Elmer Stephen Kelton (April 29, 1926Kelton, Elmer (2007). - ''Sandhills Boy: The Winding Trail of a Texas Writer''. - New York, New York: Forge. - p.26. - . – August 22, 2009) was an American

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

, known particularly for his

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

novels. His pseudonyms are: Tom Early, Alex Hawk, Lee McElroy

Early life

Kelton was born at a place called Horse Camp on the Five Wells Ranch, owned by the Scharbauer Cattle Company, in Andrews County — just east of the city of

Andrews, Texas Andrews is the county seat of Andrews County in the Permian Basin of West Texas. Andrews sits to the far southwest within the Texas Panhandle's plains, about 30 miles east of New Mexico. Andrews was incorporated on February 2, 1937. Both th ...

. His parents were Robert William "Buck" Kelton-Birth certificate of Elmer Kelton. - Texas Vital Statistics Office. - Austin, Texas: Texas Department of State Health Services. 1926. (30 June 1901 – 15 June 1980) and Neta Beatrice "Bea" (''née'' Parker).Kelton. ''Sandhills Boy''. - p.84. 15 May 1904 – 27 April 1993) Kelton.Kelton. ''Sandhills Boy''. - pp.26,31. When Kelton was three years old, his family moved to the McElroy Ranch located in the counties of Crane and Upton, Texas, near the city of Crane, south-southwest of Midland. He spent the rest of his childhood at three different

homestead Homestead may refer to: *Homestead (buildings), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses * Homestead (unit), a unit of measurement equal to 160 acres *Homestead principle, a legal concept t ...

s on the McElroy Ranch, where his father was employed for 36 years. After graduation from Crane High School, Kelton attended the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,07 ...

, in 1942–1944 and again from 1946–1948, when he earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree in

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the " news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (pro ...

. From 1944 to 1946, Kelton had served in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

, with combat

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

experience in Europe during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Career

From 1948-1963, Kelton was the

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used ...

-and-ranch editor for the ''

San Angelo Standard-Times ''San Angelo Standard-Times'' is a daily newspaper based in San Angelo, Texas, United States that was established in 1884. It is owned by Gannett. History The newspaper was established in 1884 by J. G. Murphy, the city's second mayor. Mr. Mu ...

'' in the

Harte-Hanks Harte Hanks is a global marketing services company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Harte Hanks services include analytics, strategy, marketing technology, creative services, digital marketing, customer care, direct mail, logistics, and ful ...

chain. For five years, he was editor of ''Sheep and Goat Raiser Magazine'' and another 22 years he was editor of ''Livestock Weekly'', from which he retired in 1990. His

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobiog ...

, ''Sandhills Boy'', was published in 2007. Three of his novels have been featured in ''

Reader's Digest Condensed Books ''Reader's Digest Condensed Books'' was a series of hardcover anthology collections, published by the American general interest monthly family magazine ''Reader's Digest'' and distributed by direct mail. Most volumes contained five (although a ...

''. Seven Kelton novels, ''Buffalo Wagons'', ''The Day the Cowboys Quit'', ''The Time It Never Rained'', ''Eyes of the Hawk'', ''Slaughter'', ''The Far Canyon'', and ''The Way of the Coyote'', have won

Spur Award Spur Awards are literary prizes awarded annually by the Western Writers of America (WWA). The purpose of the Spur Awards is to honor writers for distinguished writing about the American West. The Spur awards began in 1953, the same year the WWA wa ...

s from the

Western Writers of America Western Writers of America (WWA), founded 1953, promotes literature, both fictional and nonfictional, pertaining to the American West. Although its founders wrote traditional Western fiction, the more than 600 current members also include histori ...

. Peers in the WWA also named him as the greatest Western writer of all time.Legislature honors San Angelo author
The Owen Wister Award
/ref> Three other novels, ''The Time It Never Rained'', '' The Good Old Boys'', and ''The Man Who Rode Midnight'', have received Western Heritage Awards from the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

, Oklahoma. ''The Good Old Boys'' was made into the

Turner Network Television TNT (originally an abbreviation for Turner Network Television) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery that launched on October 3, 1988. TNT's original purpose ...

TV movie named '' The Good Old Boys'' (1995) starring

Tommy Lee Jones Tommy Lee Jones (born September 15, 1946) is an American actor and film director. He has received four Academy Award nominations, winning Best Supporting Actor for his performance as U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard in the 1993 thriller film '' The ...

. In 1977, Kelton received an

Owen Wister Award ''Owen Wister Award'' is an annual award from the Western Writers of America given to lifelong contributions to the field of Western literature. Named for writer Owen Wister ('' The Virginian''; 1902), it is given for "Outstanding Contributions to ...

for lifetime achievement (named for

Owen Wister Owen Wister (July 14, 1860 – July 21, 1938) was an American writer and historian, considered the "father" of western fiction. He is best remembered for writing '' The Virginian'' and a biography of Ulysses S. Grant. Biography Early life ...

