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NEWS & HIGHLIGHTS

 

  
 

WWA HEADLINES:

FACTS & HIGHLIGHTS:

  • WWA began in 1953, at the advent of the golden era of TV western programming.  For over a half century, the WWA Spur Award has stood for the finest in literature about the American West.  It is one of the oldest and most prestigious honors in American literature, given annually by the Western Writers of America.

 

  • One of WWA's illustrious members -- Natlee Kenoyer -- and a past president just celebrated her 100th birthday.  She was born the same year as John Wayne.  Her birthday was celebrated by all WWAers in attendance at the national convention this past June.

 

  • One of the more fascinating WWA developments is the new partnership with the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming, to house the WWA Hall of Fame and become a major depository for all western literature.  Look for this to become a significant presentation of western literature in the years to come.

 

  • Although traditional “westerns” have become to a small portion of the book market, overall western literature is growing with new authors, new publishers, and new approaches to the West, both in fiction and nonfiction.  This is dramatically demonstrated in the quantity of just-published works in our catalog -- and the growth in Spur Award entries. 

 

  • WWA has members in forty-six states. Canada and several foreign countries.  Texas and California are the two states with the greatest number of WWA members.

 

  • WWA is producing a television show built on the role of the land in writing about the West.   Watch for scheduling details.

 

  • WWA's home office is located on the campus of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.

 

  • An anthology of short stories and poetry from WWA members is scheduled for publication in 2009.  This follows a proud line of anthologies so produced over the years.

 

  • At WWA's Springfield, Missouri national convention, the 100th anniversary of John Wayne's birth was celebrated with a special trivia competition.  An Arizona, two-hour radio show celebrating John Wayne's life and legend included WWA President (and Duke fan) Cotton Smith.

 

  • Look for a Youth Writing competition in conjunction with the WWA Scottsdale national convention.

 

  • WWA's 2009 national convention will be held in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, home of the Cowboy Hall of Fame.

 

  • Student Subscription

    High school and college students will now have the opportunity to receive the Round-Up magazine for only $20, about the cost of postage. 

     

    If they so choose, they may also attend our conventions at the regular price.

     

     This participation has no bearing on their possible future WWA membership, but we certainly hope it inspires many of them to write about the West.

     

 

NEWS LINKS:

 

 

WWA Executive Director, Paul Hutton, WWA member Don Chenhall, and past WWA President Johnny D. Boggs at the Tucson Festival of Books.

Emmy nominated screenwriter, Alan Geoffrion, accepting his Spur Award.

WWA President, Johnny D. Boggs

 

WWA member Dan R. Manning addresses a group at a WWA convention.

 

WWA Executive Director Paul Andrew Hutton.

 

‘Roundup!,’ Latest Collection of Western Fiction, Nonfiction and Poetry from the Western Writers of America, Now Available

 

CHEYENNE, Wyo., June 23, 2010 — Roundup!, the latest collection of Western fiction and nonfiction short stories and poetry presented by the Western Writers of America and written by some of today’s top Western writers, is now available in bookstores and online at Amazon.com.

 

Roundup! (ISBN: 978-0-9785634-7-9) is published by La Frontera Publishing (www.lafronterapublishing.com) and distributed through the University of New Mexico Press (www.unmpress.com).

 

From Native Americans, famed frontiersmen, cowboys and outlaws, to contemporary tales of ranching, lost treasure, and urban challenges, the WWA presents the full range of the American West in this anthology.

 

“These are not your granddad’s Western stories, but rather a fresh and enlightening look at the West and its people—past, present and future,” said Roundup! editor Paul Andrew Hutton.

 

Hutton is the Distinguished Professor of American History at the University of New Mexico and also serves as the Executive Director of the Western Writers of America.

 

Enjoy the works of WWA Wister-award-winning authors such as Elmer Kelton (in his final WWA publication), Robert M. Utley, Matthew Braun (over 40 million books in print), and Richard Wheeler. They join many WWA Spur-award-winning authors along with several fresh, young writers in this exciting anthology. (Click on cover image to purchase.)

 

The collection includes a bonus feature: A special Western novella—a rip-roarin’ tale of the Old West written by television icon (he wrote and produced the John Wayne film Chisum) and WWA Wister Prize-winner for Lifetime Achievement, Andrew J. Fenady.

 

“We are pleased and excited to bring this collection of Western writing to fans of this genre,” said Mike Harris, publisher for La Frontera Publishing. “This is a true sampler of today’s Western writing.”

 

About La Frontera Publishing

 

Cheyenne, Wyoming-based La Frontera Publishing publishes historic fiction and non-fiction books about the American West. Its Web site can be found at www.lafronterapublishing.com and reached at (307) 778-4752.

