November 27, 2003
A brisk, cool Thanksgiving morning. Got dogs under my legs wrestling on the floor trying to get to the three-day-old- cut wieners in my sweats pocket (didn’t know they were there, but, oh those dog noses!).

Yesterday at the TW offices we had our Thanksgiving feast. Carol got cold cuts at Costco and several others brought in side dishes. Abby brought in a delicious Baptist basement salad and Robert Ray brought in a crockpot of black beans and meat (both very tasty). Lots of laughs and at least everyone on staff wants to be there (couldn’t have said that last week).

I never realized the animosity that Michael Martin Murphey engenders. More negative responses to the idea of him being on the cover. Here’s a snippet:

“ can't see how you could say Michael Martin Murphy in the same breath as Gene Autry or Riders in the Sky. Murphy is a bad rip-off of Marty Robbins and certainly not on a par with the great cowboy movie singers.” —Allen Fossenkemper, Fountain Hills, AZ.

Here is the rough Gus came up with for the Gene Autry cover. The logo is in color, but the rest is black and white. I think it’s pretty strong. The great boots and spurs don’t hurt anything.

Got a new poll up. This one is from our editor R.G. who is suspicious of all our Billy the Kid coverage. It’s a good one: Does True West devote too much time to Billy the Kid? You can click right here to vote.

"If you want truly to understand something, try to change it."
—Kurt Lewin