FOR THIRTY YEARS, DUSTY RICHARDS and I enjoyed a special friendship. We met as struggling writers and found in on another a kindred spirit, both determined to learn our craft. In essence, you might say I was weaned on writing westerns beside the man who would go on to become one of the most successful and prolific writers of the genre. Dusty wrote and published nearly 200 Westerns during his career under his own name and various pseudonyms. He won three Western Writers of America Spur Awards, multiple Will Rogers Medallions, a Western Heritage Award, and many other honors, and one of his later novels—The Mustanger and the Lady—was adapted into a full-length motion picture released in 2017. He had the kind of success most writers can only dream about, and I learned more from him than I can possibly describe here.
The most important thing I learned from Dusty, though, was to share my hard-won knowledge freely. Possessed of possibly the world’s most generous spirit, he helped countless other struggling writers over the course of his long career, teaching them the ins and outs of chapters and plots, marking up manuscripts, even shoving some of them—like me—into a room with a publisher and barring the door behind. He enjoyed giving others a hand up, and was the rare kind of person that was genuinely happy to see another succeed. I couldn’t be more privileged than to have known him and spent so many years helping writers beside him.
To that end, I’m so happy to have been chosen to complete the rewrites and edits for Blue Roan Colt, one of Dusty’s most touching books. He was working on it himself before the tragic car accident that claimed his life and that of his loving wife, Pat, last year, and his loyal readers will no doubt enjoy this, probably the latest book he had hands on before he was taken from us. I spent several weeks completing what he began, making this book one of his finest, and I’m honored to have been included as having contributed to its completion. Blue Roan Colt is about a World War II veteran who pursues his dream of owning a ranch and healing the scars left behind by battle. The story takes the reader through a west only Dusty could portray and tells the heart-wrenching story of the desire, hope, and faith of one man determined to live out his dream despite all obstacles.
Dusty was one of the greatest storytellers I’ve ever met, and his knowledge of the west and its history was infinite. His books will outlive generations. My profound thanks to Casey Cowan, Oghma Creative Media, and Galway Press for considering me for the continuation of Dusty’s great legacy.
—Velda Brotherton
Winslow, Arkansas
January 27, 2019