Paul M. O'Rourke
1 book in the catalogue, published 2004.
Paul M. O'Rourke compiled Not the Same Old Song and Dance, a 2004 collection of newspaper columns by the late Peter Spencer of Telluride, Colorado. It is the only O'Rourke book in the Western Reflections catalogue. By the book's description, he was a huge fan of Spencer and wanted to honor him after Spencer's death in 1999.
About Paul M. O'Rourke
We found no verified biography of Paul O'Rourke, and we do not want to invent one. What we do know comes from the book. According to its description, he admired Peter Spencer and his column, Fearless Leader, in The Norwood Post. When Spencer died in 1999, O'Rourke decided to gather the columns into a book. The Telluride Daily Planet's later tribute confirms that O'Rourke compiled the collection, which carries Spencer in his top hat on the cover.
What the books share
O'Rourke's one book here is an act of editing and remembrance rather than original authorship. It collects the voice of a former Telluride mayor who wrote opinion columns and published a small-town newspaper. The subjects the record lists are Politics and government and Social conditions, and the setting is the Telluride and Norwood area of Colorado's western slope in the final years of the twentieth century.
The subjects this author is catalogued under. Open Library record.
Next steps for readers of this author
Compiling a tribute of your own
O'Rourke's book shows how a collection can honor a writer. If you want to gather a relative's columns or letters, a state research center can tell you how libraries and archives usually handle donated papers.
Researching a small town paper
To look into the Norwood area's newspapers, ask the Wilkinson library and the Norwood society what local papers they hold or can point you to. Bring the paper's name and the years you want, and be ready for a short wait while a volunteer looks.
Go deeper
O'Rourke's one book here grew from his respect for Peter Spencer of Telluride and Norwood. These sources help a reader place the community Spencer wrote for.
Norwood Historical Society
A town article on the society's log cabin museum, which says it aims to show life from the 1880s through the early 1900s on Wright's Mesa.
Wilkinson Public Library, Telluride
The library's site lists a Local History section under Research, and a catalog for borrowing books.
Stephen H. Hart Research Center
History Colorado's research center, with an online collection and a form for requesting help from staff.
Good to know
What did Paul O'Rourke write?
Who was Peter Spencer?
Is there more information about O'Rourke?
Writers like this one are how the list was built
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