Once in a lifetime there may come to an author the opportunity to produce a book as distinguished as this acclaimed tribute to the Duke—a man as large as the American West he so loved. It is the first book ever to have the complete cooperation of the late Michael Wayne and is a classic production that spotlights John Wayne’s West from reel to real through 400 exciting images, with text by Jane Pattie. These visual remembrances, many from private collections, are high points from five decades of his film and ranching careers. There are 276 pages of colorful reminisces of the man who was John Wayne, the film icon, and Duke Wayne, the loyal and generous friend, including the story of the 26 Bar Ranch in Arizona co-owned by Wayne and his best friend, Louis Johnson, cattleman extraordinaire.
The centennial celebration of John Wayne’s birth will occur on May 26, 2007, 100 years after he was born Marion Michael Morrison in Winterset, Iowa. This imposing western biography salutes him as a timeless American.
