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Last Buckaroo by Mackey Hedges www.lastbuckaroo.com
Hailed as one of the most authentic narratives of the life of a contemporary buckaroo, Mackey Hedges book, The Last Buckaroo, is the story of the real deal. The book was originally published in 1995 and became an immediate must-have for those who loved the life of the high-desert
buckaroos. As a niche publisher released the book initially, the print run sold out quickly and was not reprinted in any quantity. The reputation of the book flew around the west and with the advent of the Internet; copies could be found only on auction sites, sometimes ten-times its original price. Enter entrepreneur and western aficionado, Robert Sigman. Through his help and guidance, Mackey was able to re-gain his copyright and re-package the book – this time with charming line drawings by another legendary westerner, the
late artist, Joelle Smith. Now available once again, The Last Buckaroo has found its rightful place amongst the classic
books of the west. So enthused about having his book back in print, Mackey is working on a sequel – sort of a part two
– that will be out in 2009. The Last Buckaroo should be in every westerner’s book shelf – right up there with Will James, Ivan Doig and Thomas McGuane. Bill Reynolds - Living Cowboy Ethics January 2009

Award-winning author visits Vernal
by Tabatha Deans

Buckaroo Mackey “Mack” Hedges, author of “The Last Buckaroo,” which received the National Cowboy Symposium Working Cowboy Award, advises other writers to “write about what you know and what you’re passionate about.” (Gary Parker/Vernal Express)
Buckaroo Mackey “Mack” Hedges, author of “The Last Buckaroo,” which received the National Cowboy Symposium Working Cowboy Award, advises other writers to “write about what you know and what you’re passionate about.” (Gary Parker/Vernal Express)
slideshow “Anybody can write a book. You don’t even need to know how to spell if you have a word processor,” says award-winning author Mackey “Mack” Hedges who was in town Dec. 23 for a book signing for the re-release of his book “The Last Buckaroo.”

Hedges was visiting his son Jed and his family for the holidays and combined the visit with the book signing. “The Last Buckaroo” was the winner of the National Cowboy Symposium Working Cowboy Award and the Mormon Letter Fiction Award. Hedges shies away from the fame that comes with being an award-winning author and says luck and circumstance had more to do with his success than talent. “I don’t know anything about writing a book,” he says. “I couldn’t even write my name.” Hedges’ story began in the spring of 1990, when, he says, he got “busted up” while riding a horse named Pegasus. After being bucked, then dragged by the horse for several hundred feet, he rode back to the ranch and continued herding cows until the evening. His wife, Candace, took him to the doctor, and after receiving X-rays, Hedges discovered his pelvis was broken.

“When I told the doctor that I rode home with a broken pelvis, he didn’t believe me,” says Hedges. He spent the next two months in a body cast, waiting for his wounds to heal. “Within two days we were out of the house,” says Jed. “He was driving us all crazy.”

Hedge’s wife, Candace, a writer, was concerned about her husband being depressed and was anxious to find something for him to do. She brought him a computer and instructed him to write some “little stories for the children” while he was recuperating. “I wrote a few stories, and then I thought, ‘they won’t want to read this,’” says Hedges. “So I added a little fiction and excitement to the tories.” Hedges says his stories are based on real-life experiences. “I can only write about what I’ve seen, or what I’ve done,” he says. “If the character is tall in real life, I make him short in the story. If he’s a little man in real life, I make him big in the story.”

After finishing a manuscript, Hedges began distributing it to people he knew. He received rave reviews from those who read it but says he didn’t feel his work was print worthy. His work became increasingly popular, and Hedges recalls the first time someone called, interested in getting more copies. “She called and asked for 17 copies,” he recalls. “I told her to just print them off, and she asked ‘what about the copyright?’ I said, ‘what’s a copyright?’”

Even though established author Baxter Black reviewed his manuscript and penned a personal letter of recommendation to a publisher, Hedges did nothing with the manuscript for five years. When he finally decided to submit it to a publisher in Utah, along with the letter of recommendation, he says he was in the right place at the right time. “I have to say it was more luck than talent,” says Hedges. “Everything that followed was like pulling the handle of a slot machine and winning four or five times in a row.”

Hedges, whose second book is due out in 2009, says he still has a hard time considering himself a writer. “I still don’t know anything about writing a book,” he says. “Everything you learn in a class about English and grammar, is trumped by my writing.”

He does believe, however, that anyone interested in writing should give it a shot, and offers these two bits of advice: “Write about what you know about, so people who read it don’t think you’re trying to sell them a bill of goods,” he says. “And be passionate about what you write.” tdeans@vernal.com