Panhandle Cowboy [Hardcover]

John R. Erickson (Author), Bill Ellzey (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1981 | Series: Western Life Series (Book 4)

Panhandle Cowboy is the classic description of cowboy life by master storyteller John Erickson. His observations about the Crown Ranch in particular, and the cowboy lifestyle in general, are filled with humor and pathos as Erickson describes the ranch, individual cowboys, roundups, wild cattle, and horses. Panhandle Cowboy is a treasured addition to the literature, life and lore of the American cowboy. The Midwest Book Review, March 14, 1999. James A. Cox, Editor.

"Panhandle Cowboy is a sensitive, admirable straight-forward book about the texture of modern cowboying in the Oklahoma Panhandle. These truthful and affectionate descriptions of life and work in that severe locale serve to reinforce an old point: that hardship and risk are woven deeply into the appeal of cowboying. Often as not the elements themselves provide all the hardship that anyone could well want. Should the weather happen to be comfortable, animals or the cattle market will contribute the hardship. In this one regard cowboys resemble desert Arabs; their best qualities are forged by extreme conditions. Enrich or suburbanize a Bedouin or a cowboy and taste, vigor, and sense of craft are soon lost. Keep them out where the winds blow, the sands storm, and the animals resist all reasonable effort and they remain superb workmen, alert, humorous, and subtle." --Larry McMurtry

Product Details

• Hardcover: 207 pages
• Publisher: University of North Texas Press (July 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1574410644
• ISBN-13: 978-1574410648
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,950,287 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John R. Erickson, a former cowboy and ranch manager, is gifted with a storyteller's knack for spinning a yarn. Through the eyes of Hank the Cowdog, a smelly, smart-aleck Head of Ranch Security, Erickson gives readers a glimpse of daily life on a ranch in the West Texas Panhandle. This series of books and tapes is in school libraries across the country, has sold more than 7.6 million copies, is a Book-of-the-Month Club selection, and is the winner of the 1993 Audie for Outstanding Children's Series from the Audio Publisher's Association. Publishers Weekly calls Hank a "grassroots publishing phenomena," and USA Today says this is "the best family entertainment in years."

The road to stardom for Hank, however, wasn't all dog biscuits and gravy. Erickson graduated from the University of Texas in 1966 and studied for two years at Harvard Divinity School. He began to publish short stories in 1967 while working full-time as a cowboy, farmhand, and ranch manager in Texas and Oklahoma. Hank and his sidekick Drover are dogs Erickson worked with on the range. This mixture of true-life experience, fun, and adventure has gained Hank a loyal following of thousands of children and adults.

In 1982, however, Erickson was at his rope's end. "I was working out in the cold; there was 8 inches of snow on the ground," he says, "I had just gotten a couple of rejection slips from New York publishers, and I had a wife with two kids and another one on the way." So, with $2,000 in borrowed money, Erickson started his own publishing company, appropriately named Maverick Books.

Hank the Cowdog made his debut in the pages of The Cattleman, a magazine for adults. An obvious favorite of readers, Erickson included two of Hank's humorous stories in Maverick Book's first publishing effort, The Devil in Texas (1982). Erickson began selling books from his pickup truck at cattle auctions, rodeos, and just about any place cowboys gathered.

When Erickson started getting "Dear Hank" letters, he knew he was onto something. So in 1983, he self-published 2,000 copies of The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog, and they sold out in 6 weeks. Not long after that first printing, the book was recorded word-for-word on audiotape. Since then, every Hank book has been recorded, making Hank the longest-running successful children's series on audio, ever. (Source: Billboard)

When teachers began inviting Erickson to their schools, Hank found his most eager fans. Teachers, librarians, and students alike love Hank. According to some Texas Library Association surveys, the Hank the Cowdog books are the most popular selections in many libraries' children's sections. The lively characters make excellent material for reading and writing lessons, and turn even the most reluctant readers into avid Hank-fans. When used with the books, Hank tapes increase reading skills rapidly. And, in response to popular demand from the growing bilingual market, the first two Hank the Cowdog adventures are available in Spanish.

