Residence Midland, Texas Children Wesley Joseph Dearen Nationality American Name Patrick Dearen | Occupation Author Role Author Spouse(s) Mary Gilda Dearen | |
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Born May 1, 1951 (age 72) ( 1951-05-01 ) Sterling City, Sterling County, Texas, United States Alma mater Sterling City High School
University of Texas at Austin Education University of Texas at Austin Books Castle Gap and the Pecos fro, A cowboy of the Pecos, Lone Star lost, Crossing Rio Pecos, The last of the old‑time c | ||
Spur award for patrick dearen s the big drift
Patrick March Dearen (born May 1, 1951) is an author of 20 books of western fiction and history. His newest release, the 2012 novel, To Hell or the Pecos, is set along a desolate 79-mile section of the Butterfield Trail in the Pecos River country of West Texas. To Hell or the Pecos is the 2014 winner of the Elmer Kelton Book Award from the West Texas Historical Association.
Contents
- Spur award for patrick dearen s the big drift
- Patrick dearen on west texas big drift
- Early life
- Career
- References
Patrick dearen on west texas big drift
Early life
Dearen was born and raised in Sterling City, Texas, between San Angelo and Big Spring. His father, Delbert Dearen (1912-1998), and his mother, the former Thyra Violet Sparkman (1918-1974), are interred at Montvale Cemetery in Sterling City.
Dearen graduated in 1969 from Sterling City High School, where one of his teachers had encouraged him in January 1966, while in his freshman year, to consider a career in writing. In 1974, he earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin. His mother, Thyra, died that same year at the age of 56. At her encouragement, young Dearen read Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan of the Apes that also played a role in his interest in becoming a writer. He won nine national and state awards as a reporter for two daily newspapers, including the San Angelo Standard-Times and the Midland Reporter-Telegram, of which his wife, Mary Gilda Dearen (born circa 1955), is the managing editor.
Career
Dearen is an authority on the Pecos and Devils Rivers, which nearly meet at Lake Amistad, and on the tenets of old-time cowboy life in West Texas. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, he conducted oral histories of 76 men who had been cowboys prior to 1932. These interviews, along with decades of archival study, enriched his 11 novels and 9 nonfiction books. One of those novels, Perseverance, is a story of hobos riding the railroad tracks of Texas during the Great Depression. He is also known for his interest in folklore, and writes to please professional historians and general readers.
Dearen was named the runner-up in 2013 for the Will Rogers Medallion from the Academy of Western Artists for his novel To Hell or the Pecos. He has also been honored for his work by the Western Writers of America, the San Antonio Conservation Society, and the Permian Historical Association. Dearen enjoys backpacking and playing ragtime on the piano. His wife and he have one son, Wesley Joseph Dearen (born circa 1990), the first reader of his father's books.
In 2015, another Dearen novel, The Big Drift (2014), has been named the winner of the Elmer Kelton Fiction Book of the Year by the Academy of Western Artists. He received his award on March 28 at ceremonies in Irving.