While it once sported a vibrant general store, busy schoolhouse, and other signs of a thriving community, the southeast Texas County town of Tyrone now exists more in the memory of people who lived there decades ago than in the physical realm.
One of those people is Hubert Ray Sigler, who was born and raised in Tyrone in the 1930s. Sigler, now 76, has put some of his memories into writing, and the result is the fictional story “Tyrone Dust – A Saga of the West Plains to Rolla Road.”
Going by the name H. Ray Sigler, the first-time author also published the book, which was first made available in October of last year. It’s a fictional story involving love, tragedy, and the struggles of life in Missouri during the Great Depression, but is nonetheless historically accurate, with descriptions and story lines derived from Sigler’s own experiences.
“It has things in it that would interest people who like history and people who like good stories,” he said.
Sigler, who attended school in what is now the community building in Tyrone, now lives in Trenton, Ill. (near St. Louis). He was in his old stomping grounds last week to make some stops on the book signing circuit, including appearances in Mountain Grove, at the farmer’s market in downtown Houston, and at the Texas County Fair.
The words on the pages of his book come from a combination of stories told during his youth by his mother and other residents of Tyrone, and his own assumptions and imagination. But while the story is largely fictional, the characters’ names aren’t.
“I used names of real people who lived in Tyrone and close by,” Sigler said. “But I had them doing things that are fictional, and once you put words in their mouths, it becomes fiction.”
“Tyrone Dust” follows the saga of Earl Sigler and his pursuit of Eva, the “love of his life, girl of his dreams, and the only woman who ever forbid him to kiss her on the first date.” Sigler bills the story as “a compelling tale that twists and turns through a time in history when life was difficult, Christian values were abundant, and when one man never stopped believing in the power of love.”
Although there’s no remaining physical evidence of the West Plains to Rolla Road, Sigler said it was a major wagon road in the 1800s after probably starting as an Indian trail.
Following his school days, Sigler entered the military, beginning his service at a naval base at Pier 91 on Seattle’s Elliot Bay, and going on to serve for years in the air force as a chaplain’s assistant. He then got into teaching for a short time before embarking on a lengthy stint in the real estate field.
Not long after retirement, Sigler decided to take a shot at writing – with a little prodding from a close relative.
“I did some unofficial writing when I was in the air force, but never anything like this,” he said. “But my brother Keith told me that this was a story that needed to be told. I said, ‘well, why don’t you do it – you’re the college English professor.’ He said, ‘but you’re a better storyteller. I’ll clean it up for you.’ He ended up editing the book.”
Sigler said that despite his lack of experience, he had no problem putting words together in story form. But to make sharing his work with others feasible, he had to step a bit outside his comfort zone and utilize current technology.
“My daughter told me no one could read my hand writing, so my first investment in writing a book was buying a laptop,” Sigler said. “But once I got going, it just came out of my brain and through my fingers.”
Sigler has begun work on a sequel, and has already penned two chapters. After peddling his remaining copies of “Tyrone Dust” (about 400), he’ll focus on finishing the follow-up.
“Once I sit down and do it, it will probably take me three or four months,” he said. “I don’t work real fast, because I have to take a nap in the afternoon. When you get to be 76 years old, you have to take a nap.”
This time, Sigler plans to let someone else to the publishing.
“I’m not going to do that again – it’s too much work,” he said. “I’m going to find a traditional publisher and let them take care of all the marketing and other hard stuff.”
“Tyrone Dust” is available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble web sites, but can be purchased for less by ordering it directly from Sigler by email at tyrone.dust@aol.com.
Sigler can be reached by phone at (618) 224-9606.