Chaz Allen
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This just wouldn’t do! The star had a toothache, and she had a performance that night. Lillie Langtry may not have been the toast of New York as she once was, but she still had fans and she could still draw an audience. But she wasn’t going to do anything unless she got that bad tooth fixed. This all happened at the turn of the 20th century and it was before Novocaine and precision dental instruments were invented. So going to the dentist meant, well, pain! One of the stage crew suggested she go to a dentist he had heard of who told stories to his patients while he worked on them. The stories were often so interesting that the patient would sometimes not notice how much pain they were in. Ok. That was worth a try. So, she went. The young dentist recognized Ms. Langtry right away, after all, she was rather famous. She asked him if he was going to tell her a story while he worked on her teeth. The dentist agreed and offered her stories of fishing, baseball and tales of the West. It seems that the dentist had played amateur baseball in his younger days and was a rather accomplished fisherman too. |
Ms. Langtry mentioned that she had an admirer in Texas who went by the name of Judge Roy Bean. He had written hundreds of letters to the star, and she was even thinking about stopping in to meet the judge on her next tour. So she thought a story of the Wild West would be nice while the dentist worked on her bad tooth. And that’s just what he did! Soon the talented young dentist had Miss Lilly spellbound with one of his stories. It was so interesting, and his delivery so engaging, that the star nearly forgot how much it hurt to have a tooth fixed. The patient was verbally carried off to a racing stagecoach being chased by bandits and wild Indians. When it was over she asked the doctor if he ever thought of putting some of those fascinating stories on paper so other people could enjoy them. In fact, he had thought of it. Writing was his secret passion. He really never wanted to be a dentist at all, he confessed. He did it at his father’s urging. Other people had told him the same thing, but now he had a big star urging him to do it. And that was enough for Pearl. Yeah, that was his name - Pearl! And It’s a Little Known Fact that it was a visit by one-time star Lillie Langtry that made him give up dentistry and turn to writing. And millions of fans have been grateful ever since. You’ve probably read one of his stories yourself. Most of us have read the stories of this once reluctant dentist, accomplished fisherman and amateur baseball player turned world famous author: Pearl Zane Grey! |