, the author of '' The Virginian''). In April 1997, the

Texas State Legislature The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the US state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a powerful ...

proclaimed "Elmer Kelton Day". In 1998, he received the first Lone Star Award for Lifetime Achievement from the

Larry McMurtry Larry Jeff McMurtry (June 3, 1936March 25, 2021) was an American novelist, essayist, bookseller and screenwriter whose work was predominantly set in either the Old West or contemporary Texas.

Center for Arts and Humanities at

Midwestern State University Midwestern State University (MSU Texas) is a public liberal arts university in Wichita Falls, Texas. In 2020 it had 5,141 undergraduate students. It is the state's only public institution focused on the liberal arts. History Founded in 1922 as ...

Wichita Falls Wichita Falls ( ) is a city in and the seat of government of Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay, and Wichita counties. According ...

. Kelton received

honorary doctorates An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene and

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sy ...

Lubbock Lubbock ( ) is the 10th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of government of Lubbock County. With a population of 260,993 in 2021, the city is also the 85th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the northw ...

. Kelton also received a lifetime achievement award from the National Cowboy Symposium in Lubbock. He is honored with a star in the sidewalk at the

Fort Worth Stockyards The Fort Worth Stockyards is a historic district that is located in Fort Worth, Texas, north of the central business district. A portion encompassing much of the district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Fort Worth Sto ...

in Fort Worth.

Personal life

Kelton was married to Anni Lipp, a native of

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. They had three children. One son, Gerhard (also known as "Gary") of Plainview, is Anni's son who was adopted by Kelton. The other son and a daughter are Steve Kelton and Kathy Kelton, both of

San Angelo San Angelo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tom Green County, Texas, United States. Its location is in the Concho Valley, a region of West Texas between the Permian Basin to the northwest, Chihuahuan Desert to the southwest, Osage Pl ...

. He also had three brothers, Merle Kelton and his wife, Ann, of

May May is the fifth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the third of seven months to have a length of 31 days. May is a month of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. Therefore, May ...

, Texas; Bill Kelton and his wife, Pat, of

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, Texas; and Eugene Kelton and his wife, Peggy, of McCamey, Texas. Kelton was working on another book, but was facing several health problems in early 2009. The book had not been completed before he died on August 22, 2009, from natural causes. His funeral was held on August 27, 2009, at the First

United Methodist The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelic ...

Church in San Angelo. A life-sized statue of Kelton by Raul Ruiz is displayed at the Stevens Central Library in San Angelo. Beginning in 2014, the Academy of Western Artists, based in

Gene Autry, Oklahoma Gene Autry is a town in Carter County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 158 as of the 2010 census, up from 99 in 2000. It is part of the Ardmore, Oklahoma Micropolitan Statistical Area. History The town was originally named "Lou" by ...

, awarded the first of its annual Elmer Kelton book awards to successful authors in the categories of fiction and nonfiction.

Awards

Bibliography

Partial list of works: * ''Barbed Wire'' (1957) * ''Buffalo Wagons'' (1957) * ''Shadow of a Star'' (1958) * ''Texas Rifles'' (1960) * ''Donovan'' (1961) * ''Massacre at Goliad'' (1965) * ''After the Bugles'' (1967) * ''Llano River'' (1968) * ''The Day the Cowboys Quit'' (1971) * ''Wagontongue'' (1972) * ''The Time it Never Rained'' (1973) * ''The Wolf and the Buffalo'' (1980) * ''Dark Thicket'' (1985) * ''Honor at Daybreak'' (1991) * ''Slaughter'' (1992) * ''The Far Canyon'' (1994) * ''The Pumpkin Rollers'' (1996) * ''Cloudy in the West'' (1997) * ''The Smiling Country'' (1998) * ''Way of the Coyote'' (2001) * ''Jericho's Road'' (2004) * ''Six Bits a Day'' (2005) * ''Ranger's Law: A Lone Star Saga'' (2006) * ''The Rebels: Sons of Texas'' (2007) * ''Many A River'' (2009) Texas Ranger Novels: * ''The Buckskin Line'' * ''Badger Boy'' * ''The Way of the Coyote'' * ''Ranger's Trail'' * ''Texas Vendetta'' * ''Jericho's Road'' * ''Hard Trail to Follow'' * ''Other Men's Horses'' * ''Texas Standoff''

References

External links

elmerkelton.net
Kelton's official website
Elmer Kelton's page
- Macmillan.com

- Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library at

Wall Street Journal on Elmer KeltonElmer Kelton interview with Bradley D. Pettit
- AmericanCowboy.com
Texas Rangers Audiobooks
- GraphicAudio.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelton, Elmer American editors American male novelists United States Army personnel of World War II People from Andrews County, Texas People from Crane County, Texas People from San Angelo, Texas People from Upton County, Texas Journalists from Texas Moody College of Communication alumni United States Army soldiers American Western (genre) novelists Novelists from Texas 1926 births 2009 deaths 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers 20th-century American journalists American male journalists