Remembering Mark Dworkin
It feels odd to me to think of Mark Dworkin in the past tense. I first met Mark in 2006. He along with Gary Roberts, came to visit me at my home, and viewed my collection, which at the time was partly on display at my residence. I gave Mark and Roberts laser copy enlargements of some original Fly photos of Tombstone from my collection, and I still recall Mark’s very excited email when he received them, as he and Roberts had both asked me to ship them their residences back home so they wouldn’t be damaged. I noted Mark’s boyish enthusiasm, and he visited me two more times, once with his wife Harriet.
While working for Wild West Magazine, it was my pleasure to hire Mark for his first feature with that publication, and after I had left Wild West Mark received an award for a latter Wild West feature, as he progressed on his work groundbreaking work on Walter Noble Burns. I still consider his hiring as one those that I still take pride in to this day.
In 2012 I heard from Mark at the time of the publication of my first book, focused on Charleston. Mark was kind to write me and review the book without even being asked. He was jubilant in his enthusiasm, an enthusiasm that was typical of him. He asked if I would take him on a hike to Charleston and Millville in the winter of 2012/2013, which I gladly agreed to do.
At this time Mark also told me how excited he was to have purchased a winter home in Tucson Arizona. But tragedy later struck when this home was the target of arson, and soon I heard from Mark that he was not feeling well. It was a shock to learn that his declining health had led to his death…I thought for sure that he’d recover somehow.
Mark was unique in a field known in many circles by some who specialize in confrontation, and slander. Mark specialized in his well-known academic approach to the Earp and Tombstone story, and brought refreshing skills to this endeavor, and he steered clear and rose above such hateful antics, much to his credit during his lifetime, and now his legacy.
When I think of Mark I can still recall the thrill he got holding original artifacts from my collection in his hand, and how he once told my daughter who was very small at the time how much such antiques mattered to him. I’m sorry that Mark is gone, and the next time I visit the ruins at Charleston, it will be in his memory. – John Rose
It feels odd to me to think of Mark Dworkin in the past tense. I first met Mark in 2006. He along with Gary Roberts, came to visit me at my home, and viewed my collection, which at the time was partly on display at my residence. I gave Mark and Roberts laser copy enlargements of some original Fly photos of Tombstone from my collection, and I still recall Mark’s very excited email when he received them, as he and Roberts had both asked me to ship them their residences back home so they wouldn’t be damaged. I noted Mark’s boyish enthusiasm, and he visited me two more times, once with his wife Harriet.
While working for Wild West Magazine, it was my pleasure to hire Mark for his first feature with that publication, and after I had left Wild West Mark received an award for a latter Wild West feature, as he progressed on his work groundbreaking work on Walter Noble Burns. I still consider his hiring as one those that I still take pride in to this day.
In 2012 I heard from Mark at the time of the publication of my first book, focused on Charleston. Mark was kind to write me and review the book without even being asked. He was jubilant in his enthusiasm, an enthusiasm that was typical of him. He asked if I would take him on a hike to Charleston and Millville in the winter of 2012/2013, which I gladly agreed to do.
At this time Mark also told me how excited he was to have purchased a winter home in Tucson Arizona. But tragedy later struck when this home was the target of arson, and soon I heard from Mark that he was not feeling well. It was a shock to learn that his declining health had led to his death…I thought for sure that he’d recover somehow.
Mark was unique in a field known in many circles by some who specialize in confrontation, and slander. Mark specialized in his well-known academic approach to the Earp and Tombstone story, and brought refreshing skills to this endeavor, and he steered clear and rose above such hateful antics, much to his credit during his lifetime, and now his legacy.
When I think of Mark I can still recall the thrill he got holding original artifacts from my collection in his hand, and how he once told my daughter who was very small at the time how much such antiques mattered to him. I’m sorry that Mark is gone, and the next time I visit the ruins at Charleston, it will be in his memory. – John Rose