Elmer Kelton Texas Rangers series now complete

 By Glenn Dromgoole, San Angelo Times

Before he became ill and died last year, Elmer Kelton completed the final two books in his nine-novel Texas Rangers series.
The first of the two, “Other Men’s Horses,” came out in hardcover last fall and is now available in paperback.
The second, “Texas Standoff” (Forge, $24.99 hardcover) goes on sale Tuesday. This is the last novel by the beloved San Angelo western author, voted the greatest of them all by his fellow western writers.
The series, which focuses on two principal Texas Ranger figures in the period during and after the Civil War — Rusty Shannon and Andy Pickard — kicked off in 1999 with “The Buckskin Line.” That was followed by “Badger Boy” and “The Way of the Coyote.” Those three were then republished together as “Lone Star Rising.”
Then came “Ranger’s Trail,” “Texas Vendetta,” and “Jericho’s Road,” which were then collected into “Ranger’s Law.”
Kelton told me a couple of years before his death that his goal was to complete the Ranger series after the ninth novel. That would give the publisher an opportunity to bring out one more three-novel collection. I don’t know if Forge plans to do that, but I can’t imagine that it wouldn’t. So in another year or so, I expect to see “Hard Trail to Follow” and these last two stories reissued in that format.
In “Texas Standoff,” Texas Ranger Andy Pickard is having second thoughts about continuing his career with the Rangers, especially after he is paired with a new partner that is known to be hot-tempered and generally unpleasant.
Pickard has married and looks forward to settling down on his own ranch when he can save enough money to afford to quit the force. More and more it is harder for him to leave his young wife, Bethel, as he goes off to track down bad guys.
But duty calls, and he and his new partner, Logan Daggett, are sent to Central Texas to try to stop a two-family feud before it becomes any worse. The Teals and the McIntoshes have a long-standing dislike that goes back to their Civil War loyalties. While the younger family members might be inclined to put aside their prejudices, the two family patriarchs carry deep hatred for each other.
Each family suspects the other of stealing their cattle, but neither side can prove anything. Meanwhile, Pickard and Daggett find there might be another side to the story involving a group of masked vigilantes known as the regulators.
As violence escalates, the two Rangers find themselves caught in the middle of a situation they had hoped to prevent.
Once again, Kelton weaves an action-packed story that is true to the history of the period.

Western writing legend, Elmer Kelton honoured

Cowboy culture enthusiasts from all parts of the America and even further afield  kicked off the 22nd annual National Cowboy Symposium and Celebration on Thursday evening last week, at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center.
Guests enjoyed a steak meal and reveled in the art, music and literature that celebrates the way of the West at the American Cowboy Culture Association awards dinner.
The ACCA board of directors judge the nominees and select winners in categories ranging from western music to rodeo awards, said Monica Hightower, an officer of the symposium. Each of the winners took home a miniature authentic leather saddle that sits on a custom-made wooden stand.
Although it was an event to congratulate the 10 ACCA winners, it was also a time to commemorate the life and achievements of the late Elmer Kelton, the award-winning western
fiction writer and the man for whom the symposium was dedicated this year.

“When (Elmer would) get home from work, he’d go to work,” said Steve, Elmer’s son. “We’d have supper and the next thing I’d know the typewriter was clattering. It’d clatter up into the night.”
Steve and his mother, Ann, accepted the dedication award on Elmer’s behalf.

Son of Texas

Sons of Texas was my introduction to Elmer Kelton - as soon as I'd read the first page I knew that I liked this writer. The characters, particularly that of Michael became so real to me that I became involved with the story on a deep emotional level - the sign of a very good storyteller indeed. Since then I've read maybe a dozen of his titles, most recently Six Bits a Day, and haven't found a weak title among them. Mr. Kelton's work has that special something that grabs the reader from the first line and refuses to let go till the tale is told. He was the natural successor to Louis L'amour and indeed many people feel that he was in fact better than L'amour. It was Kelton after all who the Western Writers of America voted the best western writer of all time.


His works are rich in period detail but to my mind his greatest strength is his characters. They become real people to the readers and act realistically so any events seem natural and not merely a device to push the plot forward.

Mr Kelton has left an impressive body of work behind so in many ways he can never truly die, his work is out there full of living breathing characters. And will always be there as long as people have a need for rich exciting stories.







Mr. Kelton was born in 1926. His formative years were spent on a ranch. The western lifestyle was in his blood, even if he was more comfortable sat before a typewriter than on a horse. He served with honours in World War II. He spent his army life in Europe during the worse of the hostilities.

In 1947 Elmer married Anna Lip of Austria. He became an agricultural journalist for the San Angelo Standard Times in 1949. Elmer started to sell stories to the pulp magazines and for some time he balanced the journalism jobs with freelance fiction work.

All in all Elmer wrote over forty books. He has won multiple Spur awards and was voted the best western writer of all time by The Western Writers of America.

Mr. Kelton had been ill for some time but had seemed to be making recovery. However he passed away early yesterday morning.

Elmer Kelton Tribute

There's a lovely article HERE in tribute to Elmer Kelton who died yesterday aged 83

NEWS - Elmer Kelton, western legend, passes away

The sad news can be found HERE

Only this afternoon I mentioned Elmer in an interview I was giving, listing him as one of my influences. This is a sad day not only for friends and family of the great man, and our thoughts are with you, but for western fiction in general.

Elmer had been ill for some time and was recently voted the best western writer of all time.

Rest in peace, Pard.

Elmer Kelton

The Tainted Archive has learned that western legend, Elmer Kelton is now back at home recovering from a bout of pneumonia which saw the veteran western writer hospitalised. However Elmer is at home - the writer is still very weak but making progress on his return to health.

The Tainted Archive wishes Elmer Kelton all the best and a speedy recovery.