIDDEN TREASURES”
• “BILL MANN’S GUIDE TO THE BEAUTIFUL AND HISTORIC LUCERNE VALLEY AND VICINITY”
• “BILL MANN’S GUIDE TO THE REMOTE AND MYSTERIOUS SALINE VALLEY”
• “BILL MANN’S GUIDE TO THE CALICOS: GHOST MINING CAMPS AND SCENIC AREAS”
• “BILL MANN’S GUIDE TO 50 INTERESTING AND MYSTERIOUS SITES IN THE MOJAVE”
• “BILL MANN’S GUIDE TO 50 INTERESTING AND MYSTERIOUS SITES IN THE MOJAVE, VOLUME 2”
Desert Dispatch [Barstow, CA]
BARSTOW — Harvey House overflowed at noon on Saturday as family, friends and community members gathered to remember prominent local author Bill Mann, who died from acute leukemia in August.
Among the speakers was Mann’s younger brother Dennis, who read a letter to Mann’s widow, Dottie, from her nephew Larry Mann.
“The journey is at least as important as the destination,” he read.
And the way those remembering told it, Mann loved a journey, particularly the parts that involved getting to know others and telling a good story.
Mann always had a new story, his brother said, “and they were great.”
From 1988 until Mann launched his writing career in the 1990s, he and Gene Stoops led field trips to introduce people to some of the desert’s secrets such as mines and ghost towns. Mann previously led the trips but had stopped for while after his wife was hurt in a wreck that left her a wheelchair-user.
“He never met a stranger,” said Stoops, who credits Mann with getting him to be more open by encouraging him to tell stories around the campfire.
The pair led nine trips each year with one excursion per month starting in October. Stoops continued leading the trips until last year.
“We just really had a ball doing those trips over the years,” he said at the reception at Idle Spurs after the memorial service.
And over the years, Mann collected stories. Finally someone suggested they be written down, and Mann went on to pen several books.
Still, the prominent citizen was remembered not as much for his books as for himself. People described him as a joker, a devoted grandfather, someone who raised children teachers raved about and a man who told great tales.
BOOKS BY BILL MANN
• “BILL MANN’S GUIDE TO BIG BEAR AND ITS HIDDEN TREASURES”
• “BILL MANN’S GUIDE TO THE BEAUTIFUL AND HISTORIC LUCERNE VALLEY AND VICINITY”
• “BILL MANN’S GUIDE TO THE REMOTE AND MYSTERIOUS SALINE VALLEY”
• “BILL MANN’S GUIDE TO THE CALICOS: GHOST MINING CAMPS AND SCENIC AREAS”
• “BILL MANN’S GUIDE TO 50 INTERESTING AND MYSTERIOUS SITES IN THE MOJAVE”
• “BILL MANN’S GUIDE TO 50 INTERESTING AND MYSTERIOUS SITES IN THE MOJAVE, VOLUME 2”
