Arizona Cowboy Wins 2018 Hillerman Award

ARIZONA COWBOY WINS 2018 NEW MEXICO-ARIZONA HILLERMAN AWARD

Ed Ashurst: Biographer of the American Cowboy

Author and rancher, Ed Ashurst, and his novel Stealin’ From The Neighbors were awarded the Hillerman award at the New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards banquet held November 16, 2018 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Stealin’ From The Neighbors is a coming of age novel, set in the area around Prescott and Seligman, Arizona. Tommy Lee, not quite 18, shows up at a real cow outfit the morning after his high school graduation ceremony. He’s long on cowboy skills but short on social skills, and his job on the Cow Creek Ranch will put him in situations for which he’s not prepared.

Wanting to make a hand and be somebody, Tommy throws in with some very experienced older men who aren’t afraid to use their knowledge and expertise to gain wealth quickly.

According to Ashurst, “There’s nothing far-fetched about this story - you might even say it’s dangerously close to the truth.” Ed Ashurst is the perfect person to write this story. Born in Wickenburg, Arizona, he is a working cowboy who has ridden and gathered cattle and horses on over seven thousand miles of the American West, while accumulating over 50 years of experience as a big ranch cowboy. He currently manages a large cattle ranch in southeastern Arizona.

Ashurst has also been involved in producing rodeos, horse shows and horse sales, and has competed in the rodeo arena for over 50 years. His books are about his life’s experiences covering different aspects and scenes that race across his vivid memory and water his fertile imagination. All he has written originates from stories that are well worn from being told many times.

In addition to his own experience, Ashurst is also becoming wellknown for his biographies, written about cowboys and ranchersthroughout the West, such as Warner Glenn and Charlie Gould.Red Stegall has featured Ashurst’s books on his television programSomewhere West of Wall Street as well as his radio shows. Ashurstbelieves that storytelling is an art form that is no less important thanpainting or sculpting, and people say that his books read as if thestoryteller is there. He is truly earning the title of the biographer ofthe American cowboy.

For more information: Contact Ed Ashurst at (502) 508-2846 or email azashurst@gmail.com