Patrick Dearen
Patrick March Dearen (born May 1, 1951) is an author of 20 books of Western fiction and history. His newest release, the 2012 novel, To Hell or the Pecos, is set along a desolate, 79-mile section of the Butterfield Trail in the Pecos River country of West Texas.[1] To Hell or the Pecos is the 2014 winner of the Elmer Kelton Book Award from the West Texas Historical Association.
Patrick March Dearen | |
|---|---|
 Western author Patrick Dearen (April 2014) | |
| Born | May 1, 1951 |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Sterling City High School University of Texas at Austin |
| Occupation | Author |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Gilda Dearen |
| Children | Wesley Joseph Dearen |
| Website | http://patrickdearen.com/ |
Early life
Dearen was born and raised in Sterling City, Texas, between San Angelo and Big Spring. His father, Delbert Dearen (1912-1998), and his mother, the former Thyra Violet Sparkman (1918-1974), are interred at Montvale Cemetery in Sterling City.[2]
Dearen graduated in 1969 from Sterling City High School, where one of his teachers had encouraged him in January 1966, while in his freshman year, to consider a career in writing. In 1974, he earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin. His mother, Thyra, died that same year at the age of 56. At her encouragement, young Dearen read Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan of the Apes that also played a role in his interest in becoming a writer. He won nine national and state awards as a reporter for two daily newspapers, including the San Angelo Standard-Times and the Midland Reporter-Telegram, of which his wife, Mary Gilda Dearen (born 'c. 1955), is the managing editor.[3]
Career
Dearen is an authority on the Pecos and Devils Rivers, which nearly meet at Lake Amistad, and on the tenets of old-time cowboy life in West Texas. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, he conducted oral histories of 76 men who had been cowboys prior to 1932. These interviews, along with decades of archival study, enriched his 11 novels and 9 nonfiction books. One of those novels, Perseverance,[4] is a story of hobos riding the railroad tracks of Texas during the Great Depression.[3] He is also known for his interest in folklore, and writes to please professional historians and general readers.
Dearen was named the runner-up in 2013 for the Will Rogers Medallion from the Academy of Western Artists for his novel To Hell or the Pecos. He has also been honored for his work by the Western Writers of America, the San Antonio Conservation Society, and the Permian Historical Association. Dearen enjoys backpacking and playing ragtime on the piano. His wife and he have one son, Wesley Joseph Dearen (born circa 1990), the first reader of his father's books.[3]
In 2015, another Dearen novel, The Big Drift (2014), won the Elmer Kelton Fiction Book of the Year by the Academy of Western Artists.[5]
Bibliography
1980s
Starflight to Faroul (1980) ISBN 9780505516008
The Illegal Man (Leisure Books, 1981) ISBN 9780786212385
1990s
Portraits of the Pecos Frontier (Texas Tech University Press, 1993, revised 1999, with foreword by Elmer Kelton)
When Cowboys Die (1995) ISBN 078381514X
A Cowboy of the Pecos (1996) ISBN 978-1556225284
Crossing Rio Pecos (1996) (Chisholm Trail series) ISBN 0-87565-159-3, includes the story of Horsehead Crossing in Crane County
The Last of the Old-Time Cowboys (1998) ISBN 978-1-55622-613-7
2000 to 2004
Castle Gap and the Pecos Frontier (2000) (Chisholm Trail series, with foreword by Elmer Kelton)[6]
Halff of Texas: Merchant Rancher of the Old West (Eakin Press, 2000) ISBN 9781571684363
Comanche Peace Pipe (Lone Star Heroes, Book I, 2001, Illustrated by Alan McCuller, ISBN 1556228317)
On the Pecos Trail (Lone Star Heroes, Book 2, 2001, also illustrated by Alan McCuller)
The Hidden Treasure of the Chisos (2001) (Lone Star Heroes, Book 3, ISBN 978-1-55622-829-2)
When the Sky Rained Dust (Eakin Press, 2004) ISBN 978-1571688309, a novel of the depression Dust Bowl
2006 to present
Saddling Up Anyway: The Dangerous Lives of Old-Time Cowboys (2006) ISBN 978-1-58979-223-4
Lone Star Lost: Buried Treasures in Texas (2009) ISBN 978-0875653921
Devils River: Treacherous Twin to the Pecos, 1535-1900 (2011) ISBN 978-0-87565-423-2
Starflight to Destiny, Part I (2013) ISBN 9781310894114
Starflight to Eternity, Part II (2013)[7]
In 2019, Dearen released Apache Lament, an historical novel based on the last Indian battle in Texas. The characters offer opposing perspectives. As the plot proceeds into the relationship between a Texas Ranger and an Apache mother, their viewpoints become more similar.[8]
References
- Patrick Dearen, To Hell or the Pecos, Fort Worth: Texas Christian University Press, 2012, ISBN 9780875655055
- "Thyra Violet Sparkman Dearen". findagrave.com. Retrieved April 12, 2014.
- "Patrick Dearen". goodreads.com. Retrieved April 12, 2014.
- Patrick Dearen, Perseverance (Eakin Press, 2006) ISBN 9781571682352
- The Big Drift. Fort Worth, Texas: Texas Christian University Press. 2014. p. 192. ISBN 9780875655703. Archived from the original on July 23, 2015. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
- "Castle Gap and the Pecos Frontier". Texas Christian University Press, 2000. 2000. ISBN 978-0-87565-030-2. Retrieved April 12, 2014.
- "Books by Patrick Dearen". Amazon.com. Retrieved April 12, 2014.
- "Local author brings Texas history to life in new novel", Midland Reporter-Telegram, April 4, 2019.
External links
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