My focus (obsession) continues to be my paternal great-granduncle, author & Sioux Falls, South Dakota dentist—William Otis Lillibridge 1879-1909. His 1905 book, Ben Blair was turned into a silent film in 1916, seven years after his death. His widow, Edith Keller Lillibridge was instrumental in getting the film made by Paramount.
I’ve sort of adopted my Uncle Will as my muse…a fellow creative. Reading his work and researching his life has made him feel quite real to me. I’ve learned a lot about his parents, siblings, the home he grew up in on the border of the Dakota Territory in Akron, Iowa, and his life in Sioux Falls. NOTE: I went to college in Sioux Falls and never knew his dental office was down the block from one of our favorite restaurants, Minerva’s.
“As everywhere upon the prairie, the quiet was almost a thing to feel.” —Ben Blair
We certainly have a shared love of the prairie. Maybe he would approve of me recasting myself in his film just for fun…or possibly find no humor in these images whatsoever. From what I’m learning, he seems like he was a rather serious fellow. However, with no one left one to ask, I’m left with little to base my hunches on.
BEN BLAIR—ACT I
The Sanity of the Wild
Florence touched his arm. “Ben,” she pleaded,
“Ben, forgive me. I’ve hurt you. I can’t say I love you.”
The End
SOURCES: IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0510388/ BEN BLAIR on YouTube: https://youtu.be/NfwmMA3JNBE?feature=shared READ ONLINE: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/17844/pg17844-images.html