 

 

 

GHOST RIDERS IN THE SKY the Greatest Western Song of All Time

 

KNOXVILLE, Tenn.—GHOST RIDERS IN THE SKY, classic song written by Stan Jones in 1948, tells the story of a cowboy who has visions of red-eyed cattle being chased by cowboy spirits. It has been named the Greatest Western Song of all time, Western Writers of America has announced.

 

For top honors, GHOST RIDERS edged Marty Robbin’s EL PASO, released in 1959. Robbins wrote it in a car as he rode from El Paso to Arizona. Released as a single, it shot to number One in early 1960. In 1961, it was the first Grammy ever awarded to a country song and is considered a genre classic.

 

Western Writers of America, a nonprofit organization of more than 600 professional writers, founded in the 1950s to promote and honor the best literature about the American West -- including songwriting -- announced the 100 Greatest Western Songs of All Time on Thursday, June 24, at Knoxville’s Crowne Plaza Hotel during the association’s annual convention.

 

"The selection of these great songs,” says WWA President Johnny D. Boggs, “showcases not only the wide breadth of Western songwriting -- traditional songs from the 1800s, classics from the Western Swing era, songs from Hollywood and contemporary music -- but also the enormous variety of Western writing in all forms, past and present."

 

 Members voted on their top 10 Western songs, and the ballots were tabulated at the WWA offices at the University of New Mexico. 

 

No. 3, COOL WATER, tells about cowboys who long for a life-saving swig of water. This best-selling recorded version was done by Vaughn Monroe and The Sons of the Pioneers in 1948 and was on the Billboard chart for 13 weeks. No. 4, STREETS OF LAREDO is a ballad in which a dying cowboy tells a story to a living one. No. 5, BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN, was the signature song of American cowboy entertainer Gene Autry. Co-written by Autry with Ray Whitley and first released in 1939, it tells of a cowboy’s love of being on the open range.

 

WWA’s membership roster is filled with writers who are no stranger to the music world. Michael Blakely’s band won Vocal Group of the Year at the Texas Music Awards and as a songwriter, he won the first-ever WWA Spur Award for songwriting. Bobby Bridger has recorded numerous albums for labels including Monument Records, RCA and Golden Egg Records.

 

For information on the WWA convention, call the organization’s executive director’s office at (505) 277-5234 or log on to www.westernwriters.org.

 

The complete list follows:

 

WWA Top 100 Western Songs

1.  Ghost Riders in the Sky

 

 

2.  El Paso

 

 

3.  Cool Water

 

 

4.  Streets of Laredo/Cowboy's Lament

 

 

5.  Back in the Saddle Again

 

 

6.  High Noon/Do Not Forsake Me

 

 

7.  Oh Shenandoah/Across the Wide Missouri

 

 

8.  Tumbling Tumbleweeds

 

 

9.  Home on the Range

 

 

10. Red River Valley

 

 

11. Big Iron

 

 

12. Don’t Fence Me In

 

 

13. Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie

 

 

14. Desperado

 

 

15. Wildfire

 

 

16. Cattle Call

 

 

17. Pancho and Lefty

 

 

18. Little Joe, the Wrangler

 

 

19. They Call the Wind Mariah

 

 

20. Coyotes

 

 

21. Along the Navajo Trail

 

 

22. Happy Trails

 

 

23. Rawhide

 

 

24. Yellow Rose of Texas

 

 

25. Mamas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys

 

 

26. Ballad of Davy Crockett

 

 

27. Wayward Wind

 

 

28. Strawberry Roan

 

 

29. When the Works All Done This Fall

 

 

30. Empty Saddles in the Old Corral

 

 

31. Ballad of the Alamo

 

 

32. Mule Train

 

 

33. My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys

 

 

34. Knockin' on Heaven's Door

 

 

35. Amarillo by Morning

 

 

36. Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

 

 

37. Last Comanche Moon

 

 

38. Oh My Darling, Clementine

 

 

39. The Rebel (Johnny Yuma)

 

 

40. Ballad of Ira Hayes

 

 

41. North to Alaska

 

 

42. My Rifle, My Pony and Me

 

 

43. Don't Take Your Guns to Town

 

 

44. South of the Border

 

 

45. Desperadoes Waiting for a Train

 

 

46. Get Along, Little Dogies

 

 

47. Buffalo Gals

 

 

48. I'm an Old Cowhand from the Rio Grande

 

 

49. New San Antonio Rose

 

 

50. Gunfight at the OK Corral

 

 

51. Wild Montana Skies

 

 

52. Last Cowboy Song

 

 

53. Ballad of Paladin

 

 

54. Tonight We Ride

 

 

55. Oklahoma!

 

 

56. I'd Like to Be in Texas for the Roundup in the Spring

 

