You are very kind, but I watch my statistics closely and it appears few people want to read about an Indian in the 21st century. Sometimes I wonder if there would be more interest if I did historical stuff that I know from stories rather than experience.

Most of my writings come from two places. Until Mr. Cancer came for me, I was a judge — people still call me that, but now it’s an honorific. And, of course, I am Cherokee, and not in the sense of having an anonymous Cherokee grandmother so far back in my family tree I’d have to hire somebody to search for her. My blood quantum is the same as John Ross, the greatest chief in the post-Removal Cherokee Nation. So I write as a judge and as a Cherokee because that’s who I am. I’m too old to start making up stuff.

It is sometimes depressing that the judge stories smoke the Cherokee stories. But, honestly, neither does well enough for me to continue this. I am marking time on Medium until my memoir publishes or inspiration strikes to write a second volume before the first publishes. That last is not likely.

I should explain that the whole purpose of the memoir was to tell how a dropout gets to be a professor, so I said practically nothing about my judicial career. I’ve tossed out some of the stories I could tell here on Medium.