Bye-Bye Byline: Ranch & Reata, for the last time.

The new issue of Ranch & Reata is out. Unfortunately, it’s the last of what has been an outstanding publication. For more than five years, the magazine has covered a lot of interesting people and places from all around the West. I know, because I had the opportunity to write about many of them.

While I didn’t have a byline in every issue, it was pretty close—and, in a few, I had two stories. That’s the case with this final issue.

“The Top hand and the Tenderfoot” compares the experiences of two poets at the 2016 National Cowboy Poetry Gathering—Wally McRae, who has been there since the beginning more than three decades ago, and Marleen Bussma, who made her first appearance this year. It’s an interesting look at what has become a fixture in the world of Western culture, seen through the eyes of a pair of participants.

Also in the magazine is “Ninety Percent Off,” a story about War Paint, the legendary saddle bronc horse of the ’50s and ’60s who bucked off about nine out of ten of all the rodeo cowboys who stretched a cinch around his middle. Among his victims were the best bronc riders in the business, including world champions. The article was inspired by and quotes Idaho cowboy Bob Schild, who got on—and off—War Paint twice in his career.

I’m sorry to see Ranch & Reata go. It has been a real pleasure to pen stories for them.

Brenn Hill rides the high line.

Brenn Hill is one of my favorite songwriters. And singers. He has written a stack of albums filled with songs that capture the soul and spirit and stink and sweat of the American West. To my way of thinking, several of his songs are destined to become classics, played and sung and remembered for decades to come.

His latest album, Spirit Rider, is a bit of a departure from what Brenn usually offers. When I say he rides the “high line” with this album, I mean to say he gives us a glimpse of horseback heaven, which is as high a line as there is. The songs on Spirit Rider—some written by Brenn, some traditional hymns—remind us of the importance of faith, hope, and charity in our world and our lives. All done The Cowboy Way.

Spirit Rider (read more about it here: www.BrennHill.com) was a long time coming. Years in the making, as they say. And there’s a very good, very real reason Brenn set out on this particular ride up this particular trail. You can read about it in a story I wrote for the latest issue of Ranch & Reata magazine, which is filled with a lot of other interesting and informative and entertaining articles about life in the West.

Hall of Famers I have known.

While I have read the work of many members of the Western Writers Hall of Fame, most lived and many died before my time, so I never knew, or even met them.

Until now.

Last year, Western Writers of America inducted recipients of the Owen Wister Award—and its predecessor, the Saddleman Award—honors recognizing lifetime achievement—into the Western Writers Hall of Fame. Many so honored have passed on. But some are still among us, and still writing.

So, I have now met several Hall of Famers. I know (or knew) some fairly well. And I have had the pleasure of working with a couple of them, as editors.

In no particular order the Hall of Famers I have known to some extent are Judy Alter, Win Blevins, Don Coldsmith, Robert Conley, Jim Crutchfield, David Dary, Loren Estleman, Max Evans, Bill Gulick, Elmer Kelton, Leon Metz, Jory Sherman, Robert Utley, and Dale Walker.

A fine group of writers, and every one worthy of the recognition they have received and then some. I admire their work and I admire (or admired) them personally. Knowing them is as close to greatness as I will come as a writer.

Stuart Rosebrook and I wrote an article profiling these and other Hall of Fame inductees for the current issue of Ranch & Reata magazine. You’ll want a copy. (http://www.ranchandreata.com/)

(The Hall of Fame induction ceremony photo belongs to future Hall-of-Famer Johnny Boggs.)

Singing songs and slapping leather.

The new issue of Ranch & Reata magazine is out, and in its pages are two stories I had the pleasure to write about two remarkable Westerners.

Mary Kaye is a much-honored singer and songwriter living in Utah’s Sanpete Valley with her guitars and husband and 10 children. (Well, not really—some of the 10 are grown and have moved on, but there’s still a houseful.) Mary has integrated two, and sometimes four, of her daughters into the act and “The Kaye Sisters” as they are known are making a name for themselves.

If you’re a fan of Old West action shooting, you’ve probably seen Tim Start’s handiwork. He designs and builds holsters and accessories for cowboy shooters, and his leather adorns some of the best. Tim’s high-performance pistol holsters, with his High Desert Leather maker’s mark, range from the unadorned to works of art with inlays and tooling and silver other embellishments.

Read about these remarkable people in the new issue of Ranch & Reata. If you don’t receive this classy magazine, subscribe here: www.ranchandreata.com.

Mary-made music.

Soon, you’ll be hearing about a Ranch & Reata article I wrote about Mary Kaye. She’s a singer and songwriter of epic proportions. In my pantheon of contemporary Western songwriters, she’s right up there with Brenn Hill and Dave Stamey and a few others whose worthy words do the West justice.

