Horace Annesley Vachell Archives

Horace Annesley Vachell

“San Lorenzo” and the Real San Lorenzo

April 5, 2019 By Lars Peterson in Story Notes and News Tags: California, Horace Annesley Vachell, settings

Thursday’s Storyweek story — Old Man Bobo’s Mandy — written by Englishman Horace Annesley Vachell, sent us scurrying down an internet rabbit hole after an idyll. Where in California, exactly, did Vachell find the inspiration for the fictional town of “San Lorenzo,” the setting for his collection of stories Bunch Grass: A Chronicle of Life on a Cattle Ranch? Vachell’s Wikipedia entry shed little light on the writer’s life on the land, noting only that Vachell “went to California where he became partner in a land company and married Lydie Phillips, his partner’s daughter. His wife died in 1895 after [Read More]

Old Man Bobo’s Mandy

April 4, 2019 By Horace Annesley Vachell in Old Stories Tags: California, marriage, love, Horace Annesley Vachell

Old man Bobo was the sole survivor of a once famous trio. Two out of the three, Doc Dickson and Pap Spooner, had passed to the shades, and the legend ran that when their disembodied spirits reached the banks of Styx, the ruling passion of their lives asserted itself for the last time. They demurred loudly, impatiently, at the exorbitant fee, ten cents, demanded by Charon. “We weigh light,” said Pap Spooner, “awful light! Call it, mister, fifteen cents for the two!” “Ten cents apiece,” replied the ferryman, “or three for a quarter.” Thereupon the worthy couple seated themselves in [Read More]