BBB's Blog
If you've ever wondered what it's like to run a magazine or how crazy my personal life is, be sure to read the behind-the-scenes peek at the daily trials and tribulations of running True West. Culled straight from my Franklin Daytimer, it contains actual journal entries, laid out raw and uncensored. Some of it is enlightening. Much of it is embarrassing, but all of it is painfully true.
In addition to this current journal, my early journal entries show the rocky road and money lost in the True West Business Timeline.
Bob's biography - The Unvarnished Truth
November 6, 2009
The kids came over last night with Bill Glenn and Grandma Betty for Tacos de Bell (or, as Deena calls them, "Tacos de Bobby"). Lots of laughs all around. By the way, when Deena and Tommy and I were on our recent Mexican Food road trip to southern Arizona and northern Sonora, I got to listen to a whole bunch of their music. Here's the ride we got thanks to Deena and her road warrior benefits:
It's a Buick Enclave CXL. Great ride and a great sound system. Here's a smattering of the groups Tommy and Deena played on the sound system (while I sat in the back and said "Who's this?" over and over): The Pixies, Tapes 'N' Tapes, White Stripes, The Stooges, Blind Pilot, Fugazi, Death From Above 1979 (yes, that's the name of a group), The Hold Steady, Broken Social Scene, Animal Collective, Quasimoto, Nirvana, The Stones ("Can't You Hear Me knockin'?"). I think I knew maybe three of these groups. Very interesting musical journey to say the least
And here's the two music maniacs in the middle of Obregon Street in Nogales:
In addition to the bad recession (Frank McGuire of Mill Avenue fame came in my office last week and told me there used to be about 75 curio shops on the street and now there's less than 30), the street was torn up as they put in underground utilities, which didn't help biz either.
100 Covers: From Oblivion to Ahora
As we close in on the final year of our 100 cover march from January 2000 to ahora (today) we have to stop and take a look at the progress of our annual Source Book, which first appeared in 2007 with this year's model (below) the third:
These special issues have revolutionized our business by giving a much needed source for all things Western. Our newest issue goes out the door this week and it is the best yet. If you want to know the best purveyors in the Western field, whether they be saddle makers, knives, specialized clothing, saloons, hotels, music, pottery, hats or guns, you need the 2010 Source Book.
Meanwhile, our January issue of this year featured one of my Border Rider paintings:
The original painting was bought by Eric Weider. If that name sounds familiar it's because he is the publisher of Wild West magazine.
Robert Ray thought our March issue was a little too close to the previous issue in terms of subject matter (a horseback rider on the border) and he may be right. It's still an excellent cover though and the cover story by our friend Leon Metz is absolutely tops.
For our Seventh Annual Travel Issue we had a cover that no one liked. At the last minute, Meghan Saar pulled out this POV photo taken on a wagon train ride, and Dan the Man made it ride:
If you've read this blog for the past year, you know the angst that went into the Alamo cover:
Not as bad as I feared, but not as good as I had hoped it would be. In June we utilized a photo by Marcie Shaw of Steve Shaw and crew traversing the Little Big Horn hills on their annual Great American Tour Trail Ride of the Custer Battlefield. Unfortunately, the sky was blank and it just didn't fly, so I went home and pulled out a couple cloud photos and Robert Ray and Dan Harshberger did their Photoshop magic to make this a very dynamic cover:
For our Kids and history cover in July we had an excellent photo of our cover boy but the background was a little bit too midwestern looking (green and trees), so, once again I brought in some of my sunset photos and Robert Ray and Dan the Man composited the two images until it worked:
Our staff photographer John Beckett shot this time lapse photo of expert gun spinner Joey Dillon. Dan Harshberger took one of the guns from a different image with Joey flipping a pistol over this shoulder, and dropped it in here to make it look like Joey has three hands:
Excellent gun spinning effects! For our vaquero cover with Lee Anderson, we went through more versions of this cover than any we have ever created. I think Dan H. said he did two dozen versions of this. Once again, the original photo was too green (the desert was lush at the time) so we struggled with making it look older, and yes, to capture some amber glow:
For our 100th cover, we went back to the Billy well and utilized one of the dozen Billy paintings I created for the art opening of Capturing Billy the Kid Country at the Overland Gallery in Scottsdale last month:
What a run of covers! All the twists and turns seem bizarre in retrospect, but there is a consistency in style and a dogged persistence that pervades the whole effort. I am very proud of our crew who make this happen each and every single issue. Congrats to all of you!
"Any one can face a crisis; it is this day-to-day living that wears you out."
—Chekhov
Bob Boze 9:14 AM
November 5, 2009
Last night when I was driving home from work I caught this spectacular sunset over The Seven Sisters:
Then, this morning, as I walked out the driveway to pick up the newspaper, I caught this sunrise:
True West Moment Question:
"In the old west movies they always seem to show a single sheriff or marshal with maybe one deputy. Going up against maybe 4 or 5 gun toting folks in a saloon who broke the law. I understand the idea of a posse who tracks a murderer (and I think that is also overblown how many men would leave there farms and families for days)doesn't seem to make sense to me. Can't believe most sheriffs were that brave. Whats the real scoop on how most NORMAL sheriffs handled that situation?"
—Mark Swint
Clearwater, Florida
Mark,
Believe it or not, many farmers and ranchers were deputized by roving posses, some against their wills. In the Lincoln County War in New Mexico (1878), rival posses carrying warrants from different judges and alcades (Mexican officials), would stop at a ranch and draft able hands to join them. Many didn't want to go but felt forced to do their civic duty, or avoid paying a fine. As for the one deputy this was true in small towns (and still is in some parts of the country today), but even in Tombstone in the 1880s, there were several policemen, the city marshal, and then county officials which would include the county sheriff, and then men carrying U.S. Deputy Marshal badges (Wyatt Earp).
There was plenty of law in the Old West, some would say too much law, as in the case of the Lincoln County War. But in very rural counties, like in the Bootheel of New Mexico, you might have a sheriff covering hundreds of miles. Even there, the sheriff would have ranchers he could count on. When members of the Wild Bunch robbed a train at Steins Pass, a pretty large posse made up of train detectives, county officers and volunteer ranchers went on the trail. Often with a squad of Apache trackers as well. So the movie portrayals all have some basis in fact, although it can get to be a tired cliche, like in High Noon, where one guy goes out to face five outlaws.
—BBB
How's this for weird and wacky? A Wild West Gathering in the East. This April, the French Broad Outpost Ranch is having its First Annual Western Gathering in The East! Ha. Michael Martin Murphy, Waddie Mitchell and Asleep At The Wheel will be there. Where? Del Rio, Tennessee.
Check them out.
"History is an argument without end."
—Pieter Geyl
Bob Boze 11:10 AM
November 5, 2009
Got a call this morning from a reporter for the Baltimore Sun, who is doing an obit piece on Ted Yeatman, who passed away on November 1. After praising Yeatman's stellar research and skills regarding Jesse James, Fred Rasmussen, the reporter, asked me how I got along with Ted. That was a tough one. Ted was a challenge for my staff, to say the least. I tried to answer as honestly as I could.
100 Covers: From Wipeout to Mickey Free
As we close in on the last two years of covers on our march from the January 2000 issue to today, it's interesting to me to note how wide the swings are for themes on covers. Here's our January, 2008 cover:
In the fall of 2007 I attended True Grit Days in Ridgeway, Colorado. For three days, Jason Strykowski and I sat in a tent and looked out at a constant stream of 200-plus people waiting to get a peek at Angie Dickinson, Johnny Crawford and Kim Darby.
Sitting there it became crystal clear to me: we live in a celebrity driven culture. Thousands of people came to this tiny town to see the three of them, while we sat there with one or two people coming up. The celebrity tent had long lines all weekend (snaking right in front of us). We quickly realized we needed to work the lines and began giving mags to many of them. On the way home, it finally sank in to me why Cowboys & Indians runs a celeb on each and every cover.
First came Russell Crowe and Glenn Ford on our 3:10 to Yuma cover (see October, 2007), then came Brad Pitt as Jesse James, followed by Tommy Lee Jones in No Country For Old Men, and we followed that into January of 2008 with:
Daniel Day Lewis in There Will Be Blood. As with most trends, the strength and length of it depends on results and when I attended the Dude Ranchers Association confab in Cody, Wyoming in January of 2008, I brought along these covers in a power point presentation and showed them to the banquet dinner crowd of about 300 people (all dude ranch owners or ranch hands). I was stunned when I asked for a show of hands and only one guy in the room had seen all three movies (and he was from New York!). A handful had seen 3:10 to Yuma. That's when another realization hit me: they may be bigtime celebrities but not that many Westerners are seeing their movies. Ha. This ended, or at least curtailed my shortlived love affair with Western movie stars on the cover.
It was during this stretch, in February of 2008, that I had my heart attack while playing "Wipeout" at a reunion band gig in Kingman. My able staff worked on without me for about six weeks. Although I worked on the April cover concept, not much inside came from my hand:
I really like this cover of Geronimo: the idea that the Travel Issue banner is on the wall behind him, like a Wild West poster. Very clever, Dan The Man!
When I got back in harness I became obsessed with amber glow. I noticed that photographs with an amber glow, especially log cabins with the lights on, really appealed to me. I wondered if that might be true on covers. So, that idea led to this cover:
I was obsessed with having just a couple lights on in the house behind Buffalo Bill.
We had some controversy on the next cover choice for obvious reasons, but I still like the cover:
The July issue was supposed to have amber glow but it didn't quite get there:
Switching gears, in August we featured a wonderful black and white image of a cowboy, his boy and a dog:
It doesn't get much better than this for my tastes. Back to amber glow for the September issue:
Although I normally rave about Dan The Man's design, I can't say this cover is one of my faves:
I chose the photo because of the cool hat Charlie Russell had on and it's totally buried behind the logo. However, Dan totally redeemed himself with the next cover:
This really has all of the design elements I dig, along with understated elegance and yes, a touch of amber glow. Perfecto! Dan hand colored the sepia photograph and did a masterful job. It was a great way to end a tumultuous year.
Next up: the year we are living in now. Ha.
“Watch out for the idiot behind me.”
