Sage Advice From An Old Man And More New Old Vaqueros

 February 17, 2026

   A couple of co-workers—and a family member—have challenged me on giving up my True West title and they want to know why am I stepping down this December? Truth be known, my role model is Anna Wintour. I don't know if you have heard but after four decades,  Anna Wintour, the editor-in-Chief at Vogue magazine stepped down this year to make way for new blood. She is 76. I just don't think someone who is 80—and that will be me on December 19—should try and steer any magazine on a cutting edge course in this current market. It's time for new blood.

   My mantra has always been, lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way!

   On the other hand, if there's one thing I can never get enough of, it's the world of the old vaquero. I just dig that time frame and I don't think it gets the attention it deserves.

   And speaking of people who don't get enough attention in that time frame, why do the Apache warriors hog all our respect and admiration?

Daily Whip Out: "Apache Temptress"

   I have known an Apache beauty, or two, and they are just as formidable as any Chiricahua Brave.

Daily Whip Out:

"Old Vaquero Under The Sugarloaf Brim"

Daily Whip Out:

"Old Vaquero In The Corral"

New Old Vaquero Sayings

   And leave it to Dan The Man to design these whip outs into a clever design mix, like this:

   And this. . .

   There's a ton more, but you knew that.

I stayed in a really old hotel last night. They sent me a wake up letter."

—Steven Wright

Passing The True West Torch, Part II

 February 15, 2026

   I've had some interesting responses to my remarks about passing the torch and here is some clarity.

Passing The Torch, Part II

   For me, True West has always been personal. I bought my first issue as a kid in Kingman, and it never really let go of me. So when the opportunity came along in 1999, I did something only a history nut would do: I called a few friends, we pulled together the necessary resources, and we purchased True West—along with its sister title Old West and the full bundle of publishing assets—out of Stillwater, Oklahoma, then moved it to Cave Creek, Arizona, where it has prospered ever since.

   I’ve had great help from a ton of people who believed in the mission: to keep our love of American history alive. And, to reiterate, I have had the time of my life doing it!

   Now it’s time to find the next history nut—with the passion, the fresh energy, and a deep respect for this story-rich magazine—to take the reins and guide True West into its next chapter.

   True West was founded in 1953, and the road to 100 years is right around the corner. We don’t need a caretaker. We need new blood and new ideas—someone who honors the heritage, loves the readers, and wants to build what comes next.

   Do you—or someone you know—have what it takes to take True West to the century mark?

   Ken and I are looking for someone who can take the magazine to the next level. I hope if you are interested, you have someone with the ponies to carry it off, just like I did 27 years ago.

"Large numbers of strangers can cooperate successfully by believing in common myths."

—Simon Sinek

Mini Whip Outs & Praising The Past

 February 14, 2026

   Good things have happened on this date.

It is Arizona Statehood Day

   And, I must admit I love this damn place with all my heart.

Hopeless Mini-Whip Outs

   Someone gifted me a mini-sketchbook and I resisted using it because it seemed too small and cramped, but one day, in quasi-desperation, I decided to use it as a loosening up tool. 

Size Matters

(a regular sized watercolor paper is on the bottom, my big-sized sketchbook is on the right and my mini-sketchbook is on the left, with a big, fat, fanbrush pointing the way between the two)

   So I grabbed my large fan brush, above, and blocked in some color, without hope, without despair. And. . .

Mini-Gasline Break

   I totally dig it now and use it often to loosen up before getting serious about effort and expectations. Here are a few of those hopeless pages. 

Mini-Ghost Cleavage

Mini-Slug Queen

Mini-Gearhead

   Of course, there's tons more, but you get the picture.

Passing The Torch

   I will be eighty this year and it's time to start thinking about passing the True West torch on to someone who can carry this venerable publication to the century mark. I have had great help from a ton of people who believed in the mission: to keep our love of American history alive. Yes, I have carried it when no one else wanted it and I have had the time of my life, but it's time to give someone else a shot at this. We need new blood and new ideas. Do you know anybody who is worthy of this gig?

"It's not what you look at, it's what you see."

—Old Vaquero Saying

Storm Clouds And 100 Years of Kickin' It! Plus, How Many Times Has Wyatt Earp Been On The Cover of True West?

 February 13, 2026

   Looked like it might storm this morning.

   But these dramatic clouds petered out and we got nothing. Welcome to Arizona.

   Otherwise, lots going on, including this little event.

   Full Disclosure: the Dolan Ellis quote was a smart-assed placeholder. He never said those words, but it is kind of funny. On the other hand, Kathy Radina did, in fact, say her quote with some emphasis. Keep in mind, she has to live with me doing these books (15 so far!) on a day to day basis and it can be, how can I say this diplomatically, not fun!

   Oh, yes, and it's Friday The Thirteenth! But you already knew that.

   I have been asked to review my friend's book, Ride The Devil's Herd by John Boessenecker. It was a fun exercise and it made me realize a couple things: I have been chasing the Wyatt Earp story for six decades. And this led me to wonder how many times have we featured the part-time lawman on the cover of True West?

   Okay, I just counted. And we have featured this guy 17 times on the cover since I took the reins (and Doc Holliday 9 times!). Ouch! That is more than enough of that!

