For the second year, True West staff presence at the Tucson Festival of Books was a great success.
Headquartered at the Arizona Inn, Executive Editor Bob Boze Bell led his team for two days of primetime interaction with readers of True West at the festival. Bell signed numerous books and was feted by readers from as far away as Hawaii and New Hampshire. One fan held up a copy of the April issue, and said, “I’ll be proud to take Wyatt Earp back with me to Manhattan!”
At a panel on journalism and history, Sam Gwynne, author of Empire of the Summer Moon (which he said is in development in Hollywood), perfectly summed up what readers expect from today’s writers: “They don’t want to see your labors, they want to read the fruits of your labors.”
The highlight of the weekend was a rousing celebration at the Second Annual True Westerner Award Reception in which Bell presented the cowboy statuette to acclaimed author and Santa Fe art and antiquities dealer, Forrest Fenn. The humble man from Temple, Texas, a decorated Air Force pilot, held the award for all to see, and exclaimed, “I love this, it is better than an Oscar!”
We’ll be back in Tucson next March 14-15, 2015—see you there!
—Stuart Rosebrook
