Back in 1984, I sat in a creative writing class at a community college. Our instructor gave us a simple but powerful challenge: "Bring a character to life!" That’s when José Lobo—also known as Joseph Wolfe—was born.
I envisioned a man caught between two worlds: an orphan who left the rugged frontier for an education in the East, only to return home as two men in one. On one side, he was a refined Boston gentleman, shaped by the halls of academia. On the other, he was a hard-edged Westerner and Californio—neither a bandit nor a saint, but something in between.
