TH Moment: Elmer Kelton

By Maxine Mayes

The mood in the Boerne Public Library last summer was festive and the atmosphere electric, like that in a roomful of eager fans awaiting the appearance of a rock star. But the star the standing-room-only crowd awaited with such anticipation was San Angelo author Elmer Kelton, who was on a book-signing tour to promote his 2007 memoir, Sandhills Boy: The Winding Trail of a Texas Writer.

Named by the Western Writers of America as “All-time Best Western Author,” Kelton has published more than 50 books during the last half-century. Four of them have won Western Heritage Awards from the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, and one of those—The Good Old Boys—was made into a TNT movie starring Tommy Lee Jones and Sissy Spacek.

"At first glance, West Texas can be pretty off-putting … but if you’re born and brought up [here], … it has a wild beauty of its own.”

The author grew up on the McElroy Ranch in Crane and Upton counties. “My dad [working cowboy and ranch foreman Buck Kelton] wanted to make a cowboy out of me,” he told the audience, “but every time he turned around to see where I was, I was reading a book.” He noted that he still has the first book he ever owned: a hardcover edition of Treasure Island, for which his mother paid 79 cents. “I own so many books that I think they reproduce in the dark,” he added, drawing a laugh.

After entertaining listeners with excerpts from his memoir and tales of cowboy characters he has known, Kelton fielded questions like these from his fans.

“Who was the real-life model for Charlie Flagg [the central character in Kelton’s best-known book, “The Time It Never Rained]?”

“My mother was always convinced it was my father,” the author replied, “but Charlie was really a composite of people I knew.”

“Do your novels start with an idea or a character?”

“It varies,” he said. “In The Time It Never Rained, I started with a situation—the drought of the ‘50s; in The Good Old Boys I started with a character—Hewey Calloway.”

People often ask Kelton if he has any advice for young writers. His reply: “Keep your day job. Read, read, read, and keep on reading. Write, write, write, and keep on writing.”

He added, “I’ve often been asked how my characters differ from the traditional, larger-than-life heroes of the mythical West. ‘Those,’ I reply, ‘are seven feet tall and invincible. My characters are five-eight and nervous.’”

“Do you have any advice for young writers?”

The author’s reply was simple: “Keep your day job. Read, read, read, and keep on reading. Write, write, write, and keep on writing.”

The next morning I met with Kelton over breakfast at the Limestone Grille inside Boerne’s Ye Kendall Inn, and I asked some questions of my own.

Interview with Elmer Kelton

See the full article in the May 2008 issue.

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