When I was 15, my family and I took a trip across the US. In our overcrowded minivan of two ambitious parents and three rambunctious teenage boys, we headed out to see those iconic sights that every American should see at least once in his life: the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Yosemite National Park, Alcatraz, Old Faithful, and more.
The elusive gold nuggets
As we rambled through the Black Hills of South Dakota, we stopped to pan for gold along one of its picturesque streams. Being the overconfident boys that we were, we knew we'd strike it rich in minutes. Little did we know that we would end up spending hours bent over a rushing ice bath, swishing through pans of gravel only to come up empty-handed. Well, not totally empty-handed. There were a few flecks that shimmered at the bottom of the pan, and with the end of a matchstick, we carefully dabbed them up and dropped them into a vile of water.
To me, researching is a lot like digging for gold. At first you dive in with the greatest of hopes to strike it rich quick. You can see that massive nugget in your mind's eye, and you swear it'll come up in the next pan. Unfortunately it doesn't happen that way.
Real researchers know that finding good sources takes patience and persistence. There's no way you can predict the size and shape of the nugget, you just have to be open to anything that comes. And those tiny flecks that look like nothing at first can turn out to be the most valuable of all; they are the ones that will lead you other hidden treasures in your search for great wealth.
Here are the flecks of gold that I discovered at the William Warren Library:
I began my process by reading a couple of biographies on Jim Thompson. I read them with two purposes in mind. First, I wanted to find out what each writer's take was on Jim Thompson and his life. I also read them carefully keeping a list of possible primary sources, places to visit, people to contact, and related topics I'd need to research. For me to write my own young adult biography, I knew that I had to access as many primary sources as possible so that I could find my own angle on Jim Thompson's story.
William Warren Library
Soon after I began reading, I knew that had to head to Bangkok. I needed to see his house where he hosted all of those dinner parties and housed his exquisite art collection. I also wanted to see what possible resources are there as well.
While preparing for my trip, I found out that there is a branch of the Bangkok Public Library called the William Warren Library. William Warren was one of Jim Thompson's dear friends in Bangkok, and he also happened to be the author of one of the biographies I read, Jim Thompson, The Unsolved Mystery. Needless to say, I was heading to this library too.
After weeks of planning, I finally made it to my first destination:
