The book that never was

Butch and Sundance - the later years 

Several years ago, I was asked by a friend of my friend, Julia, if I would be interested in writing a book for him based on the theory that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid escaped to South America, and later returned to the USA.

Some people claim that Sundance returned with his lover, Etta Place to live in the USA, I can go with the theory which said Etta returned as she wasn't in Mexico when they had the final gunfight.

The issues I have with this theory are at the end of the film, Sundance says he can't swim, yet he jumps into a raging river. A good swimmer would have had difficulty jumping into a river strewn with rocks, and yet, Sundance can't swim.

Add to this, both had suffered arm injuries which would have made swimming exceptionally difficult.

Jumping into a raging tide can be done, it is done each year by locals in Acapulco Bay to entertain tourists. This is done by young men who have grown up in the area, and can judge the tides, not by American bandits on the run, and injured.

Next we have the amusing section; Butch is "supposed" to have become a farmer, and died in Patagonia. Patagonia is the area south of Argentina, so we have to ask, in an age with few cars, how did he get there? I could agree to him turning up in Paraguay.

I didn't think I would be paid enough for the research involved in the project; in the end it didn't matter as the book was rejected because the person who made the request was rude to me.