 

57. Call You Cowboy

 

 

58. Bonanza

 

 

59. Old Double Diamond

 

 

60. Lorena

 

 

61. Hanging Tree

 

 

62. Dust Eatin' Cowboys

 

 

63. Cowpoke

 

 

64. Old Timer

 

 

65. Red Headed Stranger

 

 

66. Last Wild White Buffalo

 

 

67. Jesse James

 

 

68. Faster Horses

 

 

69. El Dorado

 

 

70. Goodbye Old Paint/I'm Leaving Cheyenne

 

 

71. Tom Dooley

 

 

72. I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart

 

 

73. Wayfarin' Stranger

 

 

74. The Old Cantina

 

 

75. I Ride an Old Paint

 

 

76. Granpa

 

 

77. Someday Soon

 

 

78. Summer Wages

 

 

79. Battle of New Orleans

 

 

80. Jingle, Jangle, Jingle

 

 

81. Blue Shadows on the Trail

 

 

82. O Susanna

 

 

83. Sweet Betsy from Pike

 

 

84. Colorado Trail

 

 

85. When Roy Rogers Was Around

 

 

86. Navajo Rug

 

 

87. Remember the Alamo

 

 

88. Billy the Kid

 

 

89. Life Is Like a Mountain Railway

 

 

90. Old Chisholm Trail

 

 

91. Whatever Happened to Randolph Scott

 

 

92. Desert Pete

 

 

93. Rocky Mountain High

 

 

94. Theme from the Searchers

 

 

95. Wagon Wheels

 

 

96. Vaya con Dios

 

 

97. Ridin' Down the Canyon

 

 

98. Shifting, Whispering Sands

 

 

99. Oklahoma Hills

 

 

100. Master’s Call

 

2010 Spur Awards Salute Best Westerns

     SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor has won a 2010 Spur Award from Western Writers of America for “Finding Susie,” her somewhat autobiographical children’s book about growing up on a desert ranch.

     Western Writers of America (www.westernwriters.org) announced the winners and finalists of its annual literary contest Saturday, March 20, during the National Festival of the West. O’Connor and illustrator Tom Pohrt won the Storyteller Spur for best illustrated children’s book. “Finding Susie” was published by Knopf Books for Young Readers, a division of Random House.

     Robert Flynn’s “Echoes of Glory” (published by Texas Christian University Press) won tfor Best Western Long Novel -- more than 90,000 words -- and Robert Olmstead’s “Far Bright Star” (Algonquin) won for Best Western Short Novel.

     Since 1953, Western Writers of America has promoted and honored the best in Western literature with the annual Spur Awards, selected by panels of judges. Awards, for material published last year, are given for works whose inspiration, image, and literary excellence best represent the reality and spirit of the American West.

     John D. Nesbitt won two Spurs, claiming his second consecutive Spur for Best Original Mass Market Paperback Novel with “Stranger in Thunder Basin” (Leisure Books) and for Best Western Short Fiction Story, “At the End of the Orchard” ( Hardboiled Magazine).

     WWA President Johnny D. Boggs won his fourth Spur Award, for “Hard Winter” (Five Star) in the Best Western Juvenile Fiction category.

     Winners and finalists will be honored at the WWA Convention, June 22-26 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Knoxville, Tennessee.

     The complete list of winners and finalists:

Long Novel -- Winner: Robert Flynn, “Echoes of Glory” (TCU Press). Finalists: Bob Cherry, “One-Eyed Jacks” (Cicada Wing);  Mary E. Trimble, “Tenderfoot” (Treble Heart).

Short Novel -- Winner: Robert Olmstead, “Far Bright Star” (Algonquin). Finalists: Sandi Ault, “Wild Sorrow” (Berkley Prime Crime); Robert Greer, “Spoon” (Fulcrum).

Mass Market Paperback -- Winner: John D. Nesbitt, “Stranger in Thunder Basin” (Leisure). Finalists: Lyle Brandt, “Hanging Judge” (Penguin/Berkley); William Blinn, “A Cold Place in Hell” (Pinnacle/Kensington).

Nonfiction-Biography -- Winner: David C. Humphrey, “Peg Leg” (Texas State Historical Association). Finalists: Clyde Milner and Carol O’Connor, “As Big as the West: The Pioneer Life of Granville Stuart” (Oxford University Press); Polly Aird, “Mormon Convert/Mormon Defector: A Scottish Immigrant in the American West (Arthur H. Clark).

Nonfiction-Historical -- Winner: Douglas C. McChristian, “Fort Laramie” (Arthur H. Clark). Finalists: William B. Schillingberg, “Dodge City: The Early Years, 1872-1886” (Arthur H. Clark); Paul Horsted, Ernest Grafe and Jon Nelson, “Crossing the Plains with Custer (Golden Valley Press).

