What can you tell me about the Western author and poet S. Omar Barker? He and my father were cowboys together in Arizona and New Mexico back in the 1930s.

What can you tell me about the Western author and poet S. Omar Barker? He and my father were cowboys together in Arizona and New Mexico back in the 1930s.

Ivan Kershner
Salem, South Carolina

S. Omar Barker was one of the West’s best and most admired cowboy poets. A keen observer, he wrote of Western life and land with great affection. He was born in New Mexico’s rugged Sangre de Cristo Mountains and during his life was a college professor, rancher, soldier and legislator. Cowboy singer Red Steagall says of him: “He makes you live his story as he captures the imagery of the cowboy in living colors.” Barker often signed his books with his trademark brand, “Lazy SOB.” Books on Barker, along with his poetry, are available from Cowboy Miner Productions, www.cowboyminer.com or 602-944-3763.