David Forsyth is a Denver native. He earned his Ph.D. in history from the University of Colorado at Boulder and works in the museum field. He is the author of “Images of America: Black Hawk and Central City,” “Denver’s Lakeside Amusement Park: From the White City Beautiful to a Century of Fun,” and “Eben Smith: The Dean of Western Mining,” and his articles on topics including bars, murders, bowling alleys, horror movie hosts and amusement parks have appeared in several publications.
SunLit: Tell us this book’s backstory. What inspired you to write it? Where did the story/theme originate?
Forsyth: This book grew out of my book on Lakeside Amusement Park back in 2016. I did a lot of research on the four other Denver amusement parks that were around at the same time and I decided the three that were long gone deserved to have their stories told too.
My original plans were to do a book on what I was calling the lost amusement parks of Denver, which included a couple of kiddie parks from the 1950s. Life and a lot of other things got in the way and when I finally sat down in 2020 to start on it I decided to start with Manhattan Beach and I very quickly realized its story was a book on its own. So, it was kind of back to the planning stage at that point to do further research into Manhattan Beach and put the story together.
SunLit: Place this excerpt in context. How does it fit into the book as a whole? Why did you select it?
Forsyth: The excerpt deals with the zoo war between Elitch Gardens and Manhattan Beach at the end of the 1891 season. Although it’s early in the history of the park it shows how committed Manhattan Beach’s owners were to the park, as well as some of the financial problems they had to endure in trying to get the park off the ground, and it also shows how intense the rivalry between Denver’s amusement parks could get. I also think it’s one of the more amusing episodes in Manhattan Beach’s history.
UNDERWRITTEN BY
Each week, The Colorado Sun and Colorado Humanities & Center For The Book feature an excerpt from a Colorado book and an interview with the author. Explore the SunLit archives at coloradosun.com/sunlit.
SunLit: Tell us about creating this book. What influences and/or experiences informed the project before you sat down to write?
Forsyth: I like to do fun history, and I have a strong interest in amusement parks and their history, so that’s what has led to a lot of my writing. The fun side of history still has a lot to teach us about how things came to be the way they are, and amusement parks played a big part in the development of the country over the last 130 years.
SunLit: What did the process of writing this book add to your knowledge and understanding of your craft and/or the subject matter?
Forsyth: I’m always learning new things, and that was true of working on the history of Manhattan Beach. There are so many connections between seemingly unrelated pieces of Denver and Colorado history, and making more of those connections, as well as connections to larger historical themes in the history of the country, is always a good thing.
As a writer, I hope I’m always improving and each new book or article gives me a chance to play around with ideas and experiment with new ways of telling a story.
SunLit: What were the biggest challenges you faced in writing this book?
Forsyth: The biggest challenge was the curse of the virus in 2020. Once I decided to do a book on just Manhattan Beach I needed to do a lot more research on it but all of the libraries were closed. When History Colorado finally opened their library to appointments that summer I became a regular there, gathering as much material as I could in the limited time I had each week.
The other challenge was finding places to write as there was a lot happening at my house at the time, so a lot of it was written on my back patio while the weather was nice.
SunLit: What’s the most important thing – a theme, lesson, emotion or realization — that readers should take from this book?
Forsyth: I hope that readers enjoy this chance to visit a long-gone amusement park and will come away with an appreciation for the story of Manhattan Beach and the part it played in the bigger history of Denver.
SunLit: Walk us through your writing process: Where and how do you write?
Forsyth: I really have to have the story come together in my mind before I can even think about starting to write. It rarely comes out the way I envision it, but I have to have it somewhat worked out first.
I write when I have time, although I usually prefer in the mornings. I really like to spread everything out on the dining room table and just go for it, but anywhere I can spread out and write works. And there are days where after an hour I have one paragraph done. Those are the days I decide it’s better to go do something else and let my mind wander.
“The Amusement Park at Sloan’s Lake: The Lost History of Denver’s Manhattan Beach”
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SunLit present new excerpts from some of the best Colorado authors that not only spin engaging narratives but also illuminate who we are as a community. Read more.
Is there really an elephant buried in the King Soopers parking lot across from Sloan’s Lake?
Forsyth: Asking people in Denver about Manhattan Beach may bring a lot of blank stares, but if you mention the elephant that’s supposed to be buried in a parking lot across the street from Sloan’s Lake, a light goes on. That story is probably the most enduring legend connected to Manhattan Beach, and the majority of people probably think they know the answer, but is it the right answer?
The story of that elephant and whether or not he really got buried in a swamp back in 1891 is just a part of the story of Manhattan Beach, and Manhattan Beach is a part of the story of how Denver developed in the 19th and 20th centuries and has always been trying to prove that it isn’t a cow town.
SunLit: Tell us about your next project.
Forsyth: I’m working on a history of Tuileries Amusement Park, which was in Englewood from 1906 to 1913, although the property it was on had a much longer history of entertaining people. I hope to have the first draft done by the end of summer, so we’ll see how that turns out.
A few more quick questions
SunLit: Which do you enjoy more as you work on a book – writing or editing?
Forsyth: Definitely the writing. I find the editing can be very frustrating, especially when other people get involved.
SunLit: What’s the first piece of writing – at any age – that you remember being proud of?
Forsyth: It was my short story “Help! I’m Trapped in the White House Janitor’s Closet,” about me being trapped in the White House janitor’s closet with Amelia Earhart. I was in either fifth or seventh grade when I wrote it and I got to go to a student creative writing contest put on by Denver Public Schools.
SunLit: What three writers, from any era, would you invite over for a great discussion about literature and writing?
Forsyth: Agatha Christie, Lewis Grizzard, Austin Grossman.
SunLit: Do you have a favorite quote about writing?
Forsyth: From Agatha Christie, “Nothing turns out quite in the way that you thought it would when you are sketching out notes for the first chapter, or walking about muttering to yourself and seeing a story unroll.”
SunLit: What does the current collection of books on your home shelves tell visitors about you?
Forsyth: That I read a lot. And I think they will understand very quickly that I’m definitely a historian, that I have a healthy if strange sense of humor, and that I love mysteries.
SunLit: Soundtrack or silence? What’s the audio background that helps you write?
Forsyth: Usually silence, but sometimes I will turn the TV on very low just for some background noise if the silence gets to be too much.
SunLit: What music do you listen to for sheer enjoyment?
Forsyth: 1950s and Elvis.
SunLit: What event, and at what age, convinced you that you wanted to be a writer?
Forsyth: It seems like I always wanted to be a writer. I guess maybe it was buying my first Agatha Christie book (“Nemesis”) when I was in third or fourth grade.
SunLit: Greatest writing fear?
Forsyth: Getting the last page done.
SunLit: Greatest writing satisfaction?
Forsyth: Getting the first page done.