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Judy Baer
Judy Baer holds a bachelor's degree in English and education, graduating Summa Cum Laude from Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn. She writes romance, young adult and juvenile novels. Her books include Love's Perfect Image, No. 9, Paige (1986) Tender Adversary (1985) and Shadows Along the Ice , all with Zondervan. She also writes for Woman's Day and The Christian Writer.Judy Baer considers herself primarily a romance writer and cites her book, Dakota Dream, as an example. She won a 3rd place Golden Medellion Award from Romance Writers of America, first place in the North Dakota Press Women Communications Contest, and 2nd place in the National Press Women's Communications Contest.
Layle Bagley
Layle Bagley, cowboy poet, lives in Rexburg, Idaho. He has performed his poetry throughout the Rocky Mountain area. He is a former president of the Cowboy Poets of Idaho. He is a member of the Charlie Russell Heritage Foundation of Montana, and acts as the parliamentarian for that group.
In 1999 Layle Bagley the Idaho Cowboy Poets Association gave him their "Silver Quill Award" for the outstanding cowboy poet of the year.
Paul Bailey
(Deceased)
Paul Dalton Bailey, often called "The Sage of Claremont", died at the age of 82 on Oct. 26, 1987 of a stroke in Claremont, Calif. He was buried beside his wife, Evelyn (she died on May 11, 1980), in Fillmore, Utah. He had been born in American Fork, Utah and was an active Mormon. He arrived in Los Angeles in 1926 by riding in a series of railroad boxcars from Utah. He lived on Skid Row for a while, then worked first as a journeyman printer and later as a reporter for several newspapers. His first novel, Type High, was published back in 1937. He was president of the Western Writers of America from 1979-80 and was a past president of the Los Angeles Westerners. He was a founder of the Greater Los Angeles Press Club and of the Southern California Book Publishers Association.In 1943, with a dream and a prayer, Paul Bailey founded Westernlore Press for the purpose of publishing regional historical books. His roster of authors came to include such illustrious WWA members as Robert M. Utley and Max Evans. His wife, Evelyn, also worked hard in the business.
The list of his novels included Type High (1937),For This My Glory (1940, 1942, 1960), The Gay Saint (1944), Deliver Me From Eva (1946), Song Everlasting (1946), For This My Glory (1940, 1942, 1960), The Gay Saint (1944), Deliver Me From Eva (1946), Song Everlasting (1946), For Time and All Eternity (1964), and The Claws of the Hawk (1966).
His 15 nonfiction books included Sam Brannan and the California Mormons (1943, 1953, 1960), Jacob Hamblin, Buckskin Apostle (1948, 1961, 1962), Walkara, Hawk of the Mountains (1954), Fabulous Farmer: The Story of Walter Knott and His Berry Farm (with Roger Holmes, 1956), Wovoka, The Indian Messiah (1957), The Mormons in California (1959), Grandpa Was a Polygamist (1960), The Armies of God (Doubleday, 1968),Ghost Dance Messiah: The Jack Wilson Story (Westernlore, 1970), City in the Sun (Westernlore, 1971, 1971, 1976), Polygamy Was Better Than Monotony: To My Grandfathers & Their Plural Wives (Westernlore, 1972), Those Kings and Queens of Old Hawaii (1975), Holy Smoke: A Dissertation on the Utah War (1978), An Unnatural History of Death Valley (Death Valley Fortyniners, 1978) and Hawaii's Implacable Kingfish: The Life, Perils and Intrigues of Walter Murray Gibson (1980).
Disaster struck his business when on Dec. 10, 1973, a fire burned the entire stock of books. The fire came when the Baileys were in bad health and nearly worn out, so their son, Lynn, moved the company--there wasn't much to move but the name--to Tucson, Arizona and began reprinting Westernlore's backlist and adding new titles. The story of his career was told by Ronald D. Miller in, Paul Bailey and The Westernlore Press (Morongo Valley, Ca.: Sagebush Press,1984). See his obituary and photo in the January, 1988 issue of The Roundup.
Betty Baker
(Deceased)
A native of Bloomsburg, Penn., Betty Baker spent much of her youth in New Jersey. She was editor of Western Writers of America publication, "The Roundup," from 1966 to 1971. She won a Spur Award from WWA in 1967 for her juvenile fiction book, The Dunderhead War (Harper & Row). And in 1963 she received a Wrangler trophy from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center for her story, "Killer-of-Death." She received a second Wrangler in 1971 for her children's book, And One Was a Wooden Indian.Baker died in Tucson, Ariz. in 1987. She was honored posthumously in 1988 as Arizona Author of the Year by Libraries Ltd., a non-profit organization that provides children's books for state institutions and social-service agencies. At the award ceremony, Baker's friends and fans gathered at the Arizona Historical Society's Fremont House to salute her achievements. WWA member Nelson Ny was among those recalling Baker's work. He described her as "vivacious and enthusiastic and interested in others."
