82R8982 BGU-D
By: Darby H.R. No. 686
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, The Lone Star State lost an accomplished native son
with the passing of novelist and journalist Elmer Kelton of San
Angelo on August 22, 2009, at the age of 83; and
WHEREAS, Born on April 29, 1926, at Horse Camp in Andrews
County, Elmer Stephen Kelton was descended from cowboys and
ranchers; his great-grandfather came to West Texas in the 1870s
with a covered wagon and a string of horses, and his father, Robert
William "Buck" Kelton, was the foreman and eventual manager of the
McElroy Ranch in Crane and Upton Counties; and
WHEREAS, Elmer Kelton was the oldest of four sons and, by his
own admission, the worst cowboy of the bunch; he decided at an early
age that if he couldn't be a cowboy, he would at least write about
them, and he was encouraged in this endeavor by his mother, Neta
Beatrice "Bea" Kelton, a former schoolteacher; he entered The
University of Texas at Austin at the age of 16 and enrolled in
journalism classes; and
WHEREAS, In the mid-1940s, Mr. Kelton served in Europe as an
infantryman during the final months of World War II; while
stationed in Austria, he met his future wife, Anni Lipp, whom he
married in 1947; he went on to earn his bachelor's degree in
journalism from UT the following year; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Kelton was the farm-and-ranch editor for the San
Angelo Standard-Times from 1948 to 1963; he later spent five years
as associate editor of Sheep and Goat Raisers' Magazine and more
than two decades as editor of Livestock Weekly before retiring in
1990; and
WHEREAS, His career as a Western writer began in 1948, when he
sold a story to Ranch Romances magazine for $50; he published his
first novel, Hot Iron, in 1955, and writing mainly in his spare
time, he went on to author or contribute to more than 60 books,
including several volumes of Western art, a memoir, Sandhills Boy,
and many works of fiction; and
WHEREAS, Insightful portrayals of West Texans, Mr. Kelton's
novels were admired by readers and critics alike for their keen
attention to detail, moral complexity, and psychological realism;
he wasn't interested in writing simplistic Western characters who
were "seven feet tall and invincible," he once said, adding, "my
characters are five-eight and nervous"; and
WHEREAS, In The Time It Never Rained, he vividly evoked the
struggles of a rancher during a devastating drought in the 1950s; in
The Good Old Boys, which was made into a television movie directed
by and starring Tommy Lee Jones, he told the story of an aging
cowboy grappling with changing times at the turn of the 20th
century; and
WHEREAS, Often bestsellers, his books also won numerous
accolades; seven of his titles earned the Spur Award from the
Western Writers of America, and three received Western Heritage
Awards from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum; Mr.
Kelton himself was honored with both the Owen Wister Award for
lifetime achievement and the Lone Star Award for Lifetime
Achievement from the Larry McMurtry Center for Arts and Humanities
at Midwestern State University; in 1995, he was voted the best
Western writer of all time by members of the Western Writers of
America; and
WHEREAS, Throughout a long and prolific career, Mr. Kelton
enjoyed the love and support of his wife of 62 years as well as their
three children, Gary, Stephen, and Kathy; moreover, his family
included four grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, and a
great-great-granddaughter; and
WHEREAS, Elmer Kelton wrote with deep reverence and
compassion about the people and landscape he loved; whether he was
evoking the stark beauty of the high plains or the pride and dignity
of hardworking people, he celebrated a rich culture and left a
lasting legacy that will endure as long as the wind blows over West
Texas; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas
Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life and accomplishments of
Elmer Kelton; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
prepared for his family and that when the Texas House of
Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Elmer
Kelton.