Being a Winner at Any Age



Have you been to the Rodeo of the Ozarks? If so, you may well have heard Dusty Richards announcing the action of this quintessential cowboy event. With that background, it is no wonder Dusty chose the Western as his literary specialty.


When Richards retired from his “day job” at Tysons back in 1996, he had already begun to publish western stories. He has been prolific in this late-life career (he did not publish until his mid-50‘s) with his 98th title coming out his fall. He has also been extremely successful, witnessed by the awards he has won for his story telling. The latest accolade, and the most prestigious, will be bestowed this Saturday, April 17, when the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City will give him the Western Heritage Award for this year’s Outstanding Western Novel (for The Sundown Chaser). Dusty will be in good company as such luminaries as Larry McMurtry, John Mitchner and Cormac McCarthy are recipients of this award.


As a child, Dusty Richards says, his favorite western author was Will James. (Having read it, who could forget Smokey?) I wouldn’t be surprised if he read Zane Gray as well, I know I did. What Westerns stand out in your memory?