H.R. No. 686

	R E S O L U T I O N
	WHEREAS, The Lone Star State lost an accomplished native son
	with the passing of novelist and journalist Elmer Kelton of San
	Angelo on August 22, 2009, at the age of 83; and
	WHEREAS, Born on April 29, 1926, at Horse Camp in Andrews
	County, Elmer Stephen Kelton was descended from cowboys and
	ranchers; his great-grandfather came to West Texas in the 1870s
	with a covered wagon and a string of horses, and his father, Robert
	William "Buck" Kelton, was the foreman and eventual manager of the
	McElroy Ranch in Crane and Upton Counties; and
	WHEREAS, Elmer Kelton was the oldest of four sons and, by his
	own admission, the worst cowboy of the bunch; he decided at an early
	age that if he couldn't be a cowboy, he would at least write about
	them, and he was encouraged in this endeavor by his mother, Neta
	Beatrice "Bea" Kelton, a former schoolteacher; he entered The
	University of Texas at Austin at the age of 16 and enrolled in
	journalism classes; and
	WHEREAS, In the mid-1940s, Mr. Kelton served in Europe as an
	infantryman during the final months of World War II; while
	stationed in Austria, he met his future wife, Anni Lipp, whom he
	married in 1947; he went on to earn his bachelor's degree in
	journalism from UT the following year; and
	WHEREAS, Mr. Kelton was the farm-and-ranch editor for the San
	Angelo Standard-Times from 1948 to 1963; he later spent five years
	as associate editor of Sheep and Goat Raisers' Magazine and more
	than two decades as editor of Livestock Weekly before retiring in
	1990; and
	WHEREAS, His career as a Western writer began in 1948, when he
	sold a story to Ranch Romances magazine for $50; he published his
	first novel, Hot Iron, in 1955, and writing mainly in his spare
	time, he went on to author or contribute to more than 60 books,
	including several volumes of Western art, a memoir, Sandhills Boy,
	and many works of fiction; and
	WHEREAS, Insightful portrayals of West Texans, Mr. Kelton's
	novels were admired by readers and critics alike for their keen
	attention to detail, moral complexity, and psychological realism;
	he wasn't interested in writing simplistic Western characters who
	were "seven feet tall and invincible," he once said, adding, "my
	characters are five-eight and nervous"; and
	WHEREAS, In The Time It Never Rained, he vividly evoked the
	struggles of a rancher during a devastating drought in the 1950s; in
	The Good Old Boys, which was made into a television movie directed
	by and starring Tommy Lee Jones, he told the story of an aging
	cowboy grappling with changing times at the turn of the 20th
	century; and
	WHEREAS, Often bestsellers, his books also won numerous
	accolades; seven of his titles earned the Spur Award from the
	Western Writers of America, and three received Western Heritage
	Awards from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum; Mr.
	Kelton himself was honored with both the Owen Wister Award for
	lifetime achievement and the Lone Star Award for Lifetime
	Achievement from the Larry McMurtry Center for Arts and Humanities
	at Midwestern State University; in 1995, he was voted the best
	Western writer of all time by members of the Western Writers of
	America; and
	WHEREAS, Throughout a long and prolific career, Mr. Kelton
	enjoyed the love and support of his wife of 62 years as well as their
	three children, Gary, Stephen, and Kathy; moreover, his family
	included four grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, and a
	great-great-granddaughter; and
	WHEREAS, Elmer Kelton wrote with deep reverence and
	compassion about the people and landscape he loved; whether he was
	evoking the stark beauty of the high plains or the pride and dignity
	of hardworking people, he celebrated a rich culture and left a
	lasting legacy that will endure as long as the wind blows over West
	Texas; now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas
	Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life and accomplishments of
	Elmer Kelton; and, be it further
	RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
	prepared for his family and that when the Texas House of
	Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Elmer
	Kelton.
	Darby
	Straus Gonzales of Williamson Morrison
	Aliseda Gonzalez Munoz, Jr.
	Allen Gooden Murphy
	Alonzo Guillen Naishtat
	Alvarado Gutierrez Nash
	Anchia Hamilton Oliveira
	Anderson of Dallas Hancock Orr
	Anderson of McLennan Hardcastle Otto
	Aycock Harless Parker
	Beck Harper-Brown Patrick
	Berman Hartnett Paxton
	Bohac Hernandez Luna Pena
	Bonnen Hilderbran Perry
	Branch Hochberg Phillips
	Brown Hopson Pickett
	Burkett Howard of Fort Bend Pitts
	Burnam Howard of Travis Price
	Button Huberty Quintanilla
	Cain Hughes Raymond
	Callegari Hunter Reynolds
	Carter Isaac Riddle
	Castro Jackson Ritter
	Chisum Johnson Rodriguez
	Christian Keffer Schwertner
	Coleman King of Parker Scott
	Cook King of Taylor Sheets
	Craddick King of Zavala Sheffield
	Creighton Kleinschmidt Shelton
	Crownover Kolkhorst Simpson
	Darby Kuempel Smith of Harris
	Davis of Dallas Landtroop Smith of Tarrant
	J. Davis of Harris Larson Smithee
	S. Davis of Harris Laubenberg Solomons
	Deshotel Lavender Strama
	Driver Legler Taylor of Collin
	Dukes Lewis Taylor of Galveston
	Dutton Lozano Thompson
	Eiland Lucio III Torres
	Eissler Lyne Truitt
	Elkins Madden Turner
	Farias Mallory Caraway Veasey
	Farrar Margo Villarreal
	Fletcher Marquez Vo
	Flynn Martinez Walle
	Frullo Martinez Fischer Weber
	Gallego McClendon White
	Garza Menendez Woolley
	Geren Miles Workman
	Giddings Miller of Comal Zedler
	Gonzales of Hidalgo Miller of Erath Zerwas
	______________________________
	Speaker of the House
	I certify that H.R. No. 686 was unanimously adopted by a rising
	vote of the House on March 17, 2011.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House