Take a first-time author, an obscure subject matter and an enthusiastic motivation, and you get "The Jimmy Murphy Story". 

A book full of previously unpublished stories, with material dedicatedly researched  by the author, interspersed with rare photographs from private collections including Stan Laurel's daughter, Lois, and newspaper cuttings and interviews with people who knew Jimmy Murphy personally.  Then there are the foreign tours from Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, chronicled in detail as well. 
From personal quotes from Jimmy himself, to the personally signed portrait from President Kennedy and a hand-written letter from former President Ronald Reagan.

This book is written with extraordinary passion; a dedication to a gentleman whose life is remembered by a personal friend.  Reading through its 192 pages, I was astounded as to how so much information was accumulated by the author.  The clippings, the interviews, the pictures - most of them not seen in decades.

As an anecdote, the book ends on a touching story about a lost key.  Elsewhere in the book, it is revealed that Murphy had to leave the set of Laurel & Hardy's feature film, "Great Guns" in order to appear before a Federal court to be sworn in as an American citizen!

There are plenty of little stories like these to be found in Hyatt's debut effort.  Well worth a read.