{"id":252899,"date":"2026-07-13T02:27:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T23:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1kitap1.com\/en\/a-dying-note-ann-parker\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T02:27:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T23:27:08","slug":"a-dying-note-ann-parker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1kitap1.com\/en\/a-dying-note-ann-parker\/","title":{"rendered":"A Dying Note – Ann Parker"},"content":{"rendered":"
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She lifted the iron and examined the sheet in front of her. Half of it had surrendered its crinkles, forming a smooth ivory plane. She straightened her hunched shoulders, tucked a strand of faded red hair behind her ear, and said, \u201cMorning to you, Mrs. Stannert.\u201d \u201cAnd good morning to you,\u201d said Inez before Bessie peremptorily swept her away, to show her the back room, with its shiny new copper pots, and stainless-steel tub, and two stoves. This room had new brick walls on three sides.<\/p>\n

A single wood wall remained. \u201cOne more wall to go,\u201d said Bessie proudly, \u201cand we\u2019ll be able to work on the rest of the ironing and drying room out front.\u201d \u201cWhat about your living quarters?\u201d asked Inez. She knew they occupied a small set of rooms behind the laundry. \u201cThat will be last, if at all.\u201d said Bessie. \u201cThe laundry first, so we won\u2019t get fined again. If not for you, we would have been thrown into the street. Two hundred dollars!\u201d<\/p>\n

Inez nodded. A city ordinance dictated that laundries not made of bricks were subject to fines up to a thousand dollars. Although Chinese laundries were the main target, that did not stop a local policeman from fining the Mays two hundred dollars for conducting their washing business in a frame building, even as the charred portion was still smoking. \u201cYou have done as I suggested?\u201d<\/p>\n

asked Inez. \u201cWe pay the scum every week. He hasn\u2019t done but wink and look the other way, as you said he would.\u201d She spat on the floor and ground the phlegm into the board with a savage foot. Inez nodded. She had figured that, just as in Leadville, paying a small \u201ctax\u201d to the local law would guarantee they would look the other way as the building underwent its transformation from planks to bricks.<\/p>\n

\u201cPatrick will be working on it this afternoon when the bricklayer arrives,\u201d added Bessie. \u201cMiss May, I am willing to advance you for more professional help. That would free Patrick for other chores,\u201d said Inez. Bessie shook her head. \u201cHe has time for both. And he\u2019s learning a useful trade where the color of his skin won\u2019t matter a lick.\u201d \u201cBut his music\u2014\u201d Bessie bristled, and Inez knew she\u2019d strayed onto a sore topic. \u201cIf left to himself, he would play the piano day and night.<\/p>\n

We didn\u2019t mind that he takes lessons from you on the occasional morning before deliveries, but now he\u2019s after us to let him work at that place next door.<\/p>\n

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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book. Poisoned Pen Press 4014 N. Goldwater Blvd., #201 Scottsdale, AZ 85251 www.poisonedpenpress.com info@poisonedpenpress.com Printed in the United States of America 1kitap1.com\/en Dedication For Barbara Peters, editor extraordinaire, who encouraged me (and my protagonist) to \u201cgo West\u201d to San Francisco 1kitap1.com\/en Acknowledgments This book may not have taken a village to write, but the people I\u2019d like to thank would certainly constitute a large neighborhood.<\/p>\n

First off, thank you, dear family, especially Bill, Ian, and Devyn, for hanging in there with me. Second, I\u2019m grateful to the friends, writers, critique partners, and beta readers\/proofers who offered suggestions and support for various stages of the writing\/re-writing process: Bill McConachie, Camille Minichino, Carole Price, Colleen Casey, Dani Greer, Janet Finsilver, Jonnie Jacobs, Kate Wyland, Margaret Lucke, Mary-Lynne Pierce Bernald, Penny Warner, Priscilla Royal, Rita Lakin, Trevor Lamberson, Staci McLaughlin, and Wendy McConachie. Special thanks and endless gratitude to Camille Minichino and Dick Rufer for letting me hide out in their guest room for some serious writing sprints and for their friendship over many decades.<\/p>\n

Devyn McConachie gets a super-duper shout-out for her last-minute-to-midnight reads of certain critical sections and her help with \u201cfinal words.\u201d (Note to Devyn: You have the makings of an excellent copy editor!) Thanks also to the Facebook group Colorado Writers and Publishers and to the Poisoned Pen Press \u201cposse\u201d of authors\u2014 we\u2019re all in this together! In the research arena, Colleen Casey deserves a tip of the hat and a dozen roses for sharing her vast knowledge of San Francisco\u2019s history and loaning me bags of resource books, as well as for her encouragement and patience in answering my many questions and her infectious enthusiasm for the city and all its aspects.<\/p>\n

The San Francisco Public Library and particularly the San Francisco History Center and its librarians were wonderful resources and always helpful\u2014I will be back! Stephen Parker supplied much-needed and appreciated \u201cmusical assistance.\u201d Also, thanks to Emperor Norton (aka Joseph Amster) and his insightful Time Machine Tours of San Francisco. All errors, omissions, and slips into alternate realities are mine.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.<\/em><\/p>\n

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