Author Kelton had plenty of Fort Worth admirers

By BILL MILLER

To be "Best Western Author of All Time" is to stand above Owen Wister, Zane Grey, even Louis L'Amour.

Elmer Kelton of San Angelo earned that distinction from the Western Writers of America, which also awarded him seven "Spur" awards for his stories about ordinary people struggling against the hardscrabble environs of West Texas.

He died Saturday at age 83.

Kelton's passing leaves a difficult void in the western genre, according to some of his admirers in Fort Worth, where he often visited and gained further recognition as one of the top authors published by Texas Christian University Press.

Yet despite his fame, Kelton was remembered as a surprisingly quiet, unassuming man who deeply appreciated his readers.

"Elmer felt very warm toward his readers," said author Jeff Guinn, former Star-Telegram books editor. "He thought Fort Worth was authentic and real and he was very comfortable here."

Judy Alter, former director of TCU Press, said the city's heritage as a cattle-drive destination no doubt appealed to the author.

"We're Cowtown and he comes from cow country, so I think he had a good affinity for Fort Worth," she said.

Kelton grew up on the McElroy Ranch in West Texas where his father, Buck, was a working cowboy. The writer served in the U.S. Army during World War II and met his wife, Anna, in Austria.

Upon returning home he applied his journalism degree from the University of Texas to a 15-year stint as the farm and ranch writer-editor for the San Angelo Standard-Times. He also worked as an editor for Sheep and Goat Raiser Magazine and Livestock Weekly.

But unlike many journalists, Kelton didn't just dream of becoming a novelist; late at night he toiled away at his modest San Angelo home, writing fiction, but with characters who were strikingly similar to people he knew.

Alter recalled how Kelton frequently said most characters of the western genre were tall, handsome and bold, while the people in his books were average height and nervous.

She said TCU Press has sold "thousands and thousands" of copies of the title that is widely considered Kelton's best work, The Time it Never Rained. The 1973 book recounts the devastating West Texas drought of the 1950s.

Alter said it's very unusual for a small university-affiliated publishing house to enjoy that kind of success with a single title.

Other popular Kelton stories carried by TCU Press include, The Day the Cowboys Quit (1971), The Wolf and the Buffalo (1980); and The Man Who Rode Midnight (1987). The Good Old Boys (1979), was made into a 1995 television film starring Tommy Lee Jones.

Kelton's association with TCU Press began in the early 1980s, Alter said.

"The advantage to us is that these titles sell very well," she said, "and the advantage to Elmer was longer shelf life in some very handsome editions.

"He was always so pleasant to us for keeping his books in print, but I say wait, we're grateful for him being our best-selling author."

Despite his fame, Kelton was eager to help other writers.

Guinn said he had known Kelton for about 20 years when he asked him in 2005 to participate with a "collaborative" novel.

"Noah's Ride," published in 2006 by TCU Press, is about a runaway slave and Union Army veteran who journeys to West Texas after the Civil War, but runs afoul of corrupt sheriff.

Contributors included a strong lineup of published authors, including Phyllis Allen, James Reasoner, Mary Rogers, Mike Cochran and Carlton Stowers. A contest sponsored by the Star-Telegram added newcomer Mary Dittoe Kelly to the roster.

But, Guinn said, the project needed Kelton to be the cornerstone, and the West Texan happily agreed.

"He wrote the first chapter," Guinn said. "We knew he had to be first so that all his fans would want to buy it. But to him, it didn't matter. I don't think it ever occurred to him to say no; he just wanted to be one of the boys.

"He was the only great writer I ever met who was absolutely without ego."

Guinn said Kelton stands among three giants in Texas literature -- the other two being writer John Graves, (Goodbye to a River) and playwright and screenwriter Horton Foote, (The Trip to Bountiful), who died last March.

"And now we're down to John," Guinn said. "It's going to be lacking because Elmer Kelton grew up ranching, but now there is so much less of that. And there are not too many young writers with that background.

"For my money, the western writer who genuinely knew what he was talking about was Elmer Kelton."

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