David Digerness

[South Park]

  This has bugged me now for 40 years ....  how is "Digerness"
pronounced ?

  Is is Dye-Jerr-Ness ?

  Dih-Jerr-Ness ?

  Something else ?

  I never took the time to talk to David.  Maybe some of
youzalls knew him ?

  Help me put this one to bed.  Thanks.

[Jim Courtney]

I've always mispronounced it "Dye-Ger-Ness".

Anyone really know?

[Chris Walker]

Having been around a number of Denverites over the past 35+ years I've only heard my friends say it like  didge-in-ess (indigenous) with no emphasis on the second i as in eye.

I'm just annoyed the man promised more volumes....  

[South Park]

When Mr. Digerness put volume 3 out there for purchase, he got
a LOT of criticism for his heavy emphasis on his Grandfather (?)
Jesse's exploits, rather than keeping it all about the railroading.
As I understood it, sales dropped and Mr. Digerness' interest in
doing more was crushed, either through his own initiative or that
of his publisher.

I discovered the DSP&P by accident when I traveled 285 from BV
to Denver in 1977.  I stopped and looked at this miniature scaled
railroad (what was left) along the highway a few miles east of Trout
Creek Pass and was intrigued.  Before this whole world wide web
thing made it easy, learning what I had been looking at there proved
a challenge from Seattle (when I got home and tried to research it),
and it was Digerness' books that really set the hook into me for the
pinnacle of cool in American railroading.  Been brain damaged ever
since.  

[South Park]

  So, I a guess the answer is "no",  ...  nobody here knew the guy
to ask him how he pronounced it ?

  In 2003, I looked him up and discovered he was still around ...
thought I might look him up when I was in the Denver area.  It
never happened, and now that chance is gone.  It seems both life
AND death get in the way of doing the things we mean to get
around to.

[El Gringo Grande]

When did Digerness pass? Mal Ferrell and I were talking yesterday and he came up in conversation. I told him I though David was gone, but wasn't totally sure.

Chris

[Mike Trent]

David S. Digerness   2/1/36-11/5/09 Services were 11/17/09 by Olinger in Denver.

Pretty sure this is our guy. But his obituary has expired. You can try searching for more information but that's what came up for me just now.

[El Gringo Grande]

Wow, almost a decade ago. I was napping on that one.

Thanks Mike, I'll tell Mal. But like many of us here, I really liked those books.

Chris Lane

[Jeff Ramsey]

Last I heard his daughter could be found as librarian in the Georgetown library.

[Rick Steele]

I never met the man.

People who I knew who did know him pronounced his name Digger-ness.

My source was Sid Squibb up in Central City (Uncle of the late Mike Squibb).

I told him of the publication of first volume of the Mineral Belt Book and his first reaction was "It has to have a lot of pictures, Dave is a picture collector."

Rick

[Jeff Ramsey]

  I meant grand daughter.

[South Park]

  Thanks, Rick.  I've been doing it wrong for so long now, "Digger-ness"
is hard to make roll off the tongue.  Will have to work on it !