Although the Hank books began as a regional phenomenon, CBS Television heard about them and brought out a thirty-minute cartoon of the first book. It aired in May 1985 as part of a series called "CBS Storybreak."

Erickson has also written several books for young adults, the "Riley McDaniels Series". The first book of the series, "Moonshiner's Gold", won the 2003-2004 Lamplighter Award. The second book in the series, "Discovery at Flint Springs," was a finalist for the Lamplighter Award the following year. He has also written several books about cowboying based on his own experiences.

Erickson was born in Midland, Texas, but by the age of 3, he had moved with his family to Perryton, Texas, where he and his wife live today on their working cattle ranch. They have 3 grown children and 4 grandchildren. His advice to young writers is, "Write about something you know. Try to leave your readers better off than they were before."

For more information about John R. Erickson and the Hank the Cowdog books, please visit www.hankthecowdog.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wild cows and dubious horses . . ., May 18, 2005

By 

Ronald Scheer "rockysquirrel" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Panhandle Cowboy (Hardcover)

This is a solid 5-star book for any reader interested in the day-to-day, season-by-season work of cowboying and running a ranch. The author describes in this well-written book his four years (1974-78) of single-handedly managing a cow-calf operation on 5000 acres of sandy grassland in the Oklahoma Panhandle. The writing is precise and informative, full of love for the life he has chosen, admiration for the hard-working men who are his friends and neighbors, and a deepening understanding of the ranch's four not-always-cooperative horses.

There's also a good deal of humor in the book, much of it owing to the particularly unmanageable nature of the cattle on the ranch. An episode of fruitlessly chasing two wild cows through a series of pasture fences made it into a collection of cowboy humor called "Horsing Around," by Lawrence Clayton and Kenneth Davis. We also read how the author gets a reputation for picking the worst weather for fall roundups. The book ends on a soberer note, as Erickson is told that the ranch is being sold and that he's out of a job. While he's happy enough to clear the ranch of the hateful cattle that have tried his patience, there's a bittersweetness as he parts with the horses that we've come to know so well.

This is the first, and maybe best, of a series of books by the author about his ranching experiences. It was followed by "Cowboy Country" and "LZ Cowboy." As in the others, the text of this book is illustrated with a number of nicely selected black and white photographs. Larry McMurtry has some interesting words to say about cowboys by way of introduction (he's usually not so appreciative). Thanks to the University of Nebraska Press for keeping this fine book in print. Readers will also enjoy Ben K. Green's "Wild Cow Tales" and Thomas McGuane's "Some Horses."

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Home on the range, February 6, 2006

By 

Bomojaz (South Central PA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Panhandle Cowboy (Hardcover)

Anyone who still thinks the cowboy life is one of great romance - man and animal working in harmony under a blissful sky in wide open country, free and independent, the epitome of Jeffersonian democracy at work - had better read this honest, eyes-wide-open account of ranch life today. Although cowboyng was never really like the myths made it out to be, for some reason the myths took firm root. John Erickson worked for four years in the 1970s on a ranch in the Oklahoma panhandle, and this is his warts-and-all account of his experiences. Unlike in the myths, herding cattle is hard, sometimes brutal work, made even worse by harsh weather conditions, unpredictable animals, unending routine (read tedious) tasks, and cut-throat business practices (this last might be the cruelest of all). Not to say there aren't good times - close friends, favorite horses, handsome views when the wind lays down and time permits noticing - but Erickson makes clear that these good times are only oases in a Sahara of hardships. Not that he's complaining about that - just making an observation. But even Erickson can't resist the mythologizing and romancing completely, and where the book apparently ends at a livestock auction where he sells his favorite horse to (he assumes) a meat-packing plant, the horse is miraculously saved at the last minute and sent to a ranch in Montana: "I can see him now," Erickson writes, "standing in a green meadow with the Montana mountains blue in the distance." Myths, thank God, do not die easy deaths. A well-written, informative, and honest account of punching cattle on the open range.