Saddlebag Dispatches-Spring/Summer 2018

<p><em><strong>If you enjoy stories of the West you’ve come to the right place.</strong></em></p><p><em>Saddlebag Dispatches </em>regales you with tales placed west of the Mississippi containing the spirit of the Old West in them but you’ll find some of the New West here too. Inside larger-than-life men and women drive pickups on highways in addition to riding horses down dusty trails. You will also discover some of the best nonfiction as well as poetry interviews and…well pretty much anything to do with the West.</p><p>Twice a year we feature interviews with the movers-and-shakers in Western writing columns by writers steeped in the form and poetry and fiction from some of the best authors in the business. This issue we’re celebrating western writing—a uniquely American art form—by honoring the life and legacy of our recently-departed co-founder three time WWA Spur Award-winner Dusty Richards.</p><p>As a young man all Dusty ever wanted was a horse of his own ranches to work on rodeos to ride in a strong woman by his side and stacks of books by the likes of Zane Grey to occupy his creative mind. One day he turned those stories in his head into novels forever bestowing us with inspiring heroic tales of the men and women who proudly occupy both the Old West and the new. His enduring spirit is evident in every word on our pages.</p><p>This issue features our tribute to Dusty as well as nonfiction pieces from Cyndy Prasse Miller Spur Award-winning author and poet Rod Miller Elaine Marze and George Gilland; short fiction from Dennis Doty Michael McLean Steven Carr John M. Floyd Terry Alexander Spur Award-winning author Richard Prosch and Dusty Richards himself; poetry from Laurie Muirhead; and columns on all things western from our dedicated staff. It’s our way of saying goodbye to the man <em>True West</em> magazine once called “the greatest western fiction writer alive.”</p>