Jane Eppinga
Jane Eppinga has published numerous articles about western traveling in such magazines as Holiday, Desert Silhouette, Frontier Magazine, Journal of Arizona History, Touring Times, Family Motor Coaching News, Boston Herald, Denver Post, Cricket Magazine, Baja Times, Tucson Magazine Westways, Southwest Contractor and Arizona Magazine.
Louise Erdrich
Louise Erdrich received a Western Heritage Award from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame for her juvenile book, The Birchbark House.
John Erickson
John Erickson is a graduate of the University of Texas. After pursuing a theology degree at Harvard and not quite catching it, he returned to the West and managed a ranch that had reverted to the bank that financed it. That was from 1974 to 1981, during which time he wrote a book about cowboying.
After his manuscript about ranch life, as seen through the eyes of a dog, was repeated rejected by New York publishers, he borrowed the money to publish it himself. And so was born the Maverick Books publishing company in Perryton, Texas, along with the legend of Hank, the cowdog. And, to his surprise, a concept targeted at adult audiences turned out to be a smash hit with children as well. When cowboy/novelist Sam Brown lived near Vega, Texas, he said: "You know, out here there are two books on every coffee table: the Bible and Hank the Cowdog."
Erick's various "Hank" books have now sold more than 2.5 million copies. And that doesn't even count the 30 "Hank" cassette tapes. Eat your hearts out, New York editors.
Among Erickson's growing list of titles are these: Hank the Cowdog, The Devil in Texas, Through Time and the Valley, Panhandle Cowboy, Cowboys are Partly Human, The Further Adventures of Hank the Cowdog, and a biography of cowboy cartoonist Ace Reid.
Leif Erickson
(Deceased)
Leif Erickson was born as William Wycliffe Anderson on Oct. 27, 1911 in Alameda, CA. Leif's mother instilled in him a love of music by often taking him to the San Francisco Opera House. He wanted to be a great singer, but his sea captain father thought he should do something practical like becoming a carpenter or plumber.
However, young William Anderson was blessed with natural musical ability. And as he matured, his voice deepened into a rich bass-baritone. By 1931 he was singing full-time with a band led by Ted Fio Rito. And it was Rito who changed Anderson's name to Leif Erickson.
Erickson made the jump from singing to acting by pure accident. He was touring in Illinois when he got a telegram from Paramount Pictures asking him to come in for a screen test. He went to Hollywood, tested and got a movie contract. It was only later that the studio discovered that this Erickson was not the Erickson they thought they had brought in. That was in 1935.
He went on to appear in more than 100 movies. David Dortort, creator of the TV Western series, "The High Chaparral," first noticed him in a "Bonanza" episode in 1961. Dortort signed him up as ranch patriarch John Cannon.
Leif Erickson died on 29 January 1986 in Pensacola, Florida.
CLICK HERE to see the complete filmography of Leif Erickson.
Fred Erisman
Fred Erisman majored in English in college. He received the B.A. from Rice Institute in 1958, the M.A. from Duke University in 1960, and the Ph.D. in 1966 from the University of Minnesota. He married Patt Longley on Aug. 28, 1961. He was hired by Texas Christian University as an English instructor in 1965. He became a full professor of English in 1977, and he was named the Lorraine Sherley Professor of Literature in 1985.
Erisman's articles have appeared in Western American Literature, Persimmon Hill, North Dakota Quarterly, CLUES: A Journal of Detection, Cross Timbers Review, Environmental Review, plus other academic journals. His books include Fifty Western Writers (1982, with Richard W., Etulain), Frederic Remington (1975), Tony Hillerman (scheduled for publication in 1989). He also contributed two chapters to A Literary History of the American West (1987), edited by Thomas Lyon.
Fred Erisman currently holds memberships in WWA, Western Literature Association, Organization of American Historians, Popular Culture Association, Children's Literature Association, Science Fiction Research Association, American Studies Association, International Research Society for Children's Literature, and the Western Social Science Association.
Fred Erisman's honors including being a Kinnucan Arms Chair Fellow at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center from 1981-82, and being a Hess Fellow in the University of Minnesota Children's Literature Research Collections in 1981.
At the 1997 WWA Convention in Cheyenee, Wyoming, Fred Erisman won a Spur Award for his 1996 book, Letters From the Field: John Sylvanus Loud and the Pine Ridge Campaign of 1880-1891.
Ernie Ernenwein
(Deceased)
Ernie Ernenwein was born in Oneida, New York. He moved West as an 18-year-old and rambled from Montana to Mexico, working as a cowboy and then as a freelance writer for some 20 years. Then he went back East and worked as managing editor of the Schenectady Sun newspaper. However, in 1938 he moved to Tucson to stay.
He was a charter member of Western Writers of America. William R. Cox said of his old friend, "When Nye and Thomas Thompson projected launching an organization for Western writers, `Ernie, snorting, said it could not be done.' Then he helped prove that it could be done." In fact, he became the editor of the fledgling Roundup with the January, 1954 issue and stayed with it for eight years.
Ernest Ernenwein wrote over 400 short stories and many more articles for magazines. He had a special interest in and expertise concerning Quarter horses. He had the distinction of seeing his book, High Gun, become the very first paperback to win a Spur from WWA for the Best Western. That was in 1956. When the pulp magazine market died, he became a reporter and columnist for the Tucson Daily Citizen. And he wrote more Western novels, a total of 27. One of his last books was Warrior Basin.
If anyone ever looked the part of a Western writer, it was Ernie Ernenwein. He was tall and handsome, and sported a finely manicured mustache and a white mantle of hair. And at the 1958 WWA convention he got everyone's attention by riding a horse right inside the hotel registration room (see photo on p. 26 of the April, 1981 issue of The Roundup).
It was at the 1959 WWA Convention in Oklahoma City that Ernest Ernenwein--a person with a long history of a cardiac problem--had a heart attack. He recovered from that bout, but following another heart attack he died in Tucson, AZ. on Dec. 19, 1960.
Robert R. Ernst
Robert R. Ernst for many years owned the Little Professor Book Center, a book store, in Stillwater, Oklahoma. He is a director of the National Outlaw and Lawman Association and contributed articles to Frontier Times and True West magazines.
This listing is far from complete and may contain errors. Therefore, all Western entertainers and/or their agents are requested to submit recommended changes by contacting Stan Paregien.
The Lord gives strenth to his people;
the Lord blesses his people with peace.
--- Bible: Psalm 29:11
© 2003 by Stan Paregien, Sr.