The Cherokee Strip

Dusty Richards grew up riding horses and watching his western heroes on the big screen. He even wrote book reports for his classmates, making up westerns since English teachers didn’t read that kind of book. His mother didn’t want him to be a cowboy, so he went to college, then worked for Tyson Foods and auctioned cattle when he wasn’t an anchor on television.

His lifelong dream, though, was to write the novels he loved. He sat on the stoop of Zane Grey’s cabin and promised he’d one day get published, as well. In 1992, that promise became a reality when his first book, Noble’s Way, hit the shelves. In the years since, he’s published over 160 more, winning nearly every major award for western literature along the way. His 150th novel, The Mustanger and the Lady, was adapted for the silver screen and released as the motion picture Painted Woman in 2017. In a review for the movie, True West magazine proclaimed Dusty “the greatest living western fiction writer alive.” 

Sadly, Dusty passed away in early 2018, leaving behind a legion of fans and a legacy of great western writing that will live on for generations.