Nonfiction-Contemporary -- Winner: Charles H. Harris III and Louis R. Sadler, “The Secret War in El Paso: Mexican Revolutionary Intrigue, 1906-1920” (University of New Mexico Press). Finalists: Katherine Benton-Cohen, “Borderline Americans: Racial Division and Labor War in the Arizona Borderlands” (Harvard University Press); Timothy Egan, “The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).

Short Nonfiction -- Winner: Roger Di Silvestro, “Teddy’s Ride to Recovery” (Wild West). Finalists: Kerry Oman, “Rejoicing in the Beauties of Nature: The Image of the Western Landscape During the Fur Trade” (Great Plains Quarterly); Michael A. Amundson, “These Men Play Real Polo: An Elite Sport in the Cowboy State, 1890-1930” (Montana: The Magazine of Western History).

Short Fiction -- Winner: John D. Nesbitt, “At the End of the Orchard” (Hardboiled Magazine). Finalists: Matthew Mayo, “Half a Pig” (Express Westerns); J.J. Clark, “As Is” (High Desert Journal).

Juvenile Fiction -- Winner: Johnny D. Boggs, “Hard Winter” (Five Star). Finalists: Victoria McKernan, “The Devil’s Paintbox” (Alfred A. Knopf); Melodie Cuate, “Journey to Goliad” (Texas Tech University Press).

Juvenile Nonfiction -- Winner: Nancy Plain, “With One Sky Above Us” (Mondo Publishing). Finalists: Annica Benning, “Arizona: Nations and Arts” (Walnut Canyon Press); Charles C. Mann, “Before Columbus: The Americas of 1491” (Atheneum/Simon & Schuster).

Storyteller -- Winner: Sandra Day O'Connor (author) and Tom Pohrt (illustrator), “Finding Susie” (Random House Children's Books); Finalists: Joe Gribnau (author) and Adrian Tans (illustrator), “Kick the Cowboy” (Pelican); Vaunda Micheaux Nelson (author) and R. Gregory Christie (illustrator), “Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal” (Lerner Publishing).

Documentary -- Winner: Candy Moulton, “In Pursuit of a Dream” (Boston Productions Inc.). Finalists: Ric Burns, “We Shall Remain: Tecumseh’s Vision” (WGBH); Lyman Hafen, “Born to Ride” (Southern Utah University).

Poem -- Winner: Paul Zarzyski, “Bob Dylan Bronc Song” (Two Medicine). Finalists: David Memmott, “Where the Yellow Brick Road Turns West” (Wordcraft of Oregon); Larry D. Thomas, “Glass Mountains” (Southwestern American Literature).

Audiobook -- Winner: Gary McCarthy, “River Thunder” (Books in Motion). Finalists: Monty McCord, Mundy’s Law (Books in Motion);  Phil Mills Jr., “Where a Good Wind Blows” (Books in Motion).

Song -- Winner: Wylie Gustafson and Paul Zarzyski, “Hang-n-Rattle: (Two Medicine Music/Bucking Horse Moon Music).

Finalists: Steve Moulton, “Steamboat” (Butch Hause/The Ranger Station); Daron Little, “Pete French” (self-published).

 

GUNSMOKE, LONESOME DOVE TOP LIST OF GREATEST TV WESTERNS, ACCORDING TO WESTERN WRITERS OF AMERICA

OKLAHOMA CITY -- GUNSMOKE, which ran for 20 years on CBS, has been chosen the Greatest TV Western Series of All Time by Western Writers of America. LONESOME DOVE, an Emmy-winning 1989 CBS production based on Larry McMurtry’s Pulitzer Prize-honored novel, was selected Best TV Western Miniseries/Movie.

The nonprofit organization of more than 600 professional writers founded in the 1950s to promote and honor the best literature about the American West announced the Greatest TV Western Series, Miniseries and Movies of All Time on Thursday, June 18, during the association’s annual convention. Last year, WWA named its 100 Greatest Western Movies.

“GUNSMOKE teleplays won six Spur Awards from WWA, and McMurtry’s novel also won a Spur, so neither choice is a surprise,” WWA President Johnny D. Boggs says. “Many of our members study GUNSMOKE episodes and LONESOME DOVE, both the novel and the miniseries, as examples of great writing.” 

Members voted on their top 10 series and top 10 miniseries/movies. Ballots were tabulated at the WWA offices at the University of New Mexico.

In the series category, MAVERICK was second, followed by RAWHIDE; BONANZA; HAVE GUN, WILL TRAVEL; THE RIFLEMAN; WAGON TRAIN; HIGH CHAPARRAL; DEATH VALLEY DAYS; and THE VIRGINIAN. A more recent hit, HBO’s DEADWOOD, placed 11th.