—Bumper sticker
Bob Boze 9:47 AM
November 4, 2009
Met Kathy for lunch and then came home to work up sketches for a friend of mine who wants an illustration of the Medicine Lodge lynching where they hanged three guys with two ropes. This is the infamous bank robbery attempt by ex-Billy the Kid gang member Henry Brown (we think, some don't agree). He and his lanky deputy Ben Wheeler, along with two Texas cowboys, attempted to rob the Medicine Valley Bank on a rainy day in April of 1884. They ended up killing the bank president (who wasn't supposed to come in this day and that's why they picked the day) and a teller.
After a short chase, one of the outlaw's horses went lame and they tried to stand off a posse in a gully, during a rainstorm. After giving themselves up on the condition they not be mobbed, they were taken back to town and mobbed at about 9 p.m. When the vigilantes stormed into the makeshift jail, Henry Brown hid behind the door, punched the first guy, then ran for it and was shot almost in half by a farmer wielding a scatter gun. The deputy Wheeler was shot at close range and his vest was set on fire and he lost two fingers from close range shooting. Incredibly he was still alive, so the mob dragged him and the two cowboys down to the creek bottom. Incredibly they had only two ropes so they chose the two cowboys to stretch hemp from the same rope. Wheeler's bleating could be heard for several blocks as they twisted slowly in the wet, night air:
I wanted to illustrate them swinging (after all, the slang is "he swung for it") from side to side. Most photographs show the deceased after cessation of the wiggling which creates the swinging motion.
Worked up this color study at lunch today:
Although this has a nice mood, I think it's more dynamic to have them at an angle to show the deadly motion of the affair.
Meanwhile, got this today:
"I think you mentioned back when your art exhibit opened that you were going to post a photo or two of the evening... something like that... but I don't remember seeing them. Did I overlook them?"
—Sharon Tally
Here you go, this was the Saturday opening when all five artists who had art hanging at the time were present:
Left to right: Joseph LaRusso, Gary Ernest Smith, Martin Grelle (Cowboy Artist), Ed Mell and BBB.
"If you're an author, you're more interested in the story you're telling than in your handwriting. If you're an artist, and you tell a great story, the technique will follow. A great mistake can be made if you concentrate more on technique than the story."
—Old Vaquero Saying
Bob Boze 4:20 PM
November 4, 2009
A couple of loose items to catch up on. When I was in Tombstone for the Vendetta Ride, I gave a walking tour and afterwards I signed books outside the Crystal Palace. One of the riders presented me with a complimentary bottle of wine:
That night, in Bisbee, we opened the wine and sat on the balcony of the El Dorado Hotel on O.K. Street. Our porch looked right down on Brewery Gulch and it was a beautiful evening. With the first sip of Cosentino Winery 2005 Cabernet Saugvignon, Deena said, "Oh, this is amazingly good." Tom Bell and I agreed. Then with the second sip we all raved again until, on the third sip, Deena blurted out, "This is the best friggin' wine I have ever had in my life."
Turns out it is a $70 bottle of primo wine from the Cosentino Winery in Napa, California. For someone who drinks mostly Two Buck Chuck, it was a revelation, just how much better really good wine is.
Meanwhile, as we continue to celebrate our tenth anniversary here at True West (it was November 3rd, when we had our first staff meeting at El Encanto), here is a photo of the original staff:
The only two people in this photo who are still here at True West are Carole Glenn (second from right) and myself.
I Can't Believe I Drew It
Another amazing page from my sketchbooks where I was in the zone:
These were inspired in part by Ed Mell style paintings. And speaking of Ed, our show Capturing Billy the Kid Country comes down today. In fact, Kathy is down in Scottsdale, picking up the paintings, and we are meeting for lunch at Kashman's Deli on Scottsdale Road.
Tom Bell got a job today so we are celebrating tomorrow night with a Taco de Bell party at our house. Grandma Betty is coming out to party hardy with us.
"I like everything about filming except the acting. I'm wonderful in rehearsals, but I have never been very good when they actually switch the cameras on.”
—Hugh Grant
Bob Boze 11:06 AM
November 4, 2009
As we continue into 2007 on our 100 Covers march, we did another sepia cover on our good friend Jim Clark, aka, The Trainman:
After a successful run of 11 sepia covers we decided to mix it up a bit and try something completely different:
Royal Wade Kimes joined us for this photo shoot, which we shot on the top of the hill on School House Road, cattywampus from the town library. The classic Ford pickup belongs to our art director Dan Harshberger.
A major museum show in Albuquerque curated by none other than the Top Secret Writer, produced this cover:
And a very expensive painting got the nod for June, 2007:
In July we honored Robert Utley on the cover:
Although Bashas' Bakery replicated this cover on Bob's birthday cake last weekend as a surprise for his 80th birthday party at the Roaring Fork in Scottsdale, I was quite disappointed in this cover, especially when I saw it on the newsstand. It "mushed out," as we say. Too many mid-tones and not enough pop. Ironically, it sure looked good on that cake. Ha. Go figure.
In August we came up with a pretty funny gag cover:
The very idea that a reporter (who uncannily resembles LBJ), would go out and poll a bunch of Sioux chiefs on their favorite books got big laughs in our offices, but I'm not sure it translated out in the real world.
For September of 2007 we tried a different tact [this just in: "I’ve noticed what I believe is a possible misuse of the word tact in describing cover choices on you blog. Since we often do not enjoy being corrected, I’ll use as much tact as possible. I think the word and usage you are looking for is tack, as in, 'changing tack', or “trying a different tack”. It’s a nautical term that refers to a zigzag technique of best catching the wind in sails while sailing toward a particular direction."—Lance Ross]
Okay, so we tactfully tried a different tack:
I have always been a firm believer in people on the covers and this was a first for us. Whatever. In the next issue we made up for this bigtime:
I got criticized by Paul Hutton for putting the wrong guy at the top. He feels the right call would have been Russell Crowe big and Glenn Ford, small, at the bottom, but I felt Ford's look was more classic to our readers and besides, I hated that fruitcake looking hat on Crowe. Ha. Now you know how major decisions are made in our office.
Keeping with the movie theme, we tried to tie Brad Pitt's next movie, The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford to the real history (amazing how much Brad looks like Jesse in this duotone):
Although I personally think Assassination is one of the best Westerns ever made (and certainly the best Jesse James movie ever), the movie sank like a stone, so we got very little traction on this.
Coming next: more movie stars and amber glow.
Mashing Metaphors and Wincing Witticisms
"Carpe Mañana."
—Old Vaquero Saying (submitted by Mad Coyote Joe)
Bob Boze 9:37 AM
November 4, 2009
With yesterday's posting on the passing of Jesse James author Ted Yeatman, I got the following thank you email from Ted's cousin, Jean Yeatman:
Thank you for posting about Ted on your blog. This response really helped me feel better:
Dear Ms. Yeatman,
On behalf of The James Preservation Trust, and the historical interests of the family of Frank & Jesse James, you have our sympathies and condolences.
The James family, which has not always known or recognized its own history, owes a debt of gratitude to Ted, and particularly to his work. His book stands as the definitive encyclopedia of the professional careers of Frank and Jesse James. Be assured as we are, his book will stand as such for decades to come.
When the Trust was formed by myself and the late great grandson of Jesse James, Judge James R. Ross, Jim and I acknowledged Ted's achievement. Had Ted not written his book, we still would probably be addressing that history. The fact that Ted published his extensive and detailed research, has now made it possible for us to focus on new research, and the writing of a new history regarding Frank and Jesse James, in particular their family. For that alone, we owe a particular debt of gratitude. That gratitude already is acknowledged in the preface of the pre-publication manuscript of the new history book being prepared to be published about the James family. Ted didn't know about this formal acknowledgement. He did not communicate with us. Nor did we expect to alert him prior to publication. However, for us, the acknowledgement of his contribution to the history of the James family was a necessity.
I don't know if there's anything we can do for you. If you know of something, let me know. Otherwise, please take pride as we do in Ted and his extraordinary accomplishment.
Warmest regards,
ERIC JAMES, President, The James Preservation Trust
End of comments. This is the issue of True West that Ted edited in 2002:
A very classy and thoughtful email from Eric James, an upstanding member of our community, by the way. And, yes, we have a real community here on this site. We have petty arguments (better zoning laws?) and personal attacks, infighting and invading a--holes, excuse me, outlaws. And, in some rare instances, we have had to call the marshal and have them run out of town. And, we have drummers, who come thru town and try and dupe us with their elixirs and hair-brain products. And, of course, in every town there is a group of people (town council?) who think they run the place, know everything and are always right, no matter what. I'd like to believe I'm not a member of that group, but I do attend their meetings. Ha.
"I'm willing to admit that I may not always be right, but I am never wrong."
—Samuel Goldwyn
Bob Boze 8:31 AM
November 3, 2009
While I was on one of my walks with Peaches last week I met one of my neighbors, Joe Yager, who is a tractor expert (he owns several). We set up a tractor date: that's when I go buy the gas, hose off the family John Deere, clean out the rat crap, drag an extension cord out to the Tractor shed, air up the tires and cool down two Miller Lites in the fridge.
I always know when Joe is coming because I can hear the thump thump of his 1948 Series D John Deere coming down the road. After we primed the pet cocks, and took turns turning the big ol' fly wheel, Carl Marvin Bell's 1940 Series B John Deere came alive and I did my semi-annual paseo de tractor thru the neighborhood.
After solving several world problems (What's up with the wrinkled shirts they are selling today as new?), we posed for a victory photo. His wife Charlene took the photo:
Two beers followed.
The weekend before Kathy got on a kick to redesign our living room. It had gotten rather cluttered with all of our art and semi-art stacked in over the years. A neighbor, Cal, has a new business called "Arrange for a Change." She has you clean out your living room and put all the couches, chairs, coffee tables and stuff out on the patio. Then she shows up with an assistant and they slowly rebuild your living room using superior design theories (she has a degree). Here they are with Thomas Charles, rehanging our Spanish Rodeo Posters:
Here's Cal, and Deena (in chair) in front of the piece de resistance, a cluster of my paintings built over a tattered, old Arizona flag:
Kind of cool and very impressive. Not sure what to do with the remaining two tons of art and assorted sombreros piled up in the breezeway.
"Nothing runs like a deer."