And the truth is, she’s a lot better looking than those guys.

Beyond her ability to weave words into music, Mary Kaye has a voice that can rattle the rafters and caress the soul with equal facility.

Now, you’re probably thinking I am overstating the situation. If anything, I am unable to find the words that do Mary Kaye’s music justice. I have enjoyed all her albums. But the brand-newest one is the bestest. It’s a master work.

Mary Kaye wrote most of the songs on Ride a Wide Circle. She co-wrote some and lights up a few old cowboy tunes. Her husband, who co-produced the album, said their goal was to put together a collection that made the “skip” button on players obsolete. They did it.

Ride a Wide Circle by Mary Kaye.

Damn, that’s good.

Back in the Saddle.

In the June-July issue of Ranch & Reata magazine ( www.RanchandReata.com ), you’ll find a feature article I wrote about Amberley Snyder. But all my words on all those pages do not capture her spirit and attitude, I think, as well as the closing lines of Charles Badger Clark’s poem “The Westerner”:

For the sun wheels swift from morn to morn

And the world began when I was born

      And the world is mine to win.

Amberley has been horseback from an early age, and winning buckles and saddles and trophies in the rodeo arena for nearly as long. A truck wreck—and the resulting paralysis—that would have sidelined most of us barely slowed Amberley down. She, and her horses, learned to ride again and she is back to her winning ways.

There’s just no holding this young woman back, and her enthusiasm for making the most of every new day is an inspiration.

( The photo of Amberley and her barrel horse Power is by Lauren Anderson: www.facebook.com/Landersonphoto )

Words and pictures in Ranch & Reata.

The new issue of Ranch & Reata has been out for a week or three and, as usual, its pages are filled with fine articles and features about the American West we all know and love.

Grab your subscriber copy (if you don’t subscribe, you should), and turn to page 68 where you’ll find a story about a remarkable young woman from southeastern Idaho named Kimberlyn Fitch. She’s a standout rodeo star and has also made a name for herself in the cattle business, breeding club calves. When people wonder what the world is coming to, I think of young folks like Kimberlyn and can’t help but think things will be fine.

Then, on page 127 is an article about my old friend James Fain. I got to know Jim at Utah State University, where he was one of our rodeo coaches. He was already well established as a rodeo action photographer and has since become a legend in the arena. He’s taken pictures of cowboys famous and unknown at rodeos large and small and earned every kind of recognition available in his field. (I’ll bet you’ll find photos of Kimberlyn Fitch in his files.)

Read about Kimberlyn and Jim (and look at the pictures) in the new Ranch & Reata. If you are not a subscriber, you can fix that oversight here: http://www.ranchandreata.com/

Songwriter Jessie Veeder in Ranch & Reata magazine.

The latest issue of Ranch & Reata magazine is out, and among the many fine articles inside its covers is a story I wrote on North Dakota singer and songwriter Jessie Veeder.

My musical and poetic friend from the West River Country Jessie also calls home, DW Groethe, is quoted in the article saying this about composers who write about the West and about Jessie: “There are those who write all around it and then there are the few, steeped in the life, who reach out, grab it, raise it high and say, ‘Here it is. Take it or leave it.’”

Jessie’s songs certainly “raise it high,” and once you hear her words and music, you’re more likely to take it than leave it, if only because her songs stick with you. Read all about it in the new issue of Ranch & Reata (www.ranchandreata.com).

Odds and ends, bits and pieces.

Not long ago I finished reading Drygulch to Destiny by Kirby Jonas. I’ve known Kirby for several years through Western Writers of America, but only recently learned we once lived in the same small town in Idaho (although he is much younger than I) and he took ag classes from my brother, who taught at the high school there. All that aside, it’s a big, sprawling novel about a town tamer tortured by past accusations and challenged by lawless toughs in a mining boomtown. It’s a darn good story and well worth a read. (http://kirbyjonas.com/)

Speaking of Idaho, I recently spent a weekend there working on an article for Ranch & Reata magazine. The subject of the story is a remarkable young lady named Kimberlyn Fitch. She’s an oft-decorated rodeo champion, breeds show cattle, puts in her time at the ranch, and is studying to become a nurse. That’s her on the skyline in the photo above, gathering cows along a ridge above Midnight Creek.

I’ll be back in Idaho soon to conduct a couple of workshops at the Idaho Writers League’s annual conference. A month or so later, I’ll be presenting at the Kanab Writers Conference (http://kanabwritersconference.com/) in southern Utah, and signing books at the Read Cat Bookstore.

But for now, it's back to work.