American Cowboy magazine announced recently that they are
drawing the shades, pulling the plug, turning out the lights, blowing out the
candle, locking the doors, pulling in the latchstring, folding their tent,
spooling their bedroll, and selling their saddle.
The
June/July 2017 issue will be the last.
Jesse
Mullins edited the magazine for its first 18 years, and under his hand it
became, I believe, the best of the publications for aficionados of the
modern-day American West. The magazine was never the same after being bought up
by a big corporation and the ouster of Jesse.
The first of
my poems to ever see print was in the pages of American Cowboy back in December 1997 (that’s the cover, above) and
many others followed. Jesse assigned me a lot of articles from around about
2002 through 2011. Along the way I interviewed a governor, some entertainers,
rodeo champions, writers, artists, and other interesting people. I didn’t write
much for subsequent editors of the magazine, outside of an opinion piece in a
2015 issue.
It is safe
to say that much of the success I have enjoyed as a writer stems from Jesse’s
acceptance of that first poem and his support over the years. So, thank you,
Jesse Mullins. And thank you, American
Cowboy.
Requiesce in pace.
