The Sharpshooter and the Showman
May Lillie, Pawnee Bill, and their Wild West Show
by Chris Enss
published by Farcountry Press
- The era of Wild West Shows revealed America at its most enterprising. Join Pawnee Bill and May Manning Lillie as they embark on a wild, sometimes tragic, but often joyful ride together. Theirs was a love story that rose to every challenge and seized every opportunity that came their way. They made headlines in newspapers, won fans among European royalty, and captured the heart of Americans from New England to California. This is their remarkable—and true—story.
200 pages, 6 x 9 inches, 30 b/w photos, 4 illustrations
softcover
ISBN 10: 1-56037-888-3
ISBN 13: 9781560378884
$18.95
RELEASE DATE
Coming Soon!
| The Sharpshooter and the Showman
May Lillie, Pawnee Bill, and their Wild West Show |
| "Without a shade of exaggeration, this Wild West ride of Pawnee Bill and May Lillie gave me goosebumps! I was hooked just reading the introduction." - Lynn Eldridge, award-winning romance author of Hearts and Mountains |
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| Chris Enss is a New York Times best-selling author who has been writing about women of the Old West for more than thirty years. She has penned more than fifty published books on the subject. Her work has been honored with nine Will Rogers Medallion Awards, two Elmer Kelton Book Awards, an Oklahoma Center for the Book Award, three Foreword Review Magazine Book Awards, the Laura Downing Journalism Award, three Western Writers of America Spur Finalist Awards, and a WILLA Award from Women Writing the West for Best Scholarly Nonfiction Book. Enss's most recent works are The Widowed Ones: Beyond the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Along Came a Cowgirl: Daring and Iconic Cowgirls of Rodeos and Wild West Shows, Straight Lady: The Life and Times of Margaret Dumont "The Fifth Marx Brother" and The Doctor Was a Woman: The First Female Physicians on the Frontier. | |
Praise for The Sharpshooter and the Showman: May Lillie, Pawnee Bill, and their Wild West Show
"After reading The Sharpshooter and the Showman: May Lillie, Pawnee Bill, and their Wild West Show, I regret not being able to see Pawnee Bill and May Lillie leading the Wild West Show into the arena. What a great book! I was captivated by the Lillies' story, a true partnership in every sense of the word."
- Michael D. Williams, director of the Oklahoma Territorial Museum and Carnegie Library
"Pawnee Bill and his sharpshooting wife, May Lillie, brought the wonder of different cultures, including the Wild West, to the USA and Europe. Their long marriage was a miracle of understanding, deep love, and support that allowed them to reach their dreams and keep creating new ones. Go on the adventure with them as they overcome tragedy, and build extraordinary bonds, from their ranch in Oklahoma to European royalty. Enjoy this fun and inspired read!"
- Meredith Blevins, eight-time Magellan gold, award-winning travel writer, award-winning author of The Hummingbird Wizard
"In The Sharpshooter and the Showman, author Chris Enss shows how May Lillie and Pawnee Bill not only recreated the Wild West but also lived it to the fullest. A powerful and enthralling dual biography written by a masterful historian and writer."
- Preston Lewis and Harriet Kocher Lewis, award-winning authors of Pintsized Pioneers: Taming the Frontier, One Chore at a Time
"After reading The Sharpshooter and the Showman: May Lillie, Pawnee Bill, and their Wild West Show, I regret not being able to see Pawnee Bill and May Lillie leading the Wild West Show into the arena. What a great book! I was captivated by the Lillies' story, a true partnership in every sense of the word."
- Michael D. Williams, director of the Oklahoma Territorial Museum and Carnegie Library
"Pawnee Bill and his sharpshooting wife, May Lillie, brought the wonder of different cultures, including the Wild West, to the USA and Europe. Their long marriage was a miracle of understanding, deep love, and support that allowed them to reach their dreams and keep creating new ones. Go on the adventure with them as they overcome tragedy, and build extraordinary bonds, from their ranch in Oklahoma to European royalty. Enjoy this fun and inspired read!"
- Meredith Blevins, eight-time Magellan gold, award-winning travel writer, award-winning author of The Hummingbird Wizard
"In The Sharpshooter and the Showman, author Chris Enss shows how May Lillie and Pawnee Bill not only recreated the Wild West but also lived it to the fullest. A powerful and enthralling dual biography written by a masterful historian and writer."
- Preston Lewis and Harriet Kocher Lewis, award-winning authors of Pintsized Pioneers: Taming the Frontier, One Chore at a Time