Team penning isn’t just a rodeo event. This year, it’s a literary event at the Tucson Festival of Books featuring co-authors Alan Day and Lynn Wiese Sneyd. They’ll give us the low down on what it was like to write and publish their newest book, “Cowboy Up! Life Lessons from Lazy B.”
State historian Marshall Trimble says that “Cowboy Up” reflects “on the life of the everyday cowboy with all its trials and tribulations better than anything I’ve ever read. They range from dealing with the capricious vicissitudes of nature, friendships, horse wrecks and winning the trust of horses through patience and love. They also tell of man’s close relationship to the land and all God’s critters that inhabit it. “
In addition to sharing a few crazy cowboy stories, Alan and Lynn will preview their video of Lazy B, filmed last year with assistance from U of A media arts experts and some cool drone photography.
So dust off those boots. Grab your hat. It’s time to cowboy up and get ready for a fun ride!
Biography ~ Alan Day
If it’s possible to say that someone can be born a cowboy, then Alan Day was born one. He was part of the third generation to grow up on the 200,000-acre Lazy B cattle ranch that straddled the high deserts of southern Arizona and New Mexico. The ranching and cowboy lifestyle appealed to him so much that after graduating from the University of Arizona, he returned to manage the Lazy B for the next 40 years. In the 1980’s, Alan purchased a ranch in South Dakota called Mustang Meadow Ranch that became the first government sponsored sanctuary for 1500 unadoptable wild horses. He was the first rancher to develop and successfully use a herd modification-training program for cattle and wild mustangs. He shares his story in his award-winning memoir, The Horse Lover: A Cowboy’s Quest to Save the Wild Mustangs, co-authored with Lynn Wiese Sneyd. Along with his sister, Sandra Day O’Connor, Alan also wrote the NY Times best-selling memoir, Lazy B, the story of the Day family and of growing up on the harsh yet beautiful ranch.
Biography ~ Lynn Wiese Sneyd
Lynn Wiese Sneyd is an award-winning author and owner of LWS Literary Services in Tucson. She coordinates book publicity campaigns for authors, writes query letters and book proposals, ghostwrites and edits. Her most recent published works include “Cowboy Up!” and “The Horse Lover,” co-authored with H. Alan Day, and “The Shadows in My Heart,” co-authored with Mary Havens. A frequent presenter at writer’s conferences and workshops, she also is the literary consultant for the Tucson Festival of Books.