The Bones of Contention
Russell Ferrell
Historical Dimensions
2011 /ISBN: 0615413366
Non-Fiction / paleontology
Amazon
Reviewed
by Nicole Merritt
The True Story of Cephis Hall and Sid Love
The Arkansas Hillbilly and the Choctaw Indian
Who outsmarted the Corporation and Saved the Dinosaur
What makes this story interesting is that the author
did not intend to write the story. While his son was on a vacation
in Oklahoma, he visited Cephis Hall's rock shop with his children,
because they were interested in rocks. During their visit, they
engaged Mr. Hall in a conversation about his dinosaur adventure.
He found the story so interesting that when he returned home to
Dallas he told his father about it. And, of course, encouraged him
to visit with Mr. Hall. So, the next weekend Russell Ferrell and
his son returned to interview Cephis. They decided to make this
a father and son project, but later, his son who was an engineer
by trade, not a writer, bowed out and the details fell on Ferrell's
shoulders. He pursued the story with interest for the next three
years, gathering information about Cephis and Sid Love's adventure.
Unfortunately, Sid Love passed away before he could get his perspective.
Cephis Hall's journey began in 1983 when a friend
stopped by his house and told him of a discovery in a pit. He said
it looked like a piece of petrified wood or gold. This immediately
piqued Hall's interest and he returned to the pit to investigate.
This was the beginning of a long and arduous journey to recover
the dinosaur bone through overwhelming odds. The site was on corporate
land and the struggle to claim the bone was a battle to the end.
It's a heartwarming, down-to-earth, true tale of
two friends who pitted themselves against big business and won.
If you liked Erin Brockovich, you'll like this one. Don't let the
name throw you off; it's a hillbilly tale.
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