Among her children's books were The Turkey Girl, a Southwest Indian version of Cinderella; And Me, Coyote!, an Indian creation myth; And One Was a Wooden Indian, Little Runner of the Longhouse (1962), and The Spirit is Willing, a 19th century Arizona tale. Her works were translated into 27 languages.
Carroll Baker
Carroll Baker was born in Philadelphia, PA in 1941. Baker became a nightclub dancer, then made her stage debut in New York in "ESCAPADE". Her first film role was in "EASY TO LOVE." Those were followed by a series of movies in which she played sexy women: "BABY DOLL, " "THE CARPETBAGGERS", "HARLOW", and "THE SWEET BODY OF DEBORAH."
However, her better know roles in Westerns included "Captain Apache" (1971), "Cheyenne Autumn" (1964), "The Big Country" (1958), "Giant" (1956) and "How the West Was Won" (1962).
T. Lindsay Baker
T. Lindsay Baker was born on April 22, 1947 at Cleburne, Texas. He holds the B.A. (1969), M.A. (1972), and Ph.D. (1977) degrees from Texas Tech University.Dr. Baker was employed by Texas Tech from 1971 to 1975, served as a Fulbright Lecturer at the Technical University of Wroclaw, Ploand from 1975 to1977, then returned to work for TTU until 1979. He worked for the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum in Canyon, Texas for 10 years. Since 1987 he has been employed by the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History.
In addition, T. Lindsay Baker is self-employed as an editor and publisher of Windmillers' Gazette (since 1982) and as a writer of "T for Texas," a self-syndicated newspaper column (since 1988). The column is a weekly feature about people and places in the Texas past.
His articles have appeared in Vestnik (probably a first for any WWA-er!), Persimmon Hill, Polish American Studies, Southwestern Historical Quarterly, PolAmerica, Chicago Genealogist, Poland and Germany, International Barbed Wire Gazette, Przeglad Polonijny (Warsaw), Panhandle-Plains Historical Review, Kwartalnik Opolski (Opole, Poland), Colorado Municipalities, Water for Texas, Arizona Professional Engineer, Cast Iron Pipe News, Kitcchen Collectibles News, Great Plains Journal, Agricultural History, Windmillers' Gazette, Windmill Whispers, and many others.
His books include Texan Cultures (1982), The Rev. Leopold Moczygemba: Patriarch of Polonia (1984), The Survey of the Headwaters of the Red River, 1876 (1985), Adobe Walls: The History and Archeology of the 1874 Trading Post (with Billy R. Harrison, 1986), Water for the Southwest (1973).
A member of WWA since 1987, T. Lindsay Baker also holds memberships in American Historical Association, American Association of Museums, Western History Association, Texas State Historical Association, International Molinological Society, Polish American Historical Association, American Association for State and Local History, Association for Living Historical Farms and Agricultural Museums, Texas Folklore Society, Texas Association of Museums, and The Opposition.
Baker was awarded research scholarships from the Kosciuszko Foundation from 1973-74 and in 1977. He received the Coral H. Tullus Award from the Texas State Historical Association and the Elizabeth Broocks Bates Award from the Daughters of the Republic of Texas for The First Polish Americans as the best book on Texas in 1979.
In addition, he received the Coke Wood Award from Westerners International for The Survey of the Headwaters of the Red River, 1876, as the best monograph by a Westerner for 1985-86. He served as a Fellow of the Texas State Historical Association in 1987.
His work, Building the Lone Star (1987-88), won for him the Ralph Coats Roe Medal from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, a citation from the San Antonio Conservation Society, a research award from the Architectural Division of the Texas Historical Commission, and the Distinguished Technical Communication Award from the Lone Star Chapter of the Society of Technical Communication, as well as their award of excellence.
Regarding his other interests, Baker says, "If I could, I would probably research and write twenty-four hours a day, but since that's not possible, I work as a museum curator, restore historic houses, edit and publish a windmill magazine, actively interpret the history of the West as a living-history interpreter, and drive antique automobiles.
This listing is far from complete and may
contain errors. Therefore, all Western writers and/or
their agents are requested to submit recommended
changes by contacting Cowboy Stan.
© 2003 by Stan Paregien, Sr.