—John Deere's brilliant slogan
Bob Boze 12:51 PM
November 3, 2009
I've been walking Peaches every day (sometimes twice a day) and noticing that I sometimes get really good ideas while I'm walking along. So, I have been coming back to the house, going inside and writing down, what I call, The Big Idea. For example, Sunday I was thinking about the John Ford classic "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence," and in the old story telling tradition of using a quote, or passage from an earlier, classic story to begin a new story, I asked myself how would that apply to Mickey Free?
Okay, it's probably a medium idea, but the walks are productive and the scenery is pretty damn sweet.
100 Covers: Wrapping Ourselves In The Flag
After the flurry of Stunt Covers in 2006, I was tired of the controversy and irate phone calls and decided what we needed was a nice, solid series of covers that had integrity. My marching orders to Dan The Man were, "Give me something that will look good on a coffee table." And, so, Mr. Harshberger did exactly that:
A very clean and striking cover with headlines that don't scream or even shout. Perhaps it's not a great newsstand ploy, but it sure works for my tastes. I would place this cover in my top five favorites of all we have done.
Continuing with the sepia integrity, we followed with this cover on The Racial Frontier:
And then followed suite with a sports cover in the same vein:
This cover was not as successful as I had hoped, at least on the newsstand (I know, I know, I was allegedly giving up the newsstand mania for an understated look, and then, still comparing our numbers and complaining. Welcome to Dan Harshberger's world). Next up, another one of my favorites, this one was inspired by the short lived movie, "Dude, Where's My Car?" That, and attending the annual Dude Ranch Association Convention in Cody, Wyoming where I met several young people who are carrying on the traditions of the Dude Ranch and the West:
In September of 2006 we put a striking In-din on the cover. I like this cover very much, but we have never had much luck with Native Americans on the cover. Not sure why.
Next up, a slam dunk: Tombstone, Val Kilmer and Kurt Russell as Doc and Wyatt, all done in sepia. What's not to love about this one. This cover did quite well (and still sells briskly as a back issue):
In November we tried a slightly different tact with the sepia look, utilizing an old publicity still of William S. Hart. Not real successful but still a worthy offering in the run of sepia covers.
Then, a tip of the hat to the ladies:
And going into 2007, another Native American cover making the claim "Cowboys Are Indians":
As we continued into 2007 we made efforts to go deeper and wider with some successes, and a few turkeys as well. We were on a roll and doing good.
"The luxury of doing good surpasses every other personal enjoyment."
—John Gay
Bob Boze 10:42 AM
November 2, 2009
We have been doing this magazine for ten years and in all that time I can't recall a typo that has created such an uproar (the photograph in the current issue that identifies Guy Madison as Jock Mahoney):
I have received dozens of emails (I got two today), two hand written letters and several phone calls. This afternoon I got a call from Bridget Madison, Guy Madison's oldest daughter, who said she heard about the mistake from her friend, Dave Snowden, who is the Beverly Hills Chief of Police. She called from Long Beach and was very sweet. She lost her son in Iraq. We are sending her a True West magazine with the gaffe in it.
Here's the website for her and her father:
Man, he was a handsome guy!
"Wait for me Wild Bill!"
—Jingles, played by Andy Devine of Kingman, Arizona fame
Bob Boze 2:35 PM
November 2, 2009
I just got the word from my producer Jeff Hildebrandt that the new True West Moments we filmed in August will premiere tonight on the Westerns Channel. "Rocks On Graves" will run this evening at approximately 6:36 pm (eastern time) and the "Water Trough" is scheduled at 7:53 pm (eastern time). The Water Trough True West Moment is the one where we shot a Colt .45, a Winchester and a buffalo gun into a water trough filled with water to test the theory that gunmen in movies hiding behind a water trough seem to be immune to getting hit. See the surprising (to me) results for yourself.
"We are all born charming, fresh and spontaneous and must be civilized before we are fit to participate in society."
—Judith Martin (Miss Manners)
Bob Boze 10:43 AM
November 2, 2009
It was ten years ago today—November 2, 1999—three moving vans pulled up to Clantonville and demanded a cashier's check for $12,000 and change. The vans were full of True West back issues and assorted office materials from a warehouse in Stillwater, Oklahoma. As me and my small staff helped the Mayflower crew unload and put the boxes in our flimsy storage shed behind the Goat Sucker Saloon, I was quite aware that one era was expiring and another beginning.
It's perhaps fitting that today is the Day of The Dead celebration when Mexicans everywhere celebrate death in high style. I noticed when I was in Nogales a couple weeks ago that Day of the Dead skeletons have become all the go in the curio shops, commanding entire aisles of goodies, whereas I don't recall seeing many Day of the Dead inspired skeletons 20 years ago. What I guess this means is that tourists from the United States are finally catching on. Yes, Posada inspired skeletons are all the go today. Ironically, ten years ago I created a couple Day of the Dead style logos for our morning radio program: The Jones & Boze Show: "Live from the Mineshaft in Cave Creek, Arizona!" And, yes, that radio show is dead, as well.
100 Covers: Stunts Galore
Our covers for 2005 reflected a growing effort, on my part, to try and get some much needed attention for True West. This led to what some have called Stunt Covers. See if you can spot them.
In January we went back to the Bob McCubbin well and featured more of his amazing photo collection:
In March we featured a cover story on the phenomenon of the HBO series Deadwood: Although we had a honeymoon of sorts with HBO and the production company, a tongue-in-cheek ribbing about the costuming on the TV show by Alan Huffines ended up getting us banned from the set. David Milch, the creator of Deadwood would not even talk with us and would go into a rant if any reporter even mentioned True West.
Yes, that show is also dead.
For April we featured our growing category of Western travel, while also featuring a good grave feature:
Continuing with the travel theme we expanded to include trains:
One of the aspects of the Old West that kind of gets overlooked is the influence of religion in the West and so, we decided, or at least I did, to tackle this head on with one of the most provacative covers we have ever done:
Someone once said that all good ideas make someone pucker. This cover made my mother pucker. Ha. In July we featured another Bob McCubbin photo article, this time about cowboy images:
The issue was quite popular, especially with collectors. Next up, we wanted to feature Western wear but from the perspective of history, and so, who better to put on the cover than Tom Mix:
A painting of mine, done for the Blaze Away! book Classic Gunfights, Volume II series graced our cover for September:
A chance comment made by a friend of mine (Leon Metz) about "the Wyatt Earp era in Tombstone being over," led to this cover story which attempted to tackle the issue of historic authenticity (the town was about to lose its historic designation). Of course, some in Tombstone hated this cover and I am reminded of it to this day. I was filming a batch of True West Moments on Allen Street when the mayor walked by, saw the camera, recognized me and shouted out, "Tell the truth!" Whenever I'm accosted, I'm tempted to say, "Hey, don't kill the messenger," but I usually bite my tongue when I'm getting a tongue lashing from well meaning Tombstonians:
As if the Wyatt Earp cover wasn't controversial enough, I created this painting to illustrate the impending gay cowboy movie Brokeback Mountain:
Anyone who answered the phone at True West in the winter of 2005, often first held the receiver out away from their ear to defend against the screamers who hated the movie and hated us for covering it. Of course, not everyone hated the cover or the coverage and some even hailed us as being brave to tackle the controversy with wit and style.
Two more stunt covers followed, the first about the controversy in Texas over Mexican insurgents (with echoes to the war in Iraq):
And the second, which resulted from a comment made by Paul Andrew Hutton in Tinnie, New Mexico in 2002, which led to this award winning cover story:
In April we would take a new tact with our covers, one that we still mostly adhere to today.
"It pays to examine each activity carefully and determine which category it's really in. It may feel urgent. Is it? Or does it just seem that way because someone or something else is creating pressure? Is it really important? Or has the feeling of urgency made it only seem important?"
—Stephen R. Covey
Bob Boze 8:58 AM
October 30, 2009
Went to Tonto Bar & Grill for lunch with Paul Hutton. Had a club sandwich. He bought. Jammed on finishing Mickey Free. Paul came up with a possible breakthrough for telling the story in a more succinct way. Very encouraging. Both of us have been diverted with health issues and we are finally able to clear the decks and talk about bringing this project to fruition.
Mole Man's Top Ten
Based on his homecoming tour of Mexican food restaurants in our area, Tomas Bell has completed his top ten favorite mole list and here it is:
10. Mucho Gusto, Tempe
9. Parilla Suiza, Paradise Valley
8. El Encanto, Cave Creek
7 Adrian's, Phoenix
6. Santiago's, Bisbee
5. Taco Villa, Phoenix
4. El Indio, Tucson
3. La Barquita, Phoenix
2. La Roca, Nogales, Sonora
1. El Conquistador, Phoenix
News From The Front Lines
"Hi Bob, I was looking though my latest issue of True West and I saw someone that I remembered watching on TV in the 50's, Guy Madison who starred in The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickock (side kick was Andy Devine). Seems like you have him labeled as Jock Mahoney, the Range Rider."
—David Minton, Lovington NM
David,
No, you are correct and we blew it. Oh, how we blew it. You are the 367th person to point this out to me—so far! Ha. I'm not complaining, it shows you guys are reading the magazine!
—BBB
I Can't Believe I Drew It
A page from my sketchbook on the mountains of Peru (we had just returned):
Listening To Criticism
Polyclitus, a famous sculptor in ancient Greece, once sculpted two statues at the same time: one in his living room, in public view, and one in his bedroom, that he worked on privately and kept wrapped in a tarpaulin. When visitors came by, they would comment on the public work, saying "The
eyes aren't quite right" or "That thigh is too long" and Polyclitus would incorporate their suggestions. All the while, however, he kept the other statue a secret. Both works were completed at about the same time and were mounted in the city square in Athens. The statue that had been designed by committee was openly mocked and ridiculed. The statue he'd done by himself was immediately proclaimed a transcendental work of art. People asked Polyclitus "How can one statue be so good and the other so bad?" and Polyclitus answered "Because I did this one and you did that one."
"True friends stab you in the front."
—Oscar Wilde
Bob Boze 4:59 PM
October 30, 2009
Really chilly this morning, but it's supposed to get up to 80 today. The Top Secret Writer is coming out for lunch today to go over our wayward half-breed, Mickey Free.
We got attacked by five beefy javelinas last night (our gates are off, being fixed and we piled chairs and wooden barricades in the gaps but the Bastards blew right by that). Peaches was going crazy. I finally took a mop and, while making a modified version of my coyote disperser voice, herded them out the gate. But not before they knocked over the chicken feed barrels and ate all the chicken food. They came back twice more in the night because they are pigs after all, so we didn't get a great night's sleep.
