The Old West's Oddest Gunslinger

Irving the Kid, as he was known, wore a holster with a pearl handled Colt 45, which hung low on his right hip.

Whenever a gunfighter would challenge him, Irving would calmly look the man in the eye and say for all to hear:

"How long have you had these anger issues? Let's talk." And soon the man would be telling Irving all about his life, often with tears trickling down his cheeks.

For Irving was also known at Harvard, where he graduated in psychiatry, as Dr. Irving Cohen.

But in the Old West, in 1879, after confronting and analyzing Billy the Kid, he became widely known as Irving the Kid.

But one day in a Dodge City saloon, he was challenged by "Mad Dog" Wilson, who yelled for all to hear, "We settle this tomorrow at High Noon, on Main Street."

Everyone knew Mad Dog would come out guns blazing, and the next day, as High Noon approached, the streets were abandoned.

As the saloon tower clock chimed High Noon, Mad Dog began walking the dusty Main Street, his jingling spurs being the only sound anyone could hear.

Mad Dog was ready to draw and fire at the sight of Irving the Kid, but instead, he saw an old woman walking toward him.

"Mom," he said quizzically in a low voice. "What are you doing here?"

"Stopping you from making a fool of yourself," she angrily replied, as she grabbed him by the scruff of the neck. "Irving the Kid told me what you want to do."

Then Irving the Kid appeared, and as the three of them waliked into the saloon, bystanders heard Mad Dog say to Irving, "My mom never understood me."

With Love To All ~ Dick