Ralph Compton stood six-foot-eight without his boots. He worked as a musician, a radio announcer, a songwriter, and a newspaper columnist. His first novel, The Goodnight Trail, was a finalist for the Western Writers of America Medicine Pipe Bearer Award for best debut novel. He was also the author of the Sundown Rider series and the Border Empire series.
Dusty Richards is the only author to win two Spur awards in one year (2007), one for his novel The Horse Creek Incident, and another for his short story "Comanche Moon." He is an inductee in the Arkansas Writers Hall of Fame.