Western Book Roundup

The President Packs Haruf’s “Plainsong” and Elmer Kelton Dies at 83

By Jenny Shank, 8-26-09

White House Press Secretary Bill Burton announced a list of five books that President Obama is bringing on his vacation in Martha’s Vineyard.  Among them is Kent Haruf‘s Plainsong.  Now, during last year’s Democratic National Convention in Denver, Jeff Lee of the Rocky Mountain Land Library asked a bunch of notable Western writers and…me to contribute a “reading list for the President-Elect: A Western States Primer for the Next Administration.” The Tattered Cover featured many of these suggestions in a display.  One of the books on my list was Plainsong.  (Rick Bass and Laura Pritchett also assigned Plainsong for presidential reading.)

More than just a coincidence?  Isn’t it pretty to think so?

The vegetation is getting crispy around here, and so it’s appropriate that Stephen Pyne is coming to Boulder to discuss his book, Flame and Fortune. A Brief History of Fire in America for the Center for the American West on September 3 (CU Boulder campus, Eaton Humanities 150, 7 p.m.).  According to a press release, Pyne will talk about “fire in America and…the issues it raises about the interface of wild lands and urban development.”

I noticed in Publisher’s Lunch a new regionally relevant novel that Simon & Schuster will publish.  Here’s a description of David Hilton’s debut novel, Kings of Colorado:

“A man reflects back on his childhood when, at age 13, he stabbed his abusive father in the chest and was sentenced to two years at a boys reformatory ranch in Colorado, where corruption was the norm, and troubled boys learned to fend for themselves as they cared for and broke wild horses that were just as willful and untamed as the boys themselves.”

There’s no word yet on when Kings of Colorado will be published.  According to his agent, Laney Katz Becker, Hilton lives near Austin, Tex.

Finally, a legend of Western fiction passed away this week: Elmer Kelton, author of 62 books, died at home in San Angelo, Tex., on August 22. He was 83.  In the obituary his family wrote, they listed a few of his many accomplishments:

“Kelton was named the number-one Western writer of all time by the Western Writers of America. The WWA voted him seven Spur awards for best Western novel of the year and the career Saddleman Award, and he received four Western Heritage Wrangler awards from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame.”

Jerry Lackey remembered his long-term friendship with Kelton for the San Angelino Standard Times.  According to Brandy Ramirez of the same newspaper, Kelton’s funeral will be held tomorrow, and “Felton Cochran, owner of the Cactus Book Shop in San Angelo, said he’s received e-mails from people across the country asking when and where Kelton’s funeral will take place.”

Two more books by Elmer Kelton are scheduled to be published soon.  Macy Halton wrote a good appreciation of Kelton for The New Yorker’s Book Bench.

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