Matt Di Paoli brings Old West legend to life in "Holliday" on Sunbury Press Show

John "Doc" Holliday was many things in his short life. It may surprise readers to learn that Holliday graduated from The Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery in Philadelphia, with his doctoral thesis on Diseases of the Teeth. While he practiced in various locations, Holliday was also a keeper of gaming tables and was involved in the events that surrounded the famous 1882 shootout at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona (in which Holliday was wounded).

Hard-drinking and suffering from tuberculosis, author Matt Di Paoli brings "Holliday" to life in his new novel. Drawing on Val Kilmer's performance in Tombstone, Di Paoli shows Doc in a charismatic light, seeking to outrun his illness by moving to dryer climes, but also in search of a spring that could well cure him. Along the way, he helps his old friend Wyatt Earp in his ongoing feud with the Clanton/McLaury gang, is followed by paparazzi, and indulges in his fascinations for alcohol, gambling, women, and death.

Matt Di Paoli earned his MFA in Fiction at Columbia University. He has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize three times, and "Holliday" brought him the Wilbur & Niso Smith Adventure Writing Prize. His works include "Killstanbul" (El Balazo Press), and his stories have appeared in "Boulevard," "Fjords," "Post Road," and "Cleaver." He currently teaches writing in New York City.