   Speaking of which, I can't leave well enough alone. . .

Daily Revised Whip Out: "Into The Blue II"

“There is no doubt fiction makes a better job of the truth. Because the truth is never just one thing is it? Life is layered, contradictory, always in flux. To try and pin it down is like trying to catch wind in your hands. But through story, through emotion, we get close to something that feels real.”

—Doris Lessing, “The Golden Notebook”

How Valuable Is Courage?

 February 12, 2026

   I took another swing at a certain, lovable, south of the border cowboy:

Daily Revised Whip Out: 

"New Old Vaquero In Red"

"To care enough is the beginning of courage."

—Old Vaquero Saying

   Speaking of courage, my friend John Boessenecker uncovered some very unpleasant facts about the Earp boys for his book, Ride The Devil's Herd:

“All had seen the inside of a jail. Wyatt in Arkansas and Illinois, Jim in Montana, Virgil in Iowa, and Morgan in Illinois and Missouri. Wyatt and Jim were jailbreakers. Wyatt, Jim, and Morgan had all been pimps. Virgil had been charged with both arson and fraud.”

—John Boessenecker

  Ouch! Hard to believe anyone could recover from this public expose and shaming, but somehow, some way, Wyatt Earp keeps rising back to the top, perhaps because of this simple fact: courage never goes out of style. And, when push comes to shove, apparently, we’ll take the blemishes with the bravery.

   All of which brings up our distorted notions about the past. We all romanticize the Old West and sometimes we foolishly convince ourselves that we are living in the wrong era.

"I exaggerated the vitality and beauty of the past and ignored its squalor and cruelty and morbid greed. If I was transported back there, I would loathe it. The stupidity and waste would suffocate me or make me insane."

—Ian McEwan, What We Can Know

We Are Somewhere Between Autocracy and Democracy

 February 11, 2026

   Got a request from Buckeye Blake to send my Vincent van Gogh vs. Rene Secretan Classic Gunfight coverage to Steve S. in Capitan, New Mexico. So I did.

CG Layout: "A Murder of Crows"

(The true story of how Vincent van Gogh died)

    I had forgotten how good it is.

    I realized today we are all dancing between opposites. Take autocracy and democracy. How do you get efficiency over anarchy? In the olden days chiefdoms answered that question by creating security against roving bands of bandits.       

   Democracy, on the other hand, is granting governing authority to the people or to governing officials through free elections.  A scholar, Mancur Olson introduced the term "stationary bandits," as opposed to the "roaming bandits" that dominate anarchies. Wow. It all makes sense to me now. When democracy seems to be giving away too much power to people who make you uncomfortable, you slide towards autocracy, where a single person tells those upstarts to back off and straighten up and fly right, or else.

   Okay, and here is the second spread of the Van Gogh murder investigation.

CG Layout 2: "A Murder of Crows"

Daily Whip Out: "Freight Train Clouds"

   This is a scene of a storm I witnessed on a trip to New Mexico some years ago. As I was motoring eastward, just around the corner from Magdalena, I soon dropped down into the slot canyon that drains into the town of Socorro,  and it was there I witnessed a fast moving storm that went right over my truck like a freight train. It was so magnificent, I had to pull over and get out and watch it. I imagine some of the passing locals muttered, "Oh, look Honey, another damn Zonie looking skyward and drooling." But, I didn't care.   

"Devote the rest of your life to making progress."

—Epictetus

I Still Seek The Magic From Old Photos

 February 10, 2026

   The art thing that I still seek to this day is, if not mastery, an attempt to capture the vagueness of old photos. This desire and quest no doubt stems from the thousands of old, damaged photos I have looked at and studied ever since I bought my first True West magazine from Desert Drugs in downtown Kingman in 1957. Of course, 42 years later, that obsession took a fortuitous turn.

Our first cover of TW in the fall of 1999

(actually for the January 2000 issue)

   Yes, when I illustrate stories for the magazine, I want them to have an authentic, Old West patina.

Daily Whip Out: "Wyatt On The Phone"

Daily Whip Out: "As Time Went On"

Daily Whip Out: "Vague Tony"

   And, yes, sometimes I miss. I have been accused of doing "finger paintings" in the magazine and I hate to admit it but it has some merit since I am trying to emulate those old damaged images and sometimes the end result is more damaged "finger painting" than authentic.

Daily Whip Out: "Badass Bass"

   Conversely, once in a while I hit the jackpot and the vague distortions and specific detail combine to make an exquisite image. This is one of those rare instances:

Daily Whip Out: "Teresita"

   Once in a blue moon, the magic happens and I get a combo of Old Photo meets Modern Pathos.

Daily Whip Out: "The Baja Hinny"

   I also dig the amber glow of old photos and sometimes I try to blend the obscureness of old photos with the effervescent glow of a modern pop image. Here's a decent example of that:

Daily Whip Out Reworked: "Russian Bill"

   Like Chief Dan George noted in Little Big Man, "Sometimes the magic works, and sometimes it doesn't."

Daily Whip Out: "Seldom Seen Slim"

  I have long heard of the moniker but I didn't realize this guy was a real person.

Me lonely? Hell no! I'm half coyote and half wild burro." 

—Seldom Seen Slim, these words are the epitaph on his grave at Ballarat, California Cemetery