Our busy horse-riding contributor Jim Griffin joins us with another article from the trail. Take it away, Jim:
Kirby Jonas: Contemporary Western Writer
Kirby Jonas is one of a very rare breed -- a person born well after the interest in Westerns had peaked (he's not yet 40 years old), but who loves all things Western, and writes excellent Western novels.
The hallmark of a Kirby Jonas novel is the thorough depth of research and character development that he puts in each book. Jonas' descriptions of the landscapes where his stories take place are well researched and extremely accurate. His characters are well rounded, with the human frailties we all have, in both his heroes and villains. Of course, the stories also always include lots of good old-fashioned action, with plenty of fist-fights, gun battles, and shoot-outs.
Besides being an author of Westerns, Jonas also has a website devoted to Western memorabilia. He also is a western singer and a painter of wildlife and Western landscapes. The covers of all his novels are illustrated by his paintings. He also paints custom model horses, oftentimes for a horse owner who would like a model of their horse.
For a bibiography of his books, you can go to his website at http://www.kirbyjonas.com/. Several of his books are available as audio books, through Books in Motion, read by James Drury of The Virginian television series.
At the moment, Kirby, along with Clint Walker -- star of the western TV series Cheyenne -- is working on a new novel and screenplay tentatively titled Yaqui Gold.
For an afternoon or evening of good Western reading, it would be hard to go wrong with any of Kirby Jonas' novels. They are available through Amazon.com, directly from the author at the above website, or from any good bookstore.
- submitted by Jim Griffin
Links:
The Kirby Jonas website keeps you up-to-date with a newsletter, reviews, articles, and more info about Kirby and his career.
Books by Kirby Jonas:
Season of the Vigilante, Book One:
The Bloody Season
Posted by ds at November 12, 2002 04:18 PM
Doe anybody know..if it was leonard reedy who did the art work!!
Posted by: Terry at March 12, 2003 06:19 AM
Terry:
Besides being the author, Kirby Jonas also is the artist. The cover paintings were all done by him. If you are interested in seeing more of his artwork, go to his website listed above.
Posted by: Jim Griffin at March 22, 2003 08:30 PM
I first discovered Kirby Jonas's work in a little country store outside of Payson, Arizona, some years back. I purchased Season of the Vigilante: books one and two. Enjoyable reading. I am glad to here he stuck with it. Good for you Kirby.
Posted by: Ron McDonald at December 21, 2003 05:42 PM
Kirby and Clint have finished YAQUI GOLD, and it is now available. I've read it, and it's an excellent, action-packed tale.
Jim
Posted by: Jim Grifffin at December 21, 2003 09:59 PM
Howdy all,
It's amazing to hear my name bouncing around the web. Ron, I'm glad you enjoyed the books, and Jim, thanks for all your accolades. It's been a great adventure from day one, particularly working with James Drury and Clint Walker and becoming friends with so many other old time cowboy stars like Ben Johnson and Buck Taylor and Peter Breck. I wouldn't trade the adventures for anything!
Kirby Jonas
Posted by: Kirby Jonas at December 22, 2003 01:13 AM
