Elmer Kelton
Elmer Kelton was a prominent American author born on April 29, 1926, in Texas, whose works primarily centered on the themes of ranch life and Texas history. Growing up in a ranching family, Kelton's early experiences greatly influenced his storytelling. After serving in the U.S. Army in the mid-1940s, he pursued a degree in journalism, which led him to a career as a farm and ranch reporter. Kelton's literary career took off in the 1950s when he began writing novels and short stories, eventually publishing over fifty short stories and three dozen novels.
His works often explored the lives of ranchers and the changing dynamics of the American West. Notable among his novels is "The Good Old Boys," which was adapted into a film in 1995, increasing his visibility as a writer. Throughout his career, Kelton received numerous accolades, including multiple Spur Awards and recognition as the best Western writer of all time by the Western Writers of America in 1996. His legacy is marked by a deep connection to Texas culture and history, making his contributions significant to the genre of Western literature.
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Elmer Kelton
- Born: April 29, 1926
- Birthplace: Five Wells Ranch, Andrews County, Texas
- Died: August 22, 2009
- Place of death: San Angelo, Texas
Biography
Elmer Kelton was born April 29, 1926, in a line-camp house on the Five Wells Ranch in Andrews County, Texas, the son of cowman R. W. (“Buck”) Kelton and Beatrice (née Parker) Kelton. In 1929, Kelton’s family moved to the McElroy Ranch near Crane, Texas, where his father worked successively as cowman, foreman, and general manager. After attending Crane High School, Kelton entered the University of Texas at Austin in 1942. He served with the United States Army Infantry in Austria from 1944 to 1946, subsequently returning to the University and graduating with a bachelor of science (B.S.) degree in journalism in 1948. Kelton married Anna Lipp, whom he had met in Austria, on July 3, 1947, and the couple had three children.
Kelton worked as a farm and ranch reporter, and eventually agriculture editor, for the San Angelo Standard-Times from 1948 to 1963, edited Sheep and Goat Raiser magazine from 1963 to 1968, and was associate editor of Livestock Weekly magazine from 1968 to 1990.
Kelton started writing stories at the University of Texas, and made his first sale (to the pulp magazine Ranch Romances) in 1948. When the market for stories began to fail, he turned to longer fiction, publishing his first novel (Hot Iron) in 1955. Kelton eventually wrote more than fifty short stories, three dozen novels, and hundreds of periodical articles under his own name and the pseudonyms “Lee McElroy” and “Tom Early.” Besides his more formulaic works, he wrote a number of novels based on Texas history. These included a series involving the Buckalew family and another, beginning with The Buckskin Line, about the formation and early history of the Texas Rangers.
Kelton gathered material on his journalistic travels throughout Texas, but he drew much of his inspiration from his own family. His great-grandfather had migrated to Texas in the 1870’s, and his grandfather was foreman on the ranch where Kelton was born. Kelton also wrote novels of contemporary life, including The Time It Never Rained, set during the great West Texas drought of the 1950’s. He himself had lived through the calamitous period, and the novel was to be one of his favorites. Already a popular writer, Kelton reached an even wider audience when Tommy Lee Jones wrote the screenplay for, directed, and acted in Kelton’s novel The Good Old Boys in 1995. Like many of his works, it dramatized the impact of change in a vibrant if frequently harsh world.
Kelton won a number of awards, including multiple Spur Awards from the Western Writers of America for best western novel, the Best Southwest Novel of the Year Award from the Border Regional Library Association, multiple Western Heritage Awards from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame, and the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Western Literature Association. The Western Writers of America voted Kelton best Western writer of all time in 1996. He was also a member of the Texas Institute of Arts and Letters.