CENTENNIAL was second in the miniseries/movie category, followed THE SACKETTS, CONAGHER, MONTE WALSH, Disney’s DAVY CROCKETT, LAST STAND AT SABER RIVER, BROKEN TRAIL, RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE and INTO THE WEST.

Eight of the top 10 movies/miniseries first were Western novels: James Michener wrote CENTENNIAL. THE SACKETTS was based on two works by Louis L’Amour, who also wrote CONAGHER. Jack Schaefer wrote MONTE WALSH. Elmore Leonard, recipient of this year’s Owen Wister Award for lifetime achievement, wrote LAST STAND AT SABER RIVER. Alan Geoffrion’s novel and script for BROKEN TRAIL won Spur Awards, and Zane Grey penned RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE.

“Many of our members remember when Westerns ruled television in the 1950s and ’60s,” Boggs says. “Some even wrote for those series, and with DEADWOOD, INTO THE WEST and BROKEN TRAIL we’ve seen how successful Westerns can still be, and how important powerful writing is to that success.”

WWA plans to announce the Greatest Western Songs of All Time at its 2010 convention in Knoxville, Tenn.

Continuing Series

1. Gunsmoke  (1955-75)
2. Maverick  (1957-62)
3. Rawhide  (1959-66)
4. Bonanza  (1959-73)
5. Have Gun, Will Travel   (1957-63)
6. The Rifleman  (1958-63)
7. Wagon Train  (1957-65)
8. High Chaparral   (1967-71)
9. Death Valley Days  (1952-70)
10. The Virginian  (1962-70)
11. Deadwood  (2004-06)
12. The Westerner (1960)
13. Cheyenne   (1955-63)
14. The Big Valley  (1965-69)
15. Wanted: Dead or Alive (1958-61) 

16. The Lone Ranger (1949-57) 

17. The Roy Rogers Show (1951-57)

18. Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955-61)

19. The Wild, Wild West (1965-70)

20. The Rebel (1959-61)

21. Little House on the Prairie (1974-83)

22. The Young Riders (1989-92)

23. Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman   (1993-98)

24. Lawman (1957-62)

25. Laredo (1965-67)

26. Cimarron Strip (1967-68)

27. Daniel Boone (1964-70)

28. Branded (1965-66)

29. Zorro (1957-59)

30. The Yellow Rose (1983-84)

31. Tales of Wells Fargo (1957-62)

32. The Lazarus Man (1996)

33. The Gene Autry Show (1950-56)

34. Alias Smith and Jones  (1971-73)

35. Adventures of Brisco County Jr. (1993-94)

36. Trackdown (1957-59)

37. Kung Fu   (1972-75)

38. Lonesome Dove, the Series (1994-95)

39. The Magnificent Seven (1998-2000)

40. Broken Arrow  (1956-60)

41. F Troop (1965-67)

42. Sugarfoot  (1957-61)

43. Guns of Will Sonnett  (1967-69)

44. Wild Bill Hickok (1951-58)

45. Tales of the Texas Rangers  (1955-57)

46. Stoney Burke  (1962-63)

47. Sgt. Preston of the Yukon  (1955-58)

48. Restless Gun  (1957-59)

49. Laramie  (1955-63)

50. Hec Ramsey  (1972-74)

 

 

 

Movie/miniseries
1. Lonesome Dove   (1989)
2. Centennial  (1978)
3. The Sacketts   (1979)
4. Conagher   (1991)
5. Monte Walsh (2003)   
6. Davy Crockett  (1954-55)
7. Last Stand at Saber River (1997)

8. Broken Trail  (2006)
9. Riders of the Purple Sage  (1996) 
10. Into the West  (2005)

11. You Know My Name  (1999) 
12. Skinwalkers   (2002)
13. I Will Fight No More Forever  (1975) 
14. The Shadow Riders   (1982)
15. The Good Ol’ Boys  (1979)

16. Son of the Morning Star  (1991)
17. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007)  
18. Crossfire Trail  (2001)

19. The Macahans, How the West Was Won  (1976-77) 

20. Rough Riders  (1997)

21. Streets of Laredo (1995)

22. Return to Lonesome Dove  (1993)

23. Geronimo (1993)

24. Purgatory  (1999)

25. The Quick and the Dead  (1987)

26. A Thief of Time   (2004)

27. Coyote Waits  (2002)

28. The Johnson County War  (2002)

29. Buffalo Girls   (1995)

30. Mr. Horn   (1979)

31. Kenny Rogers as the Gambler  (1980)

32. Last of the Mohicans   (1977)

33. The Alamo: Thirteen Days to Glory  (1987)

34. Comanche Moon  (2008) 

35. Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge (1987)  

