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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, The Lone Star State lost an accomplished native son |
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with the passing of novelist and journalist Elmer Kelton of San |
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Angelo on August 22, 2009, at the age of 83; and |
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WHEREAS, Born on April 29, 1926, at Horse Camp in Andrews |
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County, Elmer Stephen Kelton was descended from cowboys and |
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ranchers; his great-grandfather came to West Texas in the 1870s |
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with a covered wagon and a string of horses, and his father, Robert |
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William "Buck" Kelton, was the foreman and eventual manager of the |
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McElroy Ranch in Crane and Upton Counties; and |
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WHEREAS, Elmer Kelton was the oldest of four sons and, by his |
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own admission, the worst cowboy of the bunch; he decided at an early |
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age that if he couldn't be a cowboy, he would at least write about |
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them, and he was encouraged in this endeavor by his mother, Neta |
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Beatrice "Bea" Kelton, a former schoolteacher; he entered The |
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University of Texas at Austin at the age of 16 and enrolled in |
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journalism classes; and |
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WHEREAS, In the mid-1940s, Mr. Kelton served in Europe as an |
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infantryman during the final months of World War II; while |
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stationed in Austria, he met his future wife, Anni Lipp, whom he |
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married in 1947; he went on to earn his bachelor's degree in |
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journalism from UT the following year; and |
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WHEREAS, Mr. Kelton was the farm-and-ranch editor for the San |
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Angelo Standard-Times from 1948 to 1963; he later spent five years |
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as associate editor of Sheep and Goat Raisers' Magazine and more |
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than two decades as editor of Livestock Weekly before retiring in |
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1990; and |
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WHEREAS, His career as a Western writer began in 1948, when he |
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sold a story to Ranch Romances magazine for $50; he published his |
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first novel, Hot Iron, in 1955, and writing mainly in his spare |
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time, he went on to author or contribute to more than 60 books, |
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including several volumes of Western art, a memoir, Sandhills Boy, |
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and many works of fiction; and |
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WHEREAS, Insightful portrayals of West Texans, Mr. Kelton's |
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novels were admired by readers and critics alike for their keen |
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attention to detail, moral complexity, and psychological realism; |
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he wasn't interested in writing simplistic Western characters who |
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were "seven feet tall and invincible," he once said, adding, "my |
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characters are five-eight and nervous"; and |
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WHEREAS, In The Time It Never Rained, he vividly evoked the |
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struggles of a rancher during a devastating drought in the 1950s; in |
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The Good Old Boys, which was made into a television movie directed |
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by and starring Tommy Lee Jones, he told the story of an aging |
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cowboy grappling with changing times at the turn of the 20th |
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century; and |
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WHEREAS, Often bestsellers, his books also won numerous |
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accolades; seven of his titles earned the Spur Award from the |
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Western Writers of America, and three received Western Heritage |
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Awards from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum; Mr. |
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Kelton himself was honored with both the Owen Wister Award for |
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lifetime achievement and the Lone Star Award for Lifetime |
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Achievement from the Larry McMurtry Center for Arts and Humanities |
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at Midwestern State University; in 1995, he was voted the best |
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Western writer of all time by members of the Western Writers of |
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America; and |
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WHEREAS, Throughout a long and prolific career, Mr. Kelton |
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enjoyed the love and support of his wife of 62 years as well as their |
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three children, Gary, Stephen, and Kathy; moreover, his family |
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included four grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, and a |
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great-great-granddaughter; and |
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WHEREAS, Elmer Kelton wrote with deep reverence and |
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compassion about the people and landscape he loved; whether he was |
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evoking the stark beauty of the high plains or the pride and dignity |
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of hardworking people, he celebrated a rich culture and left a |
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lasting legacy that will endure as long as the wind blows over West |
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Texas; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas |
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Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life and accomplishments of |
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Elmer Kelton; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for his family and that when the Texas House of |
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Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Elmer |
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Kelton. |