Terror at the Fair

Acknowledgements

As with my four previous Snap Malek novels, I relied heavily on the microfilm files of the daily newspapers, particularly the Chicago Tribune, for information on news, sports, politics, personalities, and major events of the era, including of course the Chicago Railroad Fair. As a longtime journalist, I confess to an inbred bias toward newspapers, a medium that continues to struggle. But to me it remains the best prism through which to view contemporary society and its vagaries.

Also of great help in jogging the memory of one who attended the fair several times as a ten- and eleven-year-old from the Chicago suburbs were two collectors’ items: the slick 1948 and 1949 fair programs (cost: 35 cents), both of which provided valuable details on the displays, exhibits, and geography of the fair, as well as illustrations and other information on specific railroads represented.

Another helpful source of information was Neal Gabler’s 2006 biography, Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006). This volume was particularly valuable in its descriptions of the trip Disney and Ward Kimball took to the Chicago Railroad Fair in 1948. Also, as mentioned above, Gabler stressed the fair’s importance in helping to form the moviemaker’s vision of Disneyland and of the company’s subsequent theme parks.

In addition, a tip of the hat to longtime friend, poker-playing colleague, and ace competitive marksman Ray Rausch, who was helpful with details relating to the vintage firearms that played a role in the narrative.