36. And Starring Pancho Villa As Himself  (2003)

37. The Avenging Angel  (1995)

38. Crazy Horse  (1996)

39. The Court-Martial of George Armstrong Custer  (1977)

40. Desperado  (1987)

41. The Jack Bull  (1999)

42. The Desperate Trail  (1995)

43. Gunsmoke: The Long Ride (1993)  

44. The Texas Rangers  (1981)

45. The Virginian (2000)

46. Wild Times (1980)

47. The Blue Hotel  (1977)

48. Buffalo Soldiers  (1997)

49. Gunsmoke: To the Last Man  (1992)

50. Life on the Mississippi (1980)

 

 

 

Western Writers of America to Honor Elmore Leonard for Lifetime Contribution

 

    ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Elmore Leonard, who mastered the Western in novels such as HOMBRE and short stories like “The Boy Who Smiled” and “The Tonto Woman,” will receive the Owen Wister Award for lifetime contribution to Western literature, Western Writers of America has announced.

 

Leonard will be honored June 20 at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City during the annual convention of Western Writers of America, a nonprofit organization founded in 1953 to promote and recognize literature of the American West.

 

Leonard, who lives in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, said he was surprised but thrilled at receiving the Owen Wister Award.

 

“I love the Western genre,” he said, “and writing them was a great way to learn to write.”

 

Before turning to crime novels such as BANDITS, GET SHORTY and TOSHOMINGO BLUES, Leonard honed his craft with edgy Westerns. Argosy published his first short story in 1951. Other tales followed in magazines such as Dime Western, 10 Story Western and Zane Grey’s Western. His story “The Captives” became THE TALL T, a highly regarded movie starring Randolph Scott in 1957. That same year, Leonard’s “Three-Ten to Yuma” was turned into 3:10 TO YUMA, starring Glenn Ford and Van Heflin, and was remade in 2007 with Russell Crowe and Christian Bale in the lead roles. 

 

Leonard’s first novel was THE BOUNTY HUNTERS in 1953. Other titles followed, including THE LAW AT RANDADO, ESCAPE FROM FIVE SHADOWS, FORTY LASHES LESS ONE and GUNSIGHTS. HOMBRE became a hit movie starring Paul Newman in 1967. VALDEZ IS COMING and LAST STAND AT SABER RIVER also were turned into movies, the latter a TV film with Tom Selleck.

 

“Elmore Leonard has had a tremendous impact on the Western and crime genres,” WWA president Johnny D. Boggs said. “He has always been a gifted storyteller, and never afraid to take chances. That’s why his Westerns remain in print decades after they were first published, and why anthologies of his short Western fiction fill bookshelves. Recognition from Western Writers of America is long overdue.”

 

Past winners of the Owen Wister Award, previously called the Levi Strauss Saddleman Award, include A.B. Guthrie Jr., John Jakes, Dorothy M. Johnson, Elmer Kelton, Louis L’Amour, Mari Sandoz and Tony Hillerman.

 

For more information on WWA, log on to www.westernwriters.org, or write WWA, MSC06 3770, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001.

 

 

SHANE the Greatest Western Movie of All Time,

Western Writers of America announces

 

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- SHANE, director George Stevens’ classic 1953 movie about a weary gunfighter caught up in a land war between Wyoming ranchers and farmers, is the greatest Western movie of all time, Western Writers of America has announced.

 

For top honors SHANE, which Pulitzer Prize-winning Western novelist A.B. Guthrie Jr. adapted for the screen from Jack Schaefer’s novel, edged HIGH NOON, the 1952 movie that won Gary Cooper his second Academy Award as Best Actor.

 

Western Writers of America, a nonprofit organization of more than 600 professional writers, founded in the 1950s to promote and honor the best literature about the American West -- including screenwriting -- announced the 100 Greatest Western Movies of All Time on Thursday, June 12, at Scottsdale’s Chaparral Suites during the association’s annual convention.

 

“This year has been incredible,” WWA Executive Director Paul Hutton said. “Cormac McCarthy’s brutal little contemporary Western NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN did great at the box office, taking in over $60 million and was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. Directors Joel and Ethan Coen got nominations, too. Paul Thomas Anderson also was nominated for THERE WILL BE BLOOD, his amazing adaptation of Upton Sinclair’s 1927 novel Oil, with his lead actor Daniel Day-Lewis, winning the Oscar.”

 

Members voted on their top 10 Western movies, and the ballots were tabulated at the WWA offices at the University of New Mexico.

