Ted "Skipper" Simms and John Wayne

I wrote yesterday oh how I used events from the early 1900's for the Skipper's background. Today I will tell you about something else about his character, his voice.
When I was creating the Skipper character I wanted him to be gruff, a little hard headed when it came to people he cared about safety. I wanted him to be no-nonsense and practical, I wanted him to be a student of life, someone who learned from both his successes and failure, but most of all I wanted him to have a voice, one I was familiar with from watching movies, I wanted him to be like John Wayne. I do not know if I was successful in doing this but I tried. To me John Wayne fit the bill of the Skipper, rough, tough and caring. I even tried to incorporate a sense of humor like the characters John Wayne played in the movies. I was lucky to grow up in a family where my dad liked to watch Westerns and of all I liked the ones with John Wayne. I was also lucky to grow up with a dad that watched war movies and again my favorites were the ones with, you guesses it, John Wayne.
I was only 11 when John Wayne died, but still I felt like I lost a hero. I still watch John Wayne movies and I feel that, in a way, The Last Run, is a tribute to the great actor. I know I didn't dedicate the book to Mr. Wayne, but here I want to thank him for many years of entertainment, and believe it or not, Life Lessons.