Former Cortez resident and author Dane Hobday Hays has recently released a book featuring local characters.
The self-published paperback titled The Hobday Connection, is described as a historical biography novel, and is now available through AuthorHouse Books or through paperbackers and ebook. Theres also a website for the book: thehobdayconnection.com.
The novel, which includes 25 photographs, chronicles the lives of three families from the 1940s to the present with two of the main characters being Airman First Class Jimmie Hobday and Corporal John Spruell, both from Cortez.
The lives of the characters in the book are tied together by family secrets, deceptions, love, hate and war. True stories of real life heros and celebrities are mixed with hidden family secrets.
Childhood friends go off to war and die during the Korean War. An elderly nun, near death and trying desperately to bury the past, suddenly has to relive 50-year-old memories and deal with new challenges.
Hays says, the books characters and their stories all lead to a surprising and uplifting conclusion.
Spruell quit high school and joined the Army just before the Korean War began. He was killed in Korea on Dec. 6, 1950. Spruell now has a memorial marker in the veterans section in the Cortez cemetery.
Jimmie Hobday quit college, and enlisted in the Air Force. During a bombing mission on Sept. 13, 1952, his plane was hit and exploded with a full load of bombs. He has a Memorial Headstone at Arlington National Cemetery.
Another character in this real-life drama includes Sister Mary Jose (Joan) Hobday from Cortez, who dedicated 60 years of her life to helping the disadvantaged, lecturing on Native American culture and writing several books.
The author describes himself as a former runaway teenager and hippie, who is a retired Army veteran. Hays also said he did volunteer work in homeless shelters in Phoenix and was active in several veterans organizations in Washington, D.C. and New York.
He began writing in college and has had several articles published in local magazines and newspapers. He now lives in the foothills of northern Arizona.