Epic in scope in the tradition of Sometimes a Great Notion, this novel explores the values of the American West as three generations carve out a working ranch in the Idaho Panhandle. On the weekend of their 60th wedding anniversary, Ray and Betsy hold a family gathering in a final celebration at the Omak Stampede Rodeo where their eldest son, Arnie, struggles to put his life back together after his wife’s death. At this rodeo once again Arnie’s life will change forever. And back on the ranch Ray and Betsy will make their last, most difficult stand as Ray shows how it’s done the cowboy way.



Ron Johnson, author of Silver Thaw and Collected Stories, is Professor of English at Northern Michigan University where he teaches writing and literature. He has published short fiction in the United States and New Zealand, and his creative nonfiction has won prizes from Grain (Saskatchewan Writers Guild, Canada) and the Missouri Review First Place Editors Award. He holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of California, Irvine, and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Utah.