The Salt Lake Tribune’s Jeremy Harmon has spent more than a year researching Wallace Stegner’s 1950 novel about labor martyr Joe Hill. While the novel has become a central part of how Hill’s legend has been told, the fictionalized account contradicts much of what historians know about the real Joe Hill. While Stegner was working on his book, another author, Aubrey Haan, was working on a book of his own. While working at The University of Utah, Haan gathered an incredible amount of information from people who knew Joe Hill and had participated in his defense. In many aspects, Haan’s findings contradict Stegner’s narrative. But Stegner’s book was finished first and Haan was never able to publish. Using research materials and correspondence gathered by both Stegner and Haan, Harmon will discuss the controversy surrounding Stegner’s book and what the people who knew Hill actually had to say about him.