100 Covers: Dead Man Tells A Tall Tale
As we moved into 2004 we utilized one of our strongest weapons, Phil Spangenberger, and turned him loose to do a major feature on Six-guns of the gunfighters:
In March, we tackled a growing problem in the Western field and that is fake stuff being sold for outrageous prices. Dan The Man created a spectacular cover, one of my all-time favorites of any we have done:
In fact, I would put this cover in the top five faves of all we have done. This type of cover entered our lexicon, as in, "I think it's time for another Big Face cover."
In April we introduced our very popular True West Maniac Club and within a few months sold 1,000 plus memberships:
For May we tackled the transcontinental railroad and David Crockett:
With the failure of The Alamo and The Missing (Ron Howard's Western with Tommy Lee Jones), and the moderate box office success of Hidalgo we didn't have much faith in a new HBO series to be called Deadwood. Lo and behold, it was a roaring success and we rushed to make hay with it:
In July we went back to the Old West icons and played with the cover magic of numbers:
Yes, for some reason people buy covers with numbers on them. Sales prove it. Unfortunately, when everyone starts using numbers then the effectiveness is diluted.
In August I rolled the dice and put a dead man on the cover:
Several business types cautioned me against doing this, but I was determined to get some attention for our little ol' magazine. I can't say it was a total success, but I did get a phone call from a pretty hip guy in Boulder, Colorado (he's a film producer) and he told me he saw it on the newsstand and went, "Now, there's a cover with attitude!" Ha. Totally anecdotal, but it made the gamble worth it to me.
Sticking with the death kick, I did a blood soaked cover to draw attention to a big feature on The Wild Bunch:
While visiting the Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody, Wyoming I saw a great rodeo poster of African-American rodeo legend Bill Pickett. Thanks to our friends there, we got a good scan of it and utilized it for a cover story in October:
We ended the year with a great cheesecake shot of Dale Evans in all her cowgirl glory:
As we approached our fifth year with True West we expanded travel, did another stunt cover (this one with Jesus! Yikes!) and had the audacity to ask the question: Is The Wyatt Earp Era Over?
Got some interesting feedback on that one. Ha.
“Yes, it is well known that all Texas Rangers have Mexican blood. On their boots.”
—Annie Proulx, Accordion Crimes
Bob Boze 9:28 AM
October 29, 2009
Just had a young man in the offices who loves Doc Holliday. I met Marshall Tanner, 12, last week in Bisbee. Actually, it was at the Breakfast Club in Lowell, as Deena and Tommy and I came in for a late breakfast after the walking tour in Tombstone. Tanner came over to our table and asked for an autograph on his Doc Holliday book which he had just purchased. I told Marshall he should come visit our offices in Cave Creek sometime and today I gave Marshall and his dad the tour of the offices and he asked if he could come back some time and bring a friend. I assured him that would great.
100 Covers: Stop The Presses!
As we worked our way into 2003 we began to utilize the wonderful photo collection of Robert McCubbin:
Sticking with the fifty theme (as mentioned 2003 was our 50 year anniversary), we did the 50 Guns That Won The West:
The actual birthday of the magazine was the April issue and so we not only celebrated our birth, but the birth of John Wayne:
We had been doing only eight issues a year, but our new partner, Bob Brink, felt it was time to expand and add a special issue, or two, and here is the first special we came up with:
Our newsstand consultant told us we needed a different name for the issue so we came up with Renegade Roads, but it caused us a ton of confusion with the newsstand rackers and we didn't make that mistake again. Back to Custer for May-June:
And back to our old stand by Wyatt and Doc for July:
As we were going to press with our August-September issue we got the word that an effort to dig up Billy the Kid was underway, and the story landed on the front page of the New York Times. For the first time in my career, I got to say the line, "Stop the presses!" even though our printers are in Kansas City and we are in Cave Creek, Arizona and the issue had all of seven days before it actually went on press. Anyway, close enough for an itinerant typo, as we tore up the cover story on Pancho Villa and replaced it with this one:
I had the honor of sitting in a Barnes & Noble in New York City (we flew to New York to pitch Classic Gunfights to the History Channel) and watch several New Yorkers pick up this issue off a very crowded rack and buy it. I had to restrain myself from running up and hugging them. I was a very happy boy.
After a speech in Wickenburg at the Desert Caballeros Museum, a woman came up to me and asked if I'd be interested in her family collection of rodeo photos. She said her mama was an early day rodeo performer I asked her mother's name and the woman said, Vera McGinnis, the Rodeo Queen. Was I interested? Oh, I think so:
Back to Billy the Kid for our second special issue of the year:
And then for November-December we went with Billy Bob Thorton and the new Alamo, which we hoped was going to be a blockbuster:
It was not and the movie and the issue was a disappointment to everyone. Still, all in all, a very strong year. We were adding back issues and learning a ton as we went alonng. The year 2004 would include one of the best covers we have ever done and certainly the grossest. Was I walking on water? Not quite, but even if I could, I instinctively knew miracles have their limitations.
"If one morning I walked on top of the water across the Potomac River, the headline that afternoon would read: 'President Can't Swim.'"
—Lyndon Baines Johnson
Bob Boze 3:39 PM
October 29, 2009
I received a batch of the long-awaited DVDs of The Perfect Exit and it is damn near perfect:
Starting with Dan The Man Harshberger's excellent graphics (turn the DVD over and you will see that the Exit logo is backwards and the drum sticks are in front of it, as it would be if you were looking at the front from the back. Ha. Too clever.
Tom and Nicole Erickson did a fine job on the production of the DVD and there are a whole slew of extra bonus materials inside, including behind-the-scenes video of the fateful rehearsal (right up to the last second before a certain heart attack) and great photos of Kingman in the sixties. It really is going to be a historic document because of all the old pics, film and coverage.
Here's the pitch from the Jamie:
October 27, 2009
Dear Friends of KRMC:
As you may recall, on Saturday March 28th the KRMC Foundation hosted “Music is the Doctor: A Lifesaving Opportunity”. This event was a combination auction and dance—with live, classic rock ‘n roll music from the ‘60s and ‘70s presented by The Exits Family—a group of nine musicians who grew up or lived in Kingman as teenagers, and five of their talented friends. (In addition to playing for free, the musicians provided auction items and other donations including proceeds from the sale of a vintage Fender guitar, donated to the event.) The funds raised were used to purchase 15 automated external defibrillators (AED) for communities served by Kingman Regional Medical Center.
Over seven hundred people attended “Music is the Doctor” and it was a blast. In fact, it was so much fun, that we decided a commemorate DVD of the event was needed which is now available for purchase at a cost of just $25 (you will also receive a poster from the evening.) The DVD includes great photos from the early days of Kingman and the Exits Family. You might even see pictures of yourself!
To purchase your DVD, you can fill out the attached form and send back to me, call (928)757-0664 or email me at jtaylor@azkrmc.com. These will make great holiday gifts. The monies will help to provide additional defibrillators in our community.
Best regards,
Jamie Taylor
Director of Development & Public Relations
"Any one can face a crisis; it is this day-to-day living that wears you out."
—Chekhov
Bob Boze 9:45 AM
October 29, 2009
Here at True West we are still debating the Cross vs. Mowry gunfight. Here is Mark Boardman's response:
"You may be overthinking this Cross-Mowry gunfight thing.
"I mean, there's no evidence that the duel was fixed, with both intending to miss every shot. I've been through a bunch of accounts, some including witness statements, and none indicates suspicion over the fight. And neither combatant, so far as I can tell, ever said that the fix was in.
"Sure, they were shooting the daylights out of targets the day before. They were both good shots. But a strong crosswind would have hurt their aims. And the tension of actually facing a guy who was firing back could very well thrown off their shots. That was a common occurrence in the Old West, as we both know. Look at how many shots missed everyone at the Tombstone Street Fight--and those guys were practically able to touch their opponents.
"And while both Cross and Mowry had military experience, and may have been in battle before, a duel is a different animal--no chance to take cover (without looking like a wuss) or surprise the opponent.
"This is one of those cases where I fall back on Occam's Razor, which says, "when you have two competing theories that make exactly the same predictions, the simpler one is the better." In this case, the simpler theory is that they both intended to shoot the other guy--but they both missed.
"That's my two cents worth..."
—Mark Boardman
And here's Marshall Trimble's take on the fight:
"I think Mowry fired over Cross’s head on purpose as a gallant gesture. That was typical of his Southern personality he’d acquired.
"Cross was born in 1832 in Lancaster, NH and received and education at a local common school and academy. At age 15 he went to work as a printer and a few years later he became editor for the Cincinnati Times. It was through these connections that he met the Wrightson brothers of Cincinnati who were the financiers for the Sonora Mining and Exploring Company of Tubac. He was a member of the Know Nothing Party and when it collapsed he joined the new Republican Party, read that Northerners. He was pretty outspoken and Mowry had Southern sympathies and a West Point grad. I believe he could have killed Cross if he chose but chose not to. Earlier they’d had enough editorial disagreements and exchange of insults to fight a duel.
"According to witnesses both men practiced on the day before the duel. Cross 'picked the cactus leaves from the top of the Tubac church at almost every shot.' Mowry was 'Playing havoc with a small cottonwood tree.'
"This could all been a show of bravado for both. Both men were good shots.
"They were using Burnside Rifles at 40 paces. Four shots, actually three were fired without effect said the July 14th issue of the Arizonian. Mowry’s second shot was a misfire.
"During the duel there was a strong cross wind blowing preventing an accurate aim. they exchanged shots but on the second time around, Mowry’s weapon misfired. His second, a man named George Mercer, demanded another shot. Cross agreed to let him have another.
"Mowry’s friend Wm. S. Oury stepped up to Mowry and asked if he intended to shoot his adversary and Mowry replied, “Do you think I would try to kill a defenseless man?”
"Cross faced him unarmed and Mowry fired into the air saying he was satisfied.
"They did shake hands but according to the article, they weren’t any friendlier afterwards, despite the 42-gallon barrel of whiskey. The two men issued public apologies for their remarks about the integrity and reputation of the other."
