He never seemed old to me. He stood with the intensity of a coiled spring, a compact bundle of energy and fierce determination. His dark, piercing eyes challenged the world; his stubborn jaw defied it. The years hadn't mellowed him much. Even in his seventies he wore his hat cocked. He belonged here. He and this hard prairie were alike - rugged, fierce, and enduring. Each stood ready to battle the other every day. His daughter, my mother, chose hardships, harsh weather, and isolation to place her sons in the care of the best man she knew. Mum and I both called him dad.
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Review
It has hard times, good times, moments of absolute hilarity, rattlesnakes, bobcats and a crusty grandfather. -- Publishers Weekly, Nov. 22, 1999 quoting Gayle Ray of Tattered Cover Bookstore
Readers from 12 to 90 can relish these stories of life on the High Plains during the middle years of this century. Gary Penley has personified in his book Joseph Campbell's admonition to hang on the "rapture of being alive." -- CO) Oct. 15, 1998
Rivers of Wind is a fine book in many respects. For one, it's a well-written, true chronicle of everyday life in rural southeastern Colorado earlier this century. The book is also a top-notch character study of "Dad," Penley's grandfather who raised him, and gives a real feel for those who straddled time from the horse-and-buggy era to the age of airplanes. It's a good read. -- Western Horseman June 1999 --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Readers from 12 to 90 can relish these stories of life on the High Plains during the middle years of this century. Gary Penley has personified in his book Joseph Campbell's admonition to hang on the "rapture of being alive." -- CO) Oct. 15, 1998
Rivers of Wind is a fine book in many respects. For one, it's a well-written, true chronicle of everyday life in rural southeastern Colorado earlier this century. The book is also a top-notch character study of "Dad," Penley's grandfather who raised him, and gives a real feel for those who straddled time from the horse-and-buggy era to the age of airplanes. It's a good read. -- Western Horseman June 1999 --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
About the Author
Gary Penley was born in Colorado and grew up on a remote cattle ranch in the 1950s. After high school he left the wide open spaces and semi-arid climate of home and served aboard submarines in the U.S. Navy for several years. Following discharge, he attended Weber State University and University of Kansas where he earned his master's degree in geology. Gary lives in Lafayette, Louisiana where he works as a petroleum geologist. Although he has written for outdoor and sporting magazine, Rivers of Wind is his first book.
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
Format:Paperback
Rivers Of Wind: A Western Boyhood Remembered is the autobiographical story of how Gary Penley's growing up on a ranch in the plains of Colorado, the influence and example of his grandfather, his mother, and a yesteryear of ranch life that is gone now. Interwoven memories of the people, the geography of the land, the animals, and the climate of the high western plains, Rivers Of Wind is a kind of "window in time" that will engage the reader's rapt attention from first page to last. A tribute to a time and place now found only in memory, Rivers Of Wind is unique and enthusiastically recommended reading.
By Edward Sabin
Format:Paperback
I enjoyed this book, sent to me by a high school friend, as I went to the same consolidated high school in Lamar, Colo. as the author (but 2 years ahead of him)and recognized many of the features of that time and place which he describes so well. I was a town kid instead of a country kid but it helps understand better the kids I went to school with. Gary is a great story teller. I hope he didn't stretch it too much in a few places (I don't remember rattle snakes when my friend and I were hiking outside of town--but maybe it was winter). And no, the Great Plains are NOT flat but rolling praire with great views to the horizon sometimes. It's BIG SKY country and I miss though it has been years since I've been there. Thanks, Gary.
By C. Miller
Format:Paperback
Mr. Penley gives personal details that review his life on the prarie such that reading this book made me feel I knew him. He included facts and opinions about the history of the area that will help document for years to come what took place in that area. His ability to show emotions with words and his willingness to be vulnerable with the details made this a very interesting book. I read his other book too, and highly recommend it as well.
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4.8 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rivers of Wind, a great read
I am an avid reader and this book, Rivers of Wind, was absolutely great. An easy and smooth book to read and every page was enjoyable. Read more
Published on April 7 2002 by Tom Desaulniers
4.0 out of 5 stars
Rivers Of Wind
I read this book with much anticapation as I also grew up in Lamar Colorado. Mr Penley's older brother George was a very good friend of my brother's and I have heard nothing of... Read more
Published on Feb 24 2002 by Shirley Pollard Phillips
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best description I've seen of Southeastern Colorado
This is one of the best books I have ever read. I guess it is because I relate to it having been born and raised in Southeastern Colorado during late 1930's on. Read more
Published on July 31 2000 by Dave Shelton
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thanks for the memories
A great book. A story told honestly and from the heart. I related so well to the life and times depicted in this book I must have lived in Colorado in another life. Read more
Published on Jun 12 2000 by Mr. Jim Coats Sr
5.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderful book capturing life on the Colorado plains.
Gary Penley has captured a rural lifestyle that is now almost non-existent in this wonderful book. Although not so distant in time, the book transports the reader to a lifestyle... Read more
Published on April 7 1999
5.0 out of 5 stars
A heart warming story you will long remember.
Mr. Penley has written a wonderful account of his early years growing up on a Colorado Ranch. Anyone who grew up in the 40's and 50's in a rural setting will certainly relate to... Read more
Published on Jan 16 1999
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding book!! "Try it and you'll like it."
"Rivers of Wind" is a refreshing boyhood account of living and growing up on a remote cattle ranch near Lamar, Colorado during the 1940s and '50s. Read more
Published on Dec 23 1998
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