Researcher begins study of McKenna's life

Dr. Dennis Noble studies some of the archives in the McKenna collection at Richard McKenna Charter High School. Photo by Brian S. Orban

Details of the man's life remained hidden away in the thousands of letters, speeches and documents stored in the school's research library. Page by page, they chronicle the life of a quiet, shy individual who went from poverty to notoriety before fate cut short his chance at greatness.

But the real-life rags-to-riches story of author Richard McKenna doesn't end there. It's seeing new life after a researcher began looking into the Mountain Home native's life.

In recent months, Dr. Dennis Noble traveled to McKenna's hometown hoping to gain some insight into his life. What he found exceeded the historian's fondest dreams -- a treasure trove of information located at a school named in honor of the award-winning writer.

The information is helping shed new insight into McKenna's life.

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