—Marshall Trimble
By the way, the Know Nothing Party (1854) advocated the exclusion of Catholics and foreigners from public office and called for a 21-year residency before immigrants could become citizens. The party collapsed after the 1856 election and many joined the Republican Party.
"Glenn Beck is still a member of The Know Nothing Party."
—Dan Harshberger
Bob Boze 8:52 AM
The kids came over last night with Bill Glenn and Grandma Betty for Tacos de Bell (or, as Deena calls them, "Tacos de Bobby"). Lots of laughs all around. By the way, when Deena and Tommy and I were on our recent Mexican Food road trip to southern Arizona and northern Sonora, I got to listen to a whole bunch of their music. Here's the ride we got thanks to Deena and her road warrior benefits:
It's a Buick Enclave CXL. Great ride and a great sound system. Here's a smattering of the groups Tommy and Deena played on the sound system (while I sat in the back and said "Who's this?" over and over): The Pixies, Tapes 'N' Tapes, White Stripes, The Stooges, Blind Pilot, Fugazi, Death From Above 1979 (yes, that's the name of a group), The Hold Steady, Broken Social Scene, Animal Collective, Quasimoto, Nirvana, The Stones ("Can't You Hear Me knockin'?"). I think I knew maybe three of these groups. Very interesting musical journey to say the least
And here's the two music maniacs in the middle of Obregon Street in Nogales:
In addition to the bad recession (Frank McGuire of Mill Avenue fame came in my office last week and told me there used to be about 75 curio shops on the street and now there's less than 30), the street was torn up as they put in underground utilities, which didn't help biz either.
100 Covers: From Oblivion to Ahora
As we close in on the final year of our 100 cover march from January 2000 to ahora (today) we have to stop and take a look at the progress of our annual Source Book, which first appeared in 2007 with this year's model (below) the third:
These special issues have revolutionized our business by giving a much needed source for all things Western. Our newest issue goes out the door this week and it is the best yet. If you want to know the best purveyors in the Western field, whether they be saddle makers, knives, specialized clothing, saloons, hotels, music, pottery, hats or guns, you need the 2010 Source Book.
Meanwhile, our January issue of this year featured one of my Border Rider paintings:
The original painting was bought by Eric Weider. If that name sounds familiar it's because he is the publisher of Wild West magazine.
Robert Ray thought our March issue was a little too close to the previous issue in terms of subject matter (a horseback rider on the border) and he may be right. It's still an excellent cover though and the cover story by our friend Leon Metz is absolutely tops.
For our Seventh Annual Travel Issue we had a cover that no one liked. At the last minute, Meghan Saar pulled out this POV photo taken on a wagon train ride, and Dan the Man made it ride:
If you've read this blog for the past year, you know the angst that went into the Alamo cover:
Not as bad as I feared, but not as good as I had hoped it would be. In June we utilized a photo by Marcie Shaw of Steve Shaw and crew traversing the Little Big Horn hills on their annual Great American Tour Trail Ride of the Custer Battlefield. Unfortunately, the sky was blank and it just didn't fly, so I went home and pulled out a couple cloud photos and Robert Ray and Dan Harshberger did their Photoshop magic to make this a very dynamic cover:
For our Kids and history cover in July we had an excellent photo of our cover boy but the background was a little bit too midwestern looking (green and trees), so, once again I brought in some of my sunset photos and Robert Ray and Dan the Man composited the two images until it worked:
Our staff photographer John Beckett shot this time lapse photo of expert gun spinner Joey Dillon. Dan Harshberger took one of the guns from a different image with Joey flipping a pistol over this shoulder, and dropped it in here to make it look like Joey has three hands:
Excellent gun spinning effects! For our vaquero cover with Lee Anderson, we went through more versions of this cover than any we have ever created. I think Dan H. said he did two dozen versions of this. Once again, the original photo was too green (the desert was lush at the time) so we struggled with making it look older, and yes, to capture some amber glow:
For our 100th cover, we went back to the Billy well and utilized one of the dozen Billy paintings I created for the art opening of Capturing Billy the Kid Country at the Overland Gallery in Scottsdale last month:
What a run of covers! All the twists and turns seem bizarre in retrospect, but there is a consistency in style and a dogged persistence that pervades the whole effort. I am very proud of our crew who make this happen each and every single issue. Congrats to all of you!
"Any one can face a crisis; it is this day-to-day living that wears you out."
—Chekhov
Bob Boze 9:14 AM
November 5, 2009
Last night when I was driving home from work I caught this spectacular sunset over The Seven Sisters:
Then, this morning, as I walked out the driveway to pick up the newspaper, I caught this sunrise:
True West Moment Question:
"In the old west movies they always seem to show a single sheriff or marshal with maybe one deputy. Going up against maybe 4 or 5 gun toting folks in a saloon who broke the law. I understand the idea of a posse who tracks a murderer (and I think that is also overblown how many men would leave there farms and families for days)doesn't seem to make sense to me. Can't believe most sheriffs were that brave. Whats the real scoop on how most NORMAL sheriffs handled that situation?"
—Mark Swint
Clearwater, Florida
Mark,
Believe it or not, many farmers and ranchers were deputized by roving posses, some against their wills. In the Lincoln County War in New Mexico (1878), rival posses carrying warrants from different judges and alcades (Mexican officials), would stop at a ranch and draft able hands to join them. Many didn't want to go but felt forced to do their civic duty, or avoid paying a fine. As for the one deputy this was true in small towns (and still is in some parts of the country today), but even in Tombstone in the 1880s, there were several policemen, the city marshal, and then county officials which would include the county sheriff, and then men carrying U.S. Deputy Marshal badges (Wyatt Earp).
There was plenty of law in the Old West, some would say too much law, as in the case of the Lincoln County War. But in very rural counties, like in the Bootheel of New Mexico, you might have a sheriff covering hundreds of miles. Even there, the sheriff would have ranchers he could count on. When members of the Wild Bunch robbed a train at Steins Pass, a pretty large posse made up of train detectives, county officers and volunteer ranchers went on the trail. Often with a squad of Apache trackers as well. So the movie portrayals all have some basis in fact, although it can get to be a tired cliche, like in High Noon, where one guy goes out to face five outlaws.
—BBB
How's this for weird and wacky? A Wild West Gathering in the East. This April, the French Broad Outpost Ranch is having its First Annual Western Gathering in The East! Ha. Michael Martin Murphy, Waddie Mitchell and Asleep At The Wheel will be there. Where? Del Rio, Tennessee.
Check them out.
"History is an argument without end."
—Pieter Geyl
Bob Boze 11:10 AM
November 5, 2009
Got a call this morning from a reporter for the Baltimore Sun, who is doing an obit piece on Ted Yeatman, who passed away on November 1. After praising Yeatman's stellar research and skills regarding Jesse James, Fred Rasmussen, the reporter, asked me how I got along with Ted. That was a tough one. Ted was a challenge for my staff, to say the least. I tried to answer as honestly as I could.
100 Covers: From Wipeout to Mickey Free
As we close in on the last two years of covers on our march from the January 2000 issue to today, it's interesting to me to note how wide the swings are for themes on covers. Here's our January, 2008 cover:
In the fall of 2007 I attended True Grit Days in Ridgeway, Colorado. For three days, Jason Strykowski and I sat in a tent and looked out at a constant stream of 200-plus people waiting to get a peek at Angie Dickinson, Johnny Crawford and Kim Darby.
Sitting there it became crystal clear to me: we live in a celebrity driven culture. Thousands of people came to this tiny town to see the three of them, while we sat there with one or two people coming up. The celebrity tent had long lines all weekend (snaking right in front of us). We quickly realized we needed to work the lines and began giving mags to many of them. On the way home, it finally sank in to me why Cowboys & Indians runs a celeb on each and every cover.
First came Russell Crowe and Glenn Ford on our 3:10 to Yuma cover (see October, 2007), then came Brad Pitt as Jesse James, followed by Tommy Lee Jones in No Country For Old Men, and we followed that into January of 2008 with:
Daniel Day Lewis in There Will Be Blood. As with most trends, the strength and length of it depends on results and when I attended the Dude Ranchers Association confab in Cody, Wyoming in January of 2008, I brought along these covers in a power point presentation and showed them to the banquet dinner crowd of about 300 people (all dude ranch owners or ranch hands). I was stunned when I asked for a show of hands and only one guy in the room had seen all three movies (and he was from New York!). A handful had seen 3:10 to Yuma. That's when another realization hit me: they may be bigtime celebrities but not that many Westerners are seeing their movies. Ha. This ended, or at least curtailed my shortlived love affair with Western movie stars on the cover.
It was during this stretch, in February of 2008, that I had my heart attack while playing "Wipeout" at a reunion band gig in Kingman. My able staff worked on without me for about six weeks. Although I worked on the April cover concept, not much inside came from my hand:
I really like this cover of Geronimo: the idea that the Travel Issue banner is on the wall behind him, like a Wild West poster. Very clever, Dan The Man!
When I got back in harness I became obsessed with amber glow. I noticed that photographs with an amber glow, especially log cabins with the lights on, really appealed to me. I wondered if that might be true on covers. So, that idea led to this cover:
I was obsessed with having just a couple lights on in the house behind Buffalo Bill.
We had some controversy on the next cover choice for obvious reasons, but I still like the cover:
The July issue was supposed to have amber glow but it didn't quite get there:
Switching gears, in August we featured a wonderful black and white image of a cowboy, his boy and a dog:
It doesn't get much better than this for my tastes. Back to amber glow for the September issue:
Although I normally rave about Dan The Man's design, I can't say this cover is one of my faves:
I chose the photo because of the cool hat Charlie Russell had on and it's totally buried behind the logo. However, Dan totally redeemed himself with the next cover:
This really has all of the design elements I dig, along with understated elegance and yes, a touch of amber glow. Perfecto! Dan hand colored the sepia photograph and did a masterful job. It was a great way to end a tumultuous year.
Next up: the year we are living in now. Ha.
“Watch out for the idiot behind me.”
—Bumper sticker
Bob Boze 9:47 AM
November 4, 2009
Met Kathy for lunch and then came home to work up sketches for a friend of mine who wants an illustration of the Medicine Lodge lynching where they hanged three guys with two ropes. This is the infamous bank robbery attempt by ex-Billy the Kid gang member Henry Brown (we think, some don't agree). He and his lanky deputy Ben Wheeler, along with two Texas cowboys, attempted to rob the Medicine Valley Bank on a rainy day in April of 1884. They ended up killing the bank president (who wasn't supposed to come in this day and that's why they picked the day) and a teller.