 

No. 3 was THE SEARCHERS, director John Ford’s powerful 1956 story about a vengeful Texan’s quest to find his two nieces, taken by Comanche Indians, based on Alan LeMay’s novel. No. 4 was BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID, the 1969 movie that first teamed Paul Newman and Robert Redford. Kevin Costner’s Academy Award-winning DANCES WITH WOLVES (1990), from Michael Blake’s novel, rounded out the top five.

 

Rounding out the top 10 were director Sam Peckinpah’s bloody, end-of-the-West opera THE WILD BUNCH (1969); Howard Hawk’s first Western, RED RIVER (1948), which gave John Wayne one of his best roles; the surprise cult O.K. Corral favorite TOMBSTONE (1993), starring Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer; THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (1960), a Western retelling of Japanese director Akira Kurosawa’s brilliant SEVEN SAMURAI: and OPEN RANGE (2003), which starred Robert Duvall in another Costner-directed movie.

 

“It’s not the Top 10 I would come up with,” says incoming WWA president Johnny D. Boggs, “but that’s the fun of lists like these. It prompts lively debate, and members of Western Writers of America can be as passionate about Western film as they are about literature of the West.”

 

WWA’s membership roster is filled with writers who are no stranger to Hollywood, including screenwriters Kirk Ellis, Steve Harrigan, C. Courtney Joyner, Andrew J. Fenady, Stephen Lodge, and Miles Hood Swarthout, whose father, the late Glendon Swarthout, wrote the novel THE SHOOTIST, which became John Wayne’s last movie.

Bill Gulick (BEND OF THE RIVER, THE HALLELUJAH TRAIL) and Max Evans (THE ROUNDERS, THE HI-LO COUNTRY) saw two of their novels adapted for the screen. Hutton, Boggs and fellow members Michael F. Blake, Win Blevins, Brian Garfield, and Arthur Winfield Knight have written extensively about Western film.

 

In 2009, WWA plans to announce the 100 Greatest Western Television Movies, Series and Miniseries of All Time during the convention in Oklahoma City.

 

For information on the WWA convention, call the organization’s executive director’s office at (505) 277-5234 or log on to www.westernwriters.org.

 

The complete list follows:

 

WWA Top 100 Westerns

 

1. Shane                                                             

2. High Noon                                                     

3. The Searchers                                                     

4. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid                      

5. Dances with Wolves                                           

6. The Wild Bunch                                              

7. Red River                                                        

8. Tombstone                                                     

9. The Magnificent Seven                                         

10. Open Range                                                       

 

11. Treasure of the Sierra Madre                                    

12. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly                        

13. True Grit                                                       

14. The Shootist                                                     

15. Stagecoach (1939)                                            

16. Unforgiven                                                   

17. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance                       

18. The Outlaw Josey Wales                                    

19. Ride the High Country                                        

20. Jeremiah Johnson                                             

 

21. The Cowboys                                                   

22. My Darling Clementine                                        

23. 3:10 to Yuma (2007)                                    

24. Rio Bravo                                                    

25. The Ox-Bow Incident                                        

26. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon                                   

27. Lonely are the Brave                                         

28. Will Penny                                                   

29. Hud                                                          

30. Winchester`73                                          

 

31. Little Big Man                                                   

32. 3:10 to Yuma (1957)                                        

33. The Grey Fox                                           

34. The Alamo (1960)                                             

35. Silverado                                                    

36. Ulzana’s Raid                                          

37. Once upon a Time in the West                               

38. Rio Grande                                                       

39. The Rounders                                               

40. The Big Country                                                   

 

41. The Hi-Lo Country                                      

42. Duel in the Sun                                              

43. Fort Apache                                                  

44. The Last of the Mohicans (1992)                              

45. The Last Picture Show                                        

46. The Grapes of Wrath                                    

47. Bad Day at Black Rock                                            

48. The Long Riders                                              

49. The Tall T                                                   

50. Cat Ballou                                                   

 

51. Tumbleweeds                                            

52. The Iron Horse                                               

53. Man of the West                                              

54. Seven Men from Now                                     

55. The Big Trail                                                    

56. Three Godfathers                                                  

57. Hell’s Hinges                                              

58. The Wind (1928)                                                   

59. The Westerner                                          

60. Support Your Local Sheriff                                   

61. They Died with Their Boots On                          

62. Gunfight at the OK Corral                              

63. The Professionals                                            

64. The Cheyenne Social Club                                     

65. El Dorado                                                    

66. Thunderheart                                               

67. The Virginian (1929)                                               

68. A Man Called Horse                                     

69. Hombre                                                 

70. Barbarosa                                                    

 

71. Chisum                                                 

72. The Big Sky                                                  

73. Young Guns                                                   

74. Destry Rides Again                                         

75. Junior Bonner                                               

76. Angel and the Badman                                         

77. Warlock                                                

78. The Misfits                                                      

79. No Country for Old Men                                     

80. Monte Walsh                                            

 

