At the Pony Express Memorial, Old Town Sacramento

I'm from Oregon, and lived in the West all my life, in fact I've never even seen the east bank of the Mississippi River.  School drove me crazy; it seriously cut into more important aspects of my life -- like hunting and fishing.  As soon as I cut the lead rope that kept me tied to the school building I started looking around for wider ranging adventures - and I found them.  In fact some of them about scared me to death, but now they make for great stories!

I ran with a bunch of good ol' farm boys chasing rodeos.  I rode saddle broncs and had the time of my life. The bronc riders of that day had little to fear from me, although I heard the whistle a time or two, my six-foot-four frame made me less than a stylish rider.

I went on to punch cows for a cattle company in western Oregon, and then moved on to wrangling horses and packing for hunting and guide outfitters. I worked in the wilds of the Alaska Bush for three years where I saw some of the greatest beauty left on earth.  I also served as the official horse shoer at two different outfits.  These horses received one shoeing a year, and except for hunting season, ranged free most of the year fighting off wolves.  Anyone who ever did any shoeing can imagine what it was like to shoe these guys.  In fact I told the story in a poem called Packstring Shoer   (read it online at www.cowboypoetry.com). 

In Montana I took out ten day, 100 mile trips over the divide through the Bob Marshal.  I later went to Wyoming and ran horses in the shadow of the Tetons.  I finally ended up in Colorado packing for Rocky Mountain National Park, that was the best job I ever had.  Along the way I broke horses in the good old way.  Unlike rodeo, style isn't important when breaking horses to ride, they still bucked as hard, but no one was scoring. Now I'm in Reno, Nevada, working my way up the ladder as a writer and performer. 

For a good many years I spent more time with horses and mules than people. I could understand the four-legged critters, but to this day I still scratch my head trying to figure out the two legged variety.  I met my wife in Colorado, I was barely housebroke and she came from a cultured background. Over the years she has managed to have some positive influence over me and can actually take me places now.  She is raising our three daughters to be fine young ladies and has succeeded wonderfully.  As I always tell the girls, "Listen to your mother and she'll make ladies out of you, but I'll teach you how to fight."  When she wasn't looking I taught the girls how to spit like a cowboy, but I warned them not to tell their mother.

In addition to my years in the world of the cowboy I spent several years as a Deputy Sheriff in Colorado.  It was here that I gained an inside view of what the modern lawman is up against, his Old West counterpart had his hands equally as full.  I knew lawmen that were as honest as the day was long and others who had no business with a badge on their chest.  You will find lawmen a frequent subject in my stories, the good and the bad.

I spend as much time as possible hunting and fishing, my passion is fly fishing and fly tying.  I tied professionally for over twenty-five years and still do.  I've had several articles on fly tying and my outdoor experiences published in outdoor magazines and hope to continue adding outdoor articles in between my westerns. 

I used to write small poems on the bottom of letters to friends and when they insisted I write longer poems and publish them - I did.  I originally published Reflections in the Stocktank, Vol. 1 - Cowboy Life and Vol. 2 - Reflections.  My third book of Cowboy Poetry was Shootout at the Old Pancake Corral, a poem telling the story of a deranged cook I worked with once in Alaska.  My fourth book, Campfire Yarns, was a collection of short stories put to rhyme in the Robert Service tradition.  These particular books are now out of print, however, many of the poems came together, along with many new ones, in my current book of cowboy poetry They Still Do That.

Although I am continuing to write westerns, in particular short stories, my focus these days is in creating new cowboy poem stories that are reflective of my cowboy culture.  My style runs to more of a humorous trail that weaves a story and then surprises you with an unexpected ending or punchline.  I do throw in a serious poem along the way to balance it all out.

I am working in two major directions, which actually cross over nicely.  Cowboy poetry performances, which include Gatherings and private Conventions, and acting, working on commercial and film projects. I am also a member of the Cutting Edge Comedy Improv Troupe and am working with some very talented actors and improv artists.  We perform for a variety of venues, and our newest project is to put on Murder Mystery Comedy Dinner Shows.