After a short chase, one of the outlaw's horses went lame and they tried to stand off a posse in a gully, during a rainstorm. After giving themselves up on the condition they not be mobbed, they were taken back to town and mobbed at about 9 p.m. When the vigilantes stormed into the makeshift jail, Henry Brown hid behind the door, punched the first guy, then ran for it and was shot almost in half by a farmer wielding a scatter gun. The deputy Wheeler was shot at close range and his vest was set on fire and he lost two fingers from close range shooting. Incredibly he was still alive, so the mob dragged him and the two cowboys down to the creek bottom. Incredibly they had only two ropes so they chose the two cowboys to stretch hemp from the same rope. Wheeler's bleating could be heard for several blocks as they twisted slowly in the wet, night air:
I wanted to illustrate them swinging (after all, the slang is "he swung for it") from side to side. Most photographs show the deceased after cessation of the wiggling which creates the swinging motion.
Worked up this color study at lunch today:
Although this has a nice mood, I think it's more dynamic to have them at an angle to show the deadly motion of the affair.
Meanwhile, got this today:
"I think you mentioned back when your art exhibit opened that you were going to post a photo or two of the evening... something like that... but I don't remember seeing them. Did I overlook them?"
—Sharon Tally
Here you go, this was the Saturday opening when all five artists who had art hanging at the time were present:
Left to right: Joseph LaRusso, Gary Ernest Smith, Martin Grelle (Cowboy Artist), Ed Mell and BBB.
"If you're an author, you're more interested in the story you're telling than in your handwriting. If you're an artist, and you tell a great story, the technique will follow. A great mistake can be made if you concentrate more on technique than the story."
—Old Vaquero Saying
Bob Boze 4:20 PM
November 4, 2009
A couple of loose items to catch up on. When I was in Tombstone for the Vendetta Ride, I gave a walking tour and afterwards I signed books outside the Crystal Palace. One of the riders presented me with a complimentary bottle of wine:
That night, in Bisbee, we opened the wine and sat on the balcony of the El Dorado Hotel on O.K. Street. Our porch looked right down on Brewery Gulch and it was a beautiful evening. With the first sip of Cosentino Winery 2005 Cabernet Saugvignon, Deena said, "Oh, this is amazingly good." Tom Bell and I agreed. Then with the second sip we all raved again until, on the third sip, Deena blurted out, "This is the best friggin' wine I have ever had in my life."
Turns out it is a $70 bottle of primo wine from the Cosentino Winery in Napa, California. For someone who drinks mostly Two Buck Chuck, it was a revelation, just how much better really good wine is.
Meanwhile, as we continue to celebrate our tenth anniversary here at True West (it was November 3rd, when we had our first staff meeting at El Encanto), here is a photo of the original staff:
The only two people in this photo who are still here at True West are Carole Glenn (second from right) and myself.
I Can't Believe I Drew It
Another amazing page from my sketchbooks where I was in the zone:
These were inspired in part by Ed Mell style paintings. And speaking of Ed, our show Capturing Billy the Kid Country comes down today. In fact, Kathy is down in Scottsdale, picking up the paintings, and we are meeting for lunch at Kashman's Deli on Scottsdale Road.
Tom Bell got a job today so we are celebrating tomorrow night with a Taco de Bell party at our house. Grandma Betty is coming out to party hardy with us.
"I like everything about filming except the acting. I'm wonderful in rehearsals, but I have never been very good when they actually switch the cameras on.”
—Hugh Grant
Bob Boze 11:06 AM
November 4, 2009
As we continue into 2007 on our 100 Covers march, we did another sepia cover on our good friend Jim Clark, aka, The Trainman:
After a successful run of 11 sepia covers we decided to mix it up a bit and try something completely different:
Royal Wade Kimes joined us for this photo shoot, which we shot on the top of the hill on School House Road, cattywampus from the town library. The classic Ford pickup belongs to our art director Dan Harshberger.
A major museum show in Albuquerque curated by none other than the Top Secret Writer, produced this cover:
And a very expensive painting got the nod for June, 2007:
In July we honored Robert Utley on the cover:
Although Bashas' Bakery replicated this cover on Bob's birthday cake last weekend as a surprise for his 80th birthday party at the Roaring Fork in Scottsdale, I was quite disappointed in this cover, especially when I saw it on the newsstand. It "mushed out," as we say. Too many mid-tones and not enough pop. Ironically, it sure looked good on that cake. Ha. Go figure.
In August we came up with a pretty funny gag cover:
The very idea that a reporter (who uncannily resembles LBJ), would go out and poll a bunch of Sioux chiefs on their favorite books got big laughs in our offices, but I'm not sure it translated out in the real world.
For September of 2007 we tried a different tact [this just in: "I’ve noticed what I believe is a possible misuse of the word tact in describing cover choices on you blog. Since we often do not enjoy being corrected, I’ll use as much tact as possible. I think the word and usage you are looking for is tack, as in, 'changing tack', or “trying a different tack”. It’s a nautical term that refers to a zigzag technique of best catching the wind in sails while sailing toward a particular direction."—Lance Ross]
Okay, so we tactfully tried a different tack:
I have always been a firm believer in people on the covers and this was a first for us. Whatever. In the next issue we made up for this bigtime:
I got criticized by Paul Hutton for putting the wrong guy at the top. He feels the right call would have been Russell Crowe big and Glenn Ford, small, at the bottom, but I felt Ford's look was more classic to our readers and besides, I hated that fruitcake looking hat on Crowe. Ha. Now you know how major decisions are made in our office.
Keeping with the movie theme, we tried to tie Brad Pitt's next movie, The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford to the real history (amazing how much Brad looks like Jesse in this duotone):
Although I personally think Assassination is one of the best Westerns ever made (and certainly the best Jesse James movie ever), the movie sank like a stone, so we got very little traction on this.
Coming next: more movie stars and amber glow.
Mashing Metaphors and Wincing Witticisms
"Carpe Mañana."
—Old Vaquero Saying (submitted by Mad Coyote Joe)
Bob Boze 9:37 AM
November 4, 2009
With yesterday's posting on the passing of Jesse James author Ted Yeatman, I got the following thank you email from Ted's cousin, Jean Yeatman:
Thank you for posting about Ted on your blog. This response really helped me feel better:
Dear Ms. Yeatman,
On behalf of The James Preservation Trust, and the historical interests of the family of Frank & Jesse James, you have our sympathies and condolences.
The James family, which has not always known or recognized its own history, owes a debt of gratitude to Ted, and particularly to his work. His book stands as the definitive encyclopedia of the professional careers of Frank and Jesse James. Be assured as we are, his book will stand as such for decades to come.
When the Trust was formed by myself and the late great grandson of Jesse James, Judge James R. Ross, Jim and I acknowledged Ted's achievement. Had Ted not written his book, we still would probably be addressing that history. The fact that Ted published his extensive and detailed research, has now made it possible for us to focus on new research, and the writing of a new history regarding Frank and Jesse James, in particular their family. For that alone, we owe a particular debt of gratitude. That gratitude already is acknowledged in the preface of the pre-publication manuscript of the new history book being prepared to be published about the James family. Ted didn't know about this formal acknowledgement. He did not communicate with us. Nor did we expect to alert him prior to publication. However, for us, the acknowledgement of his contribution to the history of the James family was a necessity.
I don't know if there's anything we can do for you. If you know of something, let me know. Otherwise, please take pride as we do in Ted and his extraordinary accomplishment.
Warmest regards,
ERIC JAMES, President, The James Preservation Trust
End of comments. This is the issue of True West that Ted edited in 2002:
A very classy and thoughtful email from Eric James, an upstanding member of our community, by the way. And, yes, we have a real community here on this site. We have petty arguments (better zoning laws?) and personal attacks, infighting and invading a--holes, excuse me, outlaws. And, in some rare instances, we have had to call the marshal and have them run out of town. And, we have drummers, who come thru town and try and dupe us with their elixirs and hair-brain products. And, of course, in every town there is a group of people (town council?) who think they run the place, know everything and are always right, no matter what. I'd like to believe I'm not a member of that group, but I do attend their meetings. Ha.
"I'm willing to admit that I may not always be right, but I am never wrong."
—Samuel Goldwyn
Bob Boze 8:31 AM
November 3, 2009
While I was on one of my walks with Peaches last week I met one of my neighbors, Joe Yager, who is a tractor expert (he owns several). We set up a tractor date: that's when I go buy the gas, hose off the family John Deere, clean out the rat crap, drag an extension cord out to the Tractor shed, air up the tires and cool down two Miller Lites in the fridge.
I always know when Joe is coming because I can hear the thump thump of his 1948 Series D John Deere coming down the road. After we primed the pet cocks, and took turns turning the big ol' fly wheel, Carl Marvin Bell's 1940 Series B John Deere came alive and I did my semi-annual paseo de tractor thru the neighborhood.
After solving several world problems (What's up with the wrinkled shirts they are selling today as new?), we posed for a victory photo. His wife Charlene took the photo:
Two beers followed.
The weekend before Kathy got on a kick to redesign our living room. It had gotten rather cluttered with all of our art and semi-art stacked in over the years. A neighbor, Cal, has a new business called "Arrange for a Change." She has you clean out your living room and put all the couches, chairs, coffee tables and stuff out on the patio. Then she shows up with an assistant and they slowly rebuild your living room using superior design theories (she has a degree). Here they are with Thomas Charles, rehanging our Spanish Rodeo Posters:
Here's Cal, and Deena (in chair) in front of the piece de resistance, a cluster of my paintings built over a tattered, old Arizona flag:
Kind of cool and very impressive. Not sure what to do with the remaining two tons of art and assorted sombreros piled up in the breezeway.
"Nothing runs like a deer."
—John Deere's brilliant slogan
Bob Boze 12:51 PM
November 3, 2009
I've been walking Peaches every day (sometimes twice a day) and noticing that I sometimes get really good ideas while I'm walking along. So, I have been coming back to the house, going inside and writing down, what I call, The Big Idea. For example, Sunday I was thinking about the John Ford classic "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence," and in the old story telling tradition of using a quote, or passage from an earlier, classic story to begin a new story, I asked myself how would that apply to Mickey Free?
