Let me tell you what I know about Roger L.Scott, he was born in Middle Tennessee, not into any wealthy homestead but as he admits himself into poverty and isolation.It was this deprivation that gave him his unique perspective on life so that he was greatly motivated to better himself.Having graduated from Tennessee Technological University in 1969, he then went on to teach high school English and coach in Middle and East Tennessee until he retired in 1999.It was back in his childhood at the time set in the early 1950's, when Roger in the foreword of his book says, he first got his imagination inspired, that it was with being limited to having the family's battery operated radio as his only source of entertainment, and by listening to all his favorite cowboy programs that he then found his own imagination coming into play, thus taking him away from the hardships that he daily faced, into his imaginary world back in the Wild West, to be living the life of a cowboy.So his book today is completed truly showing all the groundwork of his imagination put in as a child.Yes! This is a book full of all the Wild West drama as it once was, to entertain the reader has it shows just how life was lived in these times.Beginning with his first poem 'A Cowboy in Heaven' he then goes on to show the 'heaven' both through romance and through life they loved living when out on the range.He covers every aspect of the West as seen through the cowboys eyes, showing all the wild wonderful country side, the love of their animals, the wild men they had to face and happily for them the wild, wild women!His poems also portray the emotions that they surely must have felt, this you will see when reading poems like 'The Hanging Tree' and 'Incident At Settlers Creek' and 'Old Dogs and Boys'.Much tension too is greatly brought into play with such poems as 'The Outlaw,' 'The Duel' and 'The Last Cattle Drive!' But intertwined throughout the book you will find many that are amusing, gutsy and down to earth!When reading it is clear to see how much interest Roger had in the cowboy way of life and how much admiration he had too for the characters and hero's that inspired him, cowboy stars that were not just hero's to Roger but to many, many more people all over the world.Great characters such as Roy Rogers and his horse Trigger, Gene Autry and the Lone Ranger, who I was familiar with too through seeing the films they made!Yes as I read it was so easy to see just how these characters of the Wild West truly did influence the writer (just like they did myself and brothers) in younger years, But with Roger to write so graphically like this then I believe they are all still deep within him today.As I read his thoughts I knew without doubt that here is a man, still a young boy at heart, a cowboy that lives and rides again living life out in the West that was, through his imagination!With respect though, it is clear too that each one of his poem / stories have been written by him as a tribute, not only for all of the stars that he loved, but to all those hardy men and women who once rode the Wild West, to the horses that they loved (as much as any friend) and to the gun-men that were needed in the day, to go about the task of carving out a civilization and establishing laws, where none before had ever existed.With reading you too will be taken into the life that the cowboys lived, you will experience along with them, both the joy and the harshness of being out there, in that wild Western frontier, because each one of his story poems really do open up the world of cowboys, gunslingers, and lawmen to you, recreating them once again in your own mind as you see through his poems that the West was hard won only, by the blood, sweat and tears of those early pioneers.Here are some of Roger's own words.All the cowboys, I guess, are gone like Roy and Gene and suchAnd cowgirls, too, though I can't say I miss them quite as much.They rode the West and enforced the law with horse and knife and gunAnd then rode off to other scrapes with each new battle won.Their hats they wore and never lost through cattle drives or fraysAnd wore their boots to bed each night, I would have liked those days.They kissed their horse but not the girl, a reasoning that seems sound;To ride the West a cowboy needs a horse to get around.But, all in all, cowboys need girls to rescue now and thenWhen they're not chasing rustlers down or hunting wanted men.They'd shoot for hours with no reloads, no horses would get hurt,And if a bad guy got a wound, no blood would stain his shirt.Right and wrong you could tell apart without going to a shrink;No fragile psyches were destroyed when a cowpoke took a drink.I miss those days of yesteryear, the Lone Ranger and the rest,When cowboys stood for a way of life that helped to tame the west.So one more time before I'm old my cap guns I'll strap onAnd take my stick horse for a ride down one last trail alone.Yes! And I say thank you Roger for the ride, I enjoyed going along the trail with you, I got pleasure from reading your words, for they truly did take me back to the West with you, they will take all who read back there too, I know! This is a great book not only for all who loved those early cowboy days, but for all children who would love to know more about them.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
