ELMER KELTON (1926-2009) was the seven-time Spur Award-winning author of more than forty novels, and the recipient of the Owen Wister Lifetime Achievement award. He grew up on a ranch near Crane, Texas, and earned a journalism degree from the University of Texas. Among his awards have been seven Spurs from Western Writers of America and four Western Heritage awards from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. The Good Old Boys was made into a television film starring Tommy Lee Jones. In addition to his novels, Kelton worked as an agricultural journalist for forty-two years, and served in the infantry in World War II.