Okay, it's probably a medium idea, but the walks are productive and the scenery is pretty damn sweet.
100 Covers: Wrapping Ourselves In The Flag
After the flurry of Stunt Covers in 2006, I was tired of the controversy and irate phone calls and decided what we needed was a nice, solid series of covers that had integrity. My marching orders to Dan The Man were, "Give me something that will look good on a coffee table." And, so, Mr. Harshberger did exactly that:
A very clean and striking cover with headlines that don't scream or even shout. Perhaps it's not a great newsstand ploy, but it sure works for my tastes. I would place this cover in my top five favorites of all we have done.
Continuing with the sepia integrity, we followed with this cover on The Racial Frontier:
And then followed suite with a sports cover in the same vein:
This cover was not as successful as I had hoped, at least on the newsstand (I know, I know, I was allegedly giving up the newsstand mania for an understated look, and then, still comparing our numbers and complaining. Welcome to Dan Harshberger's world). Next up, another one of my favorites, this one was inspired by the short lived movie, "Dude, Where's My Car?" That, and attending the annual Dude Ranch Association Convention in Cody, Wyoming where I met several young people who are carrying on the traditions of the Dude Ranch and the West:
In September of 2006 we put a striking In-din on the cover. I like this cover very much, but we have never had much luck with Native Americans on the cover. Not sure why.
Next up, a slam dunk: Tombstone, Val Kilmer and Kurt Russell as Doc and Wyatt, all done in sepia. What's not to love about this one. This cover did quite well (and still sells briskly as a back issue):
In November we tried a slightly different tact with the sepia look, utilizing an old publicity still of William S. Hart. Not real successful but still a worthy offering in the run of sepia covers.
Then, a tip of the hat to the ladies:
And going into 2007, another Native American cover making the claim "Cowboys Are Indians":
As we continued into 2007 we made efforts to go deeper and wider with some successes, and a few turkeys as well. We were on a roll and doing good.
"The luxury of doing good surpasses every other personal enjoyment."
—John Gay
Bob Boze 10:42 AM
November 2, 2009
We have been doing this magazine for ten years and in all that time I can't recall a typo that has created such an uproar (the photograph in the current issue that identifies Guy Madison as Jock Mahoney):
I have received dozens of emails (I got two today), two hand written letters and several phone calls. This afternoon I got a call from Bridget Madison, Guy Madison's oldest daughter, who said she heard about the mistake from her friend, Dave Snowden, who is the Beverly Hills Chief of Police. She called from Long Beach and was very sweet. She lost her son in Iraq. We are sending her a True West magazine with the gaffe in it.
Here's the website for her and her father:
Man, he was a handsome guy!
"Wait for me Wild Bill!"
—Jingles, played by Andy Devine of Kingman, Arizona fame
Bob Boze 2:35 PM
November 2, 2009
I just got the word from my producer Jeff Hildebrandt that the new True West Moments we filmed in August will premiere tonight on the Westerns Channel. "Rocks On Graves" will run this evening at approximately 6:36 pm (eastern time) and the "Water Trough" is scheduled at 7:53 pm (eastern time). The Water Trough True West Moment is the one where we shot a Colt .45, a Winchester and a buffalo gun into a water trough filled with water to test the theory that gunmen in movies hiding behind a water trough seem to be immune to getting hit. See the surprising (to me) results for yourself.
"We are all born charming, fresh and spontaneous and must be civilized before we are fit to participate in society."
—Judith Martin (Miss Manners)
Bob Boze 10:43 AM
November 2, 2009
It was ten years ago today—November 2, 1999—three moving vans pulled up to Clantonville and demanded a cashier's check for $12,000 and change. The vans were full of True West back issues and assorted office materials from a warehouse in Stillwater, Oklahoma. As me and my small staff helped the Mayflower crew unload and put the boxes in our flimsy storage shed behind the Goat Sucker Saloon, I was quite aware that one era was expiring and another beginning.
It's perhaps fitting that today is the Day of The Dead celebration when Mexicans everywhere celebrate death in high style. I noticed when I was in Nogales a couple weeks ago that Day of the Dead skeletons have become all the go in the curio shops, commanding entire aisles of goodies, whereas I don't recall seeing many Day of the Dead inspired skeletons 20 years ago. What I guess this means is that tourists from the United States are finally catching on. Yes, Posada inspired skeletons are all the go today. Ironically, ten years ago I created a couple Day of the Dead style logos for our morning radio program: The Jones & Boze Show: "Live from the Mineshaft in Cave Creek, Arizona!" And, yes, that radio show is dead, as well.
100 Covers: Stunts Galore
Our covers for 2005 reflected a growing effort, on my part, to try and get some much needed attention for True West. This led to what some have called Stunt Covers. See if you can spot them.
In January we went back to the Bob McCubbin well and featured more of his amazing photo collection:
In March we featured a cover story on the phenomenon of the HBO series Deadwood: Although we had a honeymoon of sorts with HBO and the production company, a tongue-in-cheek ribbing about the costuming on the TV show by Alan Huffines ended up getting us banned from the set. David Milch, the creator of Deadwood would not even talk with us and would go into a rant if any reporter even mentioned True West.
Yes, that show is also dead.
For April we featured our growing category of Western travel, while also featuring a good grave feature:
Continuing with the travel theme we expanded to include trains:
One of the aspects of the Old West that kind of gets overlooked is the influence of religion in the West and so, we decided, or at least I did, to tackle this head on with one of the most provacative covers we have ever done:
Someone once said that all good ideas make someone pucker. This cover made my mother pucker. Ha. In July we featured another Bob McCubbin photo article, this time about cowboy images:
The issue was quite popular, especially with collectors. Next up, we wanted to feature Western wear but from the perspective of history, and so, who better to put on the cover than Tom Mix:
A painting of mine, done for the Blaze Away! book Classic Gunfights, Volume II series graced our cover for September:
A chance comment made by a friend of mine (Leon Metz) about "the Wyatt Earp era in Tombstone being over," led to this cover story which attempted to tackle the issue of historic authenticity (the town was about to lose its historic designation). Of course, some in Tombstone hated this cover and I am reminded of it to this day. I was filming a batch of True West Moments on Allen Street when the mayor walked by, saw the camera, recognized me and shouted out, "Tell the truth!" Whenever I'm accosted, I'm tempted to say, "Hey, don't kill the messenger," but I usually bite my tongue when I'm getting a tongue lashing from well meaning Tombstonians:
As if the Wyatt Earp cover wasn't controversial enough, I created this painting to illustrate the impending gay cowboy movie Brokeback Mountain:
Anyone who answered the phone at True West in the winter of 2005, often first held the receiver out away from their ear to defend against the screamers who hated the movie and hated us for covering it. Of course, not everyone hated the cover or the coverage and some even hailed us as being brave to tackle the controversy with wit and style.
Two more stunt covers followed, the first about the controversy in Texas over Mexican insurgents (with echoes to the war in Iraq):
And the second, which resulted from a comment made by Paul Andrew Hutton in Tinnie, New Mexico in 2002, which led to this award winning cover story:
In April we would take a new tact with our covers, one that we still mostly adhere to today.
"It pays to examine each activity carefully and determine which category it's really in. It may feel urgent. Is it? Or does it just seem that way because someone or something else is creating pressure? Is it really important? Or has the feeling of urgency made it only seem important?"
—Stephen R. Covey
Bob Boze 8:58 AM
October 30, 2009
Went to Tonto Bar & Grill for lunch with Paul Hutton. Had a club sandwich. He bought. Jammed on finishing Mickey Free. Paul came up with a possible breakthrough for telling the story in a more succinct way. Very encouraging. Both of us have been diverted with health issues and we are finally able to clear the decks and talk about bringing this project to fruition.
Mole Man's Top Ten
Based on his homecoming tour of Mexican food restaurants in our area, Tomas Bell has completed his top ten favorite mole list and here it is:
10. Mucho Gusto, Tempe
9. Parilla Suiza, Paradise Valley
8. El Encanto, Cave Creek
7 Adrian's, Phoenix
6. Santiago's, Bisbee
5. Taco Villa, Phoenix
4. El Indio, Tucson
3. La Barquita, Phoenix
2. La Roca, Nogales, Sonora
1. El Conquistador, Phoenix
News From The Front Lines
"Hi Bob, I was looking though my latest issue of True West and I saw someone that I remembered watching on TV in the 50's, Guy Madison who starred in The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickock (side kick was Andy Devine). Seems like you have him labeled as Jock Mahoney, the Range Rider."
—David Minton, Lovington NM
David,
No, you are correct and we blew it. Oh, how we blew it. You are the 367th person to point this out to me—so far! Ha. I'm not complaining, it shows you guys are reading the magazine!
—BBB
I Can't Believe I Drew It
A page from my sketchbook on the mountains of Peru (we had just returned):
Listening To Criticism
Polyclitus, a famous sculptor in ancient Greece, once sculpted two statues at the same time: one in his living room, in public view, and one in his bedroom, that he worked on privately and kept wrapped in a tarpaulin. When visitors came by, they would comment on the public work, saying "The
eyes aren't quite right" or "That thigh is too long" and Polyclitus would incorporate their suggestions. All the while, however, he kept the other statue a secret. Both works were completed at about the same time and were mounted in the city square in Athens. The statue that had been designed by committee was openly mocked and ridiculed. The statue he'd done by himself was immediately proclaimed a transcendental work of art. People asked Polyclitus "How can one statue be so good and the other so bad?" and Polyclitus answered "Because I did this one and you did that one."
"True friends stab you in the front."
—Oscar Wilde
Bob Boze 4:59 PM
October 30, 2009
Really chilly this morning, but it's supposed to get up to 80 today. The Top Secret Writer is coming out for lunch today to go over our wayward half-breed, Mickey Free.
We got attacked by five beefy javelinas last night (our gates are off, being fixed and we piled chairs and wooden barricades in the gaps but the Bastards blew right by that). Peaches was going crazy. I finally took a mop and, while making a modified version of my coyote disperser voice, herded them out the gate. But not before they knocked over the chicken feed barrels and ate all the chicken food. They came back twice more in the night because they are pigs after all, so we didn't get a great night's sleep.
