R E S O L U T I O N 1-1 WHEREAS, Governor Rick Perry has declared May 2001 the eighth 1-2 annual Texas Writers Month, and the commemorative poster for this 1-3 year's literary festival pays tribute to the critically acclaimed 1-4 San Angelo author Elmer Kelton; and 1-5 WHEREAS, A novelist who sets his stories in rural Texas, 1-6 Mr. Kelton was born April 29, 1926, in a line camp on a ranch in 1-7 Andrews County and grew up on another ranch near Crane; by the age 1-8 of eight or nine he had determined to become a writer and to 1-9 chronicle the lives of cowboys, an ambition he has fulfilled with 1-10 memorable works that stand as classics in Texas literature; and 1-11 WHEREAS, After service in World War II, Mr. Kelton completed 1-12 a degree in journalism at The University of Texas at Austin and 1-13 began a career covering agriculture and the livestock industry; he 1-14 worked successively for the San Angelo Standard-Times, the Sheep 1-15 and Goat Raisers magazine, and the Livestock Weekly from 1948 until 1-16 his retirement in 1991; and 1-17 WHEREAS, His first novel was published in 1955, and his 1-18 second, appearing in 1956, won the Western Writers of America Spur 1-19 Award for best western novel of the year; among his most well-known 1-20 works are The Day the Cowboys Quit, The Wolf and the Buffalo, and 1-21 The Good Ole Boys; The Time It Never Rained, a book about the 1-22 devastating drought of the 1950s, has been hailed as "one of the 1-23 dozen or so best novels written by an American in this (the 20th) 1-24 century"; and 2-1 WHEREAS, With nearly 50 novels published to date, Mr. Kelton 2-2 has won six Spur Awards, in addition to honors from the Cowboy Hall 2-3 of Fame and the Texas Institute of Letters; the esteem in which he 2-4 is held was capsulized in 1996 when the Western Writers of America 2-5 voted him the best western writer of all time; a former president 2-6 of the Western Writers of America and the West Texas Historical 2-7 Association, he continues to write and to give lectures around the 2-8 country; and 2-9 WHEREAS, Texas Writers Month is sponsored by the Texas 2-10 Writers Project, Inc., a nonprofit organization established in 1998 2-11 to promote reading and appreciation of Texas writers and to raise 2-12 awareness of the literary arts; during this month-long celebration, 2-13 thousands of Texans will take part in programs offered by schools, 2-14 bookstores, libraries, community centers, and arts organizations; 2-15 the extensive scope of this undertaking is due in large measure to 2-16 the organizational efforts of Cary L. Roberts, president of the 2-17 Texas Writers Project; and 2-18 WHEREAS, Texas writers constitute one of our greatest 2-19 cultural resources, for their works enrich our lives in countless 2-20 ways; standing among the finest writers our state has produced, 2-21 Elmer Kelton has contributed significantly to the preservation and 2-22 interpretation of a vital part of our heritage, and it is indeed 2-23 fitting that he be recognized at this time; now, therefore, be it 2-24 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 77th Texas 2-25 Legislature hereby recognize May 2001 as Texas Writers Month and 2-26 honor Elmer Kelton for his distinguished achievement in Texas 2-27 letters; and, be it further 3-1 RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be 3-2 prepared for Mr. Kelton as an expression of high regard by the 3-3 Texas House of Representatives. Hunter Junell Turner of Coleman Counts Gallego Laney Goodman Merritt Alexander Goolsby Miller Allen Gray Moreno of Harris Averitt Green Moreno of El Paso Bailey Grusendorf Morrison Berman Gutierrez Mowery Bonnen Haggerty Naishtat Bosse Hamric Najera Brimer Hardcastle Nixon Brown of Kaufman Hartnett Noriega Brown of Brazos Hawley Oliveira Burnam Heflin Olivo Callegari Hilbert Pickett Capelo Hilderbran Pitts Carter Hill Puente Chavez Hinojosa Ramsay Chisum Hochberg Rangel Christian Hodge Raymond Clark Homer Reyna of Bexar Coleman Hope Reyna of Dallas Cook Hopson Ritter Corte Howard Sadler Counts Hunter Salinas Crabb Hupp Seaman Craddick Isett Shields Crownover Janek Smith Danburg Jones of Lubbock Smithee Davis of Harris Jones of Bexar Solis Davis of Dallas Jones of Dallas Solomons Delisi Junell Swinford Denny Keel Talton Deshotel Keffer Telford Driver King of Parker Thompson Dukes King of Uvalde Tillery Dunnam Kitchen Truitt Dutton Kolkhorst Turner of Coleman Edwards Krusee Turner of Harris Ehrhardt Kuempel Uher Eiland Lewis of Tarrant Uresti Elkins Lewis of Orange Villarreal Ellis Longoria Walker Farabee Luna West Farrar McCall Williams Flores McClendon Wilson Gallego McReynolds Wise Garcia Madden Wohlgemuth George Marchant Wolens Geren Martinez Fischer Woolley Giddings Maxey Yarbrough Glaze Menendez Zbranek _______________________________ Speaker of the House I certify that H.R. No. 910 was adopted by the House on May 1, 2001, by a non-record vote. _______________________________ Chief Clerk of the House