81. Four Faces West                                              

82. The Naked Spur                                               

83. The Gunfighter                                               

84. High Plains Drifter                                    

85. D evil’s Doorway                                             

86. Law and Order (1932)                                              

87. Coroner Creek                                          

88. Valdez is Coming                                             

89. Hondo                                                        

90. The Man from Laramie                                         

91. The Unforgiven (1960)                                            

92. Broken Arrow                                           

93. Bend of the River                                            

94. Giant                                                            

95. Blazing Saddles                                              

96. The Culpepper Cattle Company                           

97. Three Bad Men                                          

98. Pursued                                                

99. McCabe and Mrs. Miller                                 

100. The Great Train Robbery (1903)

 

 
 
 

                          

 

Western Writers of America Announces New Spur Award Category

 

            ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—Western Writers of America, a guild of 600 professional writers of Western literature, has added Best Western Song as the newest category to the Spur Awards.

            The Spur Awards, given annually for distinguished writing about the American West, are among the oldest and most prestigious in American literature. Spurs are awarded for novels, short stories, articles, juvenile books, poetry, nonfiction books and screenplays for dramas and documentaries.

         "When one thinks of the great American West, one naturally hears great music,” WWA President Cotton Smith says. “Memorable words and music that tell us of this special place in  America's heart. That is an important part of the Western experience and WWA wanted to honor it -- with the creation of the Songwriting Spur Award.”

            To qualify for Best Western Song, the song must be released for the first time (in 2007) and available to the public with lyrics dependent in whole or in part on setting, characters, or customs indigenous to the American West or early frontier. A copy of the lyric sheet and medium must be submitted. Entries must be postmarked by December 31, 2007.

            "It was an honor to serve on the team that created the rules for the Western Writers of America's Spur Award for songwriting,” says Bobby Bridger, composer of A Ballad of the West. “Until now this genre of interpreting the history and culture of the American West has sadly been overlooked, and I am pleased the WWA has taken the first step to acknowledge the important contributions of balladeers and troubadours."

            Winners and finalists will be announced in March and honored at the WWA convention, June 10-14, at the Chaparral Suites in Scottsdale, Ariz.

            Since 1953, Spur Awards have been given to writers such as Tony Hillerman, Larry McMurtry, Leon Metz and Elmer Kelton. Entries are open to WWA members and non-members. For further information contact Executive Director Paul Hutton, wwa@unm.edu or (505) 277-5234..

 

 

MEDIA RELEASE

NOVEMBER 20, 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOURCE: WESTERN WRITERS OF AMERICA

CONTACT (for media only): Melody Groves; 505-298-3022, melodygroves@comcast.net 

 

America's Soul: Western Writers of America Redefining "Western"

 

     "Western writing, to me," award-winning Navajo mystery writer Tony Hillerman says, "is when you're flying from the east and clouds block the view. You can't see a thing. Then, you're over west Texas. The clouds part and what do you see? Endless miles of sunshine and wide open spaces."

     Over the past few decades, Western literature had slid into an abyss of reader apathy. However, Westerns are seeing a promising future, according to the nonprofit Western Writers of America (www.westernwriters.org). The guild of more than 600 professional writers continues to bring Western moments to the public through movies, novels, short stories, poems and nonfiction books. Nilsen BookScan, which covers about 70 percent of the U.S. book sales, says purchases of Westerns have increased 9 percent in 2005 and 10 percent thus far in 2006.

     In addition, Books in Print reports Western titles produced has increased from 543 in 1995 to 901 in 2005.Why such an upsurge in Westerns? Publishers representative Larry Yoder says today's Westerns aren't what your grandfather read or some TV show with a predictable plot created to construct the predicable ending. The genre comprises many forms, he says.

     "I feel honored to be called a Western writer," says Spur Award winner Max Evans, author of THE HI LO COUNTRY and THE ROUNDERS.

     "It's what I write and I'm proud of it. The Southwest is in the air I breathe, the water I drink; it's what I write."Adds WWA President Cotton Smith: "Western literature is of the spirit, our spirit, the spirit of America. Western literature is the motivation of people to succeed in lands greater than themselves. The Western is full of souls filled with concern, fear, joy and desire. In a phrase, it is the literature of America's soul."

     The popularity surge isn't limited to fiction. Hampton Sides's narrative history BLOOD AND THUNDER debuted at No. 14 on The New York Times bestseller list, and Ron Hansen's novel THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD has been turned into a Brad Pitt movie scheduled for release next year.

     "Western literature is about honesty, truth and a strange dignity," Evans says. "Good writing is something to admire."

  
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
 

 

 

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