100 Covers: Dead Man Tells A Tall Tale
As we moved into 2004 we utilized one of our strongest weapons, Phil Spangenberger, and turned him loose to do a major feature on Six-guns of the gunfighters:
In March, we tackled a growing problem in the Western field and that is fake stuff being sold for outrageous prices. Dan The Man created a spectacular cover, one of my all-time favorites of any we have done:
In fact, I would put this cover in the top five faves of all we have done. This type of cover entered our lexicon, as in, "I think it's time for another Big Face cover."
In April we introduced our very popular True West Maniac Club and within a few months sold 1,000 plus memberships:
For May we tackled the transcontinental railroad and David Crockett:
With the failure of The Alamo and The Missing (Ron Howard's Western with Tommy Lee Jones), and the moderate box office success of Hidalgo we didn't have much faith in a new HBO series to be called Deadwood. Lo and behold, it was a roaring success and we rushed to make hay with it:
In July we went back to the Old West icons and played with the cover magic of numbers:
Yes, for some reason people buy covers with numbers on them. Sales prove it. Unfortunately, when everyone starts using numbers then the effectiveness is diluted.
In August I rolled the dice and put a dead man on the cover:
Several business types cautioned me against doing this, but I was determined to get some attention for our little ol' magazine. I can't say it was a total success, but I did get a phone call from a pretty hip guy in Boulder, Colorado (he's a film producer) and he told me he saw it on the newsstand and went, "Now, there's a cover with attitude!" Ha. Totally anecdotal, but it made the gamble worth it to me.
Sticking with the death kick, I did a blood soaked cover to draw attention to a big feature on The Wild Bunch:
While visiting the Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody, Wyoming I saw a great rodeo poster of African-American rodeo legend Bill Pickett. Thanks to our friends there, we got a good scan of it and utilized it for a cover story in October:
We ended the year with a great cheesecake shot of Dale Evans in all her cowgirl glory:
As we approached our fifth year with True West we expanded travel, did another stunt cover (this one with Jesus! Yikes!) and had the audacity to ask the question: Is The Wyatt Earp Era Over?
Got some interesting feedback on that one. Ha.
“Yes, it is well known that all Texas Rangers have Mexican blood. On their boots.”
—Annie Proulx, Accordion Crimes
Bob Boze 9:28 AM
October 29, 2009
Just had a young man in the offices who loves Doc Holliday. I met Marshall Tanner, 12, last week in Bisbee. Actually, it was at the Breakfast Club in Lowell, as Deena and Tommy and I came in for a late breakfast after the walking tour in Tombstone. Tanner came over to our table and asked for an autograph on his Doc Holliday book which he had just purchased. I told Marshall he should come visit our offices in Cave Creek sometime and today I gave Marshall and his dad the tour of the offices and he asked if he could come back some time and bring a friend. I assured him that would great.
100 Covers: Stop The Presses!
As we worked our way into 2003 we began to utilize the wonderful photo collection of Robert McCubbin:
Sticking with the fifty theme (as mentioned 2003 was our 50 year anniversary), we did the 50 Guns That Won The West:
The actual birthday of the magazine was the April issue and so we not only celebrated our birth, but the birth of John Wayne:
We had been doing only eight issues a year, but our new partner, Bob Brink, felt it was time to expand and add a special issue, or two, and here is the first special we came up with:
Our newsstand consultant told us we needed a different name for the issue so we came up with Renegade Roads, but it caused us a ton of confusion with the newsstand rackers and we didn't make that mistake again. Back to Custer for May-June:
And back to our old stand by Wyatt and Doc for July:
As we were going to press with our August-September issue we got the word that an effort to dig up Billy the Kid was underway, and the story landed on the front page of the New York Times. For the first time in my career, I got to say the line, "Stop the presses!" even though our printers are in Kansas City and we are in Cave Creek, Arizona and the issue had all of seven days before it actually went on press. Anyway, close enough for an itinerant typo, as we tore up the cover story on Pancho Villa and replaced it with this one:
I had the honor of sitting in a Barnes & Noble in New York City (we flew to New York to pitch Classic Gunfights to the History Channel) and watch several New Yorkers pick up this issue off a very crowded rack and buy it. I had to restrain myself from running up and hugging them. I was a very happy boy.
After a speech in Wickenburg at the Desert Caballeros Museum, a woman came up to me and asked if I'd be interested in her family collection of rodeo photos. She said her mama was an early day rodeo performer I asked her mother's name and the woman said, Vera McGinnis, the Rodeo Queen. Was I interested? Oh, I think so:
Back to Billy the Kid for our second special issue of the year:
And then for November-December we went with Billy Bob Thorton and the new Alamo, which we hoped was going to be a blockbuster:
It was not and the movie and the issue was a disappointment to everyone. Still, all in all, a very strong year. We were adding back issues and learning a ton as we went alonng. The year 2004 would include one of the best covers we have ever done and certainly the grossest. Was I walking on water? Not quite, but even if I could, I instinctively knew miracles have their limitations.
"If one morning I walked on top of the water across the Potomac River, the headline that afternoon would read: 'President Can't Swim.'"
—Lyndon Baines Johnson
Bob Boze 3:39 PM
October 29, 2009
I received a batch of the long-awaited DVDs of The Perfect Exit and it is damn near perfect:
Starting with Dan The Man Harshberger's excellent graphics (turn the DVD over and you will see that the Exit logo is backwards and the drum sticks are in front of it, as it would be if you were looking at the front from the back. Ha. Too clever.
Tom and Nicole Erickson did a fine job on the production of the DVD and there are a whole slew of extra bonus materials inside, including behind-the-scenes video of the fateful rehearsal (right up to the last second before a certain heart attack) and great photos of Kingman in the sixties. It really is going to be a historic document because of all the old pics, film and coverage.
Here's the pitch from the Jamie:
October 27, 2009
Dear Friends of KRMC:
As you may recall, on Saturday March 28th the KRMC Foundation hosted “Music is the Doctor: A Lifesaving Opportunity”. This event was a combination auction and dance—with live, classic rock ‘n roll music from the ‘60s and ‘70s presented by The Exits Family—a group of nine musicians who grew up or lived in Kingman as teenagers, and five of their talented friends. (In addition to playing for free, the musicians provided auction items and other donations including proceeds from the sale of a vintage Fender guitar, donated to the event.) The funds raised were used to purchase 15 automated external defibrillators (AED) for communities served by Kingman Regional Medical Center.
Over seven hundred people attended “Music is the Doctor” and it was a blast. In fact, it was so much fun, that we decided a commemorate DVD of the event was needed which is now available for purchase at a cost of just $25 (you will also receive a poster from the evening.) The DVD includes great photos from the early days of Kingman and the Exits Family. You might even see pictures of yourself!
To purchase your DVD, you can fill out the attached form and send back to me, call (928)757-0664 or email me at jtaylor@azkrmc.com. These will make great holiday gifts. The monies will help to provide additional defibrillators in our community.
Best regards,
Jamie Taylor
Director of Development & Public Relations
"Any one can face a crisis; it is this day-to-day living that wears you out."
—Chekhov
Bob Boze 9:45 AM
October 29, 2009
Here at True West we are still debating the Cross vs. Mowry gunfight. Here is Mark Boardman's response:
"You may be overthinking this Cross-Mowry gunfight thing.
"I mean, there's no evidence that the duel was fixed, with both intending to miss every shot. I've been through a bunch of accounts, some including witness statements, and none indicates suspicion over the fight. And neither combatant, so far as I can tell, ever said that the fix was in.
"Sure, they were shooting the daylights out of targets the day before. They were both good shots. But a strong crosswind would have hurt their aims. And the tension of actually facing a guy who was firing back could very well thrown off their shots. That was a common occurrence in the Old West, as we both know. Look at how many shots missed everyone at the Tombstone Street Fight--and those guys were practically able to touch their opponents.
"And while both Cross and Mowry had military experience, and may have been in battle before, a duel is a different animal--no chance to take cover (without looking like a wuss) or surprise the opponent.
"This is one of those cases where I fall back on Occam's Razor, which says, "when you have two competing theories that make exactly the same predictions, the simpler one is the better." In this case, the simpler theory is that they both intended to shoot the other guy--but they both missed.
"That's my two cents worth..."
—Mark Boardman
And here's Marshall Trimble's take on the fight:
"I think Mowry fired over Cross’s head on purpose as a gallant gesture. That was typical of his Southern personality he’d acquired.
"Cross was born in 1832 in Lancaster, NH and received and education at a local common school and academy. At age 15 he went to work as a printer and a few years later he became editor for the Cincinnati Times. It was through these connections that he met the Wrightson brothers of Cincinnati who were the financiers for the Sonora Mining and Exploring Company of Tubac. He was a member of the Know Nothing Party and when it collapsed he joined the new Republican Party, read that Northerners. He was pretty outspoken and Mowry had Southern sympathies and a West Point grad. I believe he could have killed Cross if he chose but chose not to. Earlier they’d had enough editorial disagreements and exchange of insults to fight a duel.
"According to witnesses both men practiced on the day before the duel. Cross 'picked the cactus leaves from the top of the Tubac church at almost every shot.' Mowry was 'Playing havoc with a small cottonwood tree.'
"This could all been a show of bravado for both. Both men were good shots.
"They were using Burnside Rifles at 40 paces. Four shots, actually three were fired without effect said the July 14th issue of the Arizonian. Mowry’s second shot was a misfire.
"During the duel there was a strong cross wind blowing preventing an accurate aim. they exchanged shots but on the second time around, Mowry’s weapon misfired. His second, a man named George Mercer, demanded another shot. Cross agreed to let him have another.
"Mowry’s friend Wm. S. Oury stepped up to Mowry and asked if he intended to shoot his adversary and Mowry replied, “Do you think I would try to kill a defenseless man?”
"Cross faced him unarmed and Mowry fired into the air saying he was satisfied.
"They did shake hands but according to the article, they weren’t any friendlier afterwards, despite the 42-gallon barrel of whiskey. The two men issued public apologies for their remarks about the integrity and reputation of the other."
—Marshall Trimble
By the way, the Know Nothing Party (1854) advocated the exclusion of Catholics and foreigners from public office and called for a 21-year residency before immigrants could become citizens. The party collapsed after the 1856 election and many joined the Republican Party.
"Glenn Beck is still a member of The Know Nothing Party."
—Dan Harshberger
Bob Boze 8:52 AM
