Elmer Stephen Kelton (April 29, 1926 — August 22, 2009) was an American journalist and writer, known particularly for his Western novels.
Kelton was born at a place called Horse Camp on the Five Wells Ranch, owned by the Scharbauer Cattle Company, in Andrews County, Texas — just east of the city of Andrews — to Robert W. "Buck" Kelton and Beatrice "Bea" (née Holland) Kelton.
After graduation from Crane High School, Kelton attended The University of Texas at Austin in Austin, Texas, in 1942-1944 and again from 1946-1948, when he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism. From 1944-1946, Kelton had served in the U.S. Army, with combat infantry experience in Europe during World War II.
From 1948-1963, Kelton was the farm-and-ranch editor for the San Angelo Standard-Times. For five years he was editor of Sheep and Goat Raiser Magazine and another twenty-two years he was editor of Livestock Weekly, from which he retired in 1990.
Three of his novels have been featured in Reader's Digest Condensed Books.
Three others, City: The Time It Never Rained, The Good Old Boys and The Man Who Rode Midnight, have received Western Heritage Awards from the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
In 1977, Kelton received an Owen Wister Award for lifetime achievement (named for Owen Wister, the author of The Virginian). In April 1997, the Texas State Legislature proclaimed "Elmer Kelton Day". In 1998, he received the first Lone Star Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Larry McMurtry Center for Arts and Humanities at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas.
Kelton was working on another book but faced multiple health problems in the spring of 2009. The book was not completed before he died on August 22, 2009, of natural causes.[clarification needed]
Partial list of works:
Texas Ranger Novels:
Arts & Culture
