Dispatches from the West.

Saddlebag Dispatches has a new issue available. As always, it’s big and colorful and filled with all things Western. A few of the items in the magazine have my name at the top.

A new short story, “Black Joe,” is about a wild mustang stud and his clashes with a rancher. There’s a feature article about the PBR Ty Murray Top Hand Award, and the collaboration between Ty Murray and the designer and sculptor behind the award, Jeff Wolf. My rodeo poem about how the Star Spangled Banner affects bareback riders, “Long May It Wave,” is given a beautiful presentation. And, finally, my regular “Best of the West” column features what must be the oldest of the Old West’s best towns, Taos Pueblo.

If you don’t read Saddlebag Dispatches, you’re missing out on a fine publication, offering a lot of variety in its presentation of the American West, old and new. Follow the link and take a look.

Another one bites the dust.

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.

More stuff hot of the press.

The new issue of Ranch & Reata magazine just landed in my mailbox. If you haven’t seen the publication, it’s well worth a look. It’s big, it’s colorful, it’s beautifully designed and, being a print publication (with an online version as well), it really is hot off the press.

Among the offerings in this issue is a story I wrote about photographer Kevin Martini-Fuller. For 30 years he has made portraits of cowboy poets at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, and several of those portraits accompany the article—including the faces of my friends Doris Daley, Yvonne Hollenbeck, Paul Zarzyski, and Gail Steiger.

The story also covers Kevin’s cowboy poetry exhibit all the way across the sea in France.

And, of course, there’s a lot more to enjoy in the new issue of Ranch & Reata, including an article by Hal Cannon about the multi-talented songwriter, poet, writer, and man-of-many-hats Andy Wilkinson. Andy has long been on my short list of people I would like to know.

Find out more about the magazine here: www.ranchandreata.com.