The Last Trail Ride Cowboy Story - Poems of the Old Wild West! - By Roger L Scott
Let me tell you what I know about Roger L.Scott, he was born in Middle Tennessee, not into any wealthy homestead but as he admits himself into poverty and isolation.It was this deprivation that gave him his unique perspective on life so that he was greatly motivated to better himself.Having graduated from Tennessee Technological University in 1969, he then went on to teach high school English and coach in Middle and East Tennessee until he retired in 1999.It was back in his childhood at the time set in the early 1950's, when Roger in the foreword of his book says, he first got his imagination inspired, that it was with being limited to having the family's battery operated radio as his only source of entertainment, and by listening to all his favorite cowboy programs that he then found his own imagination coming into play, thus taking him away from the hardships that he daily faced, into his imaginary world back in the Wild West, to be living the life of a cowboy.So his book today is completed truly showing all the groundwork of his imagination put in as a child.Yes! This is a book full of all the Wild West drama as it once was, to entertain the reader has it shows just how life was lived in these times.Beginning with his first poem 'A Cowboy in Heaven' he then goes on to show the 'heaven' both through romance and through life they loved living when out on the range.He covers every aspect of the West as seen through the cowboys eyes, showing all the wild wonderful country side, the love of their animals, the wild men they had to face and happily for them the wild, wild women!His poems also portray the emotions that they surely must have felt, this you will see when reading poems like 'The Hanging Tree' and 'Incident At Settlers Creek' and 'Old Dogs and Boys'.Much tension too is greatly brought into play with such poems as 'The Outlaw,' 'The Duel' and 'The Last Cattle Drive!' But intertwined throughout the book you will find many that are amusing, gutsy and down to earth!When reading it is clear to see how much interest Roger had in the cowboy way of life and how much admiration he had too for the characters and hero's that inspired him, cowboy stars that were not just hero's to Roger but to many, many more people all over the world.Great characters such as Roy Rogers and his horse Trigger, Gene Autry and the Lone Ranger, who I was familiar with too through seeing the films they made!Yes as I read it was so easy to see just how these characters of the Wild West truly did influence the writer (just like they did myself and brothers) in younger years, But with Roger to write so graphically like this then I believe they are all still deep within him today.As I read his thoughts I knew without doubt that here is a man, still a young boy at heart, a cowboy that lives and rides again living life out in the West that was, through his imagination!With respect though, it is clear too that each one of his poem / stories have been written by him as a tribute, not only for all of the stars that he loved, but to all those hardy men and women who once rode the Wild West, to the horses that they loved (as much as any friend) and to the gun-men that were needed in the day, to go about the task of carving out a civilization and establishing laws, where none before had ever existed.With reading you too will be taken into the life that the cowboys lived, you will experience along with them, both the joy and the harshness of being out there, in that wild Western frontier, because each one of his story poems really do open up the world of cowboys, gunslingers, and lawmen to you, recreating them once again in your own mind as you see through his poems that the West was hard won only, by the blood, sweat and tears of those early pioneers.Here are some of Roger's own words.All the cowboys, I guess, are gone like Roy and Gene and suchAnd cowgirls, too, though I can't say I miss them quite as much.They rode the West and enforced the law with horse and knife and gunAnd then rode off to other scrapes with each new battle won.Their hats they wore and never lost through cattle drives or fraysAnd wore their boots to bed each night, I would have liked those days.They kissed their horse but not the girl, a reasoning that seems sound;To ride the West a cowboy needs a horse to get around.But, all in all, cowboys need girls to rescue now and thenWhen they're not chasing rustlers down or hunting wanted men.They'd shoot for hours with no reloads, no horses would get hurt,And if a bad guy got a wound, no blood would stain his shirt.Right and wrong you could tell apart without going to a shrink;No fragile psyches were destroyed when a cowpoke took a drink.I miss those days of yesteryear, the Lone Ranger and the rest,When cowboys stood for a way of life that helped to tame the west.So one more time before I'm old my cap guns I'll strap onAnd take my stick horse for a ride down one last trail alone.Yes! And I say thank you Roger for the ride, I enjoyed going along the trail with you, I got pleasure from reading your words, for they truly did take me back to the West with you, they will take all who read back there too, I know! This is a great book not only for all who loved those early cowboy days, but for all children who would love to know more about them.
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