Welcome! It’s good to see you.
I’ve been too long away, and am looking forward to posting on this blog from time to time. While I’m writing a weekly newspaper column and adding something on FaceBook from time to time, more words and thoughts beg to surface before they drown in muddy water.
I made a good choice when I joined the Western Writers of America a few years ago. One of the benefits has been exposure to a wide range of writing published by its members. As an added benefit, the editor of our organization’s magazine “Roundup” made a reviewer out of me and sends books to read and make comments on.
Three books in hand now - The Winchester: The Gun That Built an American Dynasty, Black Cowboys in the American West, and Smoke Wagon: A Morgan Clyde Western - look interesting. The classic lever-action Winchester rifle appears in almost every Western movie. Remember the Rifleman? He customized his lever-action to facilitate his fast shooting usually seen coming from a machine gun. Didn’t John Wayne have a customized model, too, with an enlarged lever to fit his large hands? This book looks at the family that developed the gun and reaped in financial rewards from its popularity.
Black Cowboys in the American West holds the most interest for me. One of its authors is a fellow member of WWA whom I have visited with at our conventions. I know he has taken an interest in black cowboys, maybe because he is black himself. A college professer, he fills the room with his bright personality and hearty laugh, and I daresay he is one of the most popular members of the group. Not so long ago I read and wrote something about blacks in the West. After the slaves were freed, where were they to go and do with their lives? Some floated north to St. Paul, MN on steamboats and became mule skinners and helpers for General Sibley’s expedition into North Dakota. I found that story interesting and will probably return to it in the future.
Smoke Wagon by Brett Cogburn, a younger writer who informs us he is the great-grandson of Rooster Cogburn who Hollywood made famous in the movies named True Grit. I’ve met and visited with him at the convention held in Las Vegas where he won the Spur Award for best first novel. It looks like he is settling into writing for the long haul. He and I have one thing in common - we both majored in English and minored in history as undergraduates.
With that, I leave you but will return on Wednesday with other musings. So long til then!
