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I spent the first few days just looking through the boxes of photos. At first, I could not even tell which female in the photo was KAP. But after a while, she became more and more familiar. So did her friends and family. Of course, Beth was a gold mine of information. In those early months, I would come to her with a photo, and often she could tell me who was in the photo, where it took place, and sometimes even what year! Other times she sent me to the top floor of the library, where the literature section is located. I would return with an armful of books, all of them filled with pictures and valuable biographical information that could help me pinpoint when and where a famous (or not so famous) writer had been with KAP. Sometimes I would find copies of the same pictures I was trying to identify, with complete citations. That happened rarely, though. Mostly, I used the photographs in the books to try and determine the relative age of the individual in our photos. I have examined wrinkles, hairstyles, and geographical clues in intimate detail. I have written letters to the relatives of Porter's friends, hoping that they can identify an aunt or father. I have become, in effect, a private investigator, tracking down the clues to the mystery of Katherine Anne Porter's life. I have learned many things along the way—for one thing, I now try and date and identify my own photos, so that twenty years from now, I will not be scratching my head, trying to figure out who or what was in a photo. I have also learned about Katherine Anne's life and work, her friends and her homes. I have become quite fond of the people I meet through the photos as I watch them grow older over the years. One day I came across a picture of Lucifer, one of KAP's cats. Knowing that it was the last picture taken of him before he was put to sleep, I found myself with tears in my eyes. I had become used to seeing the cat in Porter's photos—he was a great identifier of time, and I would miss him.

As of the first week in April, I have organized the photos through the early 1960s. I must confess that I cannot solve all of the mysteries. Several photos have been listed at the end of the guide, in bold, meaning that I have no idea when or where the photograph was taken. And they may not be in exact chronological order—but I believe that they are close. They are certainly are in a much more coherent order than they were nine months ago. My adventures investigating the life of Katherine Anne Porter has become one of my most favorite duties of the week. Hopefully, by the end of 2000, I will have completed the task and researchers will have a much more useful guide to the photos of Katherine Anne Porter.