RIP Baxter Black

 

Baxter Black, America’s Popular Cowboy Poet, Has Died

 

Arizona Daily Independent

By Terri Jo Neff

June 11, 2022

 

Baxter Black, the nationally popular cowboy poet, storyteller, and philosopher of rural life in America, died Friday at the age of 77, it has been announced. He was a resident of Benson in Cochise County.

Back in January, a Facebook posting by Baxter’s wife Cindy Lou noted he was suffering from blood leukemia and a form of dementia.

“Don’t forget to tell your friends and family how you feel about them. You never know when their time is up,” Cindy Lou wrote on Jan. 17.

At the time, news that Baxter was receiving hospice care at his Benson home led to an outpouring of heartwarming comments and reminiscence on social media. It also introduced younger generations to Baxter’s works as well as his once high profile celebrity.

Baxter was known for several decades for his poetry and storytelling. But unlike many country wannabes, his cowboy roots ran deep, as evident by his time competing in rodeo in the mid-1960s. He then earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, a profession and passion he worked at until the early 1980s, keeping him directly involved in the ranching world.

By the mid-1980s, many rural Americans knew of Baxter through his various performances at rodeos, FFA functions, and several other western or cowboy events.

Then an appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson introduced Baxter to a huge swath of urban Americans. This was followed by additional appearances with Carson as well as on other television programs.

This garnered Baxter a much wider audience which led over the years to opportunities to commentate about rural life on NPR, publish numerous books, and continue personal appearances at events across the country before officially retiring in 2021.

Baxter Black is survived by his wife Cindy Lou Logsdon Black whom he met at an annual convention of the Arizona Cattle Growers’ Association.

 

BLACK, Baxter

Born: 1/10/1945, Brookly, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 6/10/2022, Benson, Arizona, U.S.A.

 

Baxter Black’s westerns – poet, writer himself:

Coyote Cowboy Poetry – 1986

Croutons on a Cow Pie – 1988

The Buckskin Mare - 1989

Cowboy Standard Time – 1990

Dunny the Duck - Cowboy Poetry - 1994

Hey Cowboy, Wanna Get Lucky? - 1994

Cow Attack - 1996

Cactus Tracks & Cowboy Philosophy – 1997

Loose Cow Party - 2008

A Cowful of Cowboy Poetry - 2000

Cowboy Mentality Plus...The Big One That Got Away Blues: Poems And Tall Tales - 2001

Horseshoes, Cowsocks & Duckfeet: More Commentary by Npr's Cowboy Poet & Former Large

     Animal Veterinarian – 2002

John Wayne Made Me Cry: Our Western Heroes (TV) – 2002

AG Man the Comic Book – 2003

Baxter Black's NPR CDs

Hey, Cowgirl, Need a Ride? - 2005

Blazin' Bloats & Cows on Fire! - 2006

The World According to Baxter Black: Quips, Quirks & Quotes - 2008

Back Page: The Best of Baxter Black from Western Horseman Revised – 2010

Lessons from a Desperado Poet: How to Find Your Way When You Don't Have a Map, How to

     Win the Game When You Don't Know the Rules, and When Someone ... What They Really

     Mean Is They Can't Do It. – 2011

Reindeer Flu – 2011

Lessons from a Desperado Poet - 2012

Rudolph’s Night Off - 2012

Ride, Cowboy, Ride!: 8 Seconds Ain't That Long – 2012

Poems Worth Saving - 2013

Cave Wall Graffiti from a Neanderthal Cowboy – 2014

Tinsel, Mistletoe & Reindeer Bait – 2016

Floating Horses: The Life of Casey Tibbs – 2017

A Commotion in Rhyme - 2018

Scrambled Wisdom, Almost isn't is...is it - 2018