The Death of Raymond Yellow Thunder: And Other True Stories from the Nebraska-Pine Ridge Border Towns was released in paperback Jan. 21, 2011. The new edition has been revised and updated with a new Afterward, and information that has emerged since the award-winning book’s release in 2008.
The Death of Raymond Yellow Thunder was named the 2009 Nebraska Nonfiction Book of the Year. In addition, graphic artist Lindsay Starr won honors for her work on the book’s cover.
Those awards followed ForeWord Magazine’s bronze medal in the regional nonfiction category for books independently published, and nominations by the Writers’ League of Texas for its nonfiction book of the year and the Center of Great Plains Studies for its Great Plains Distinguished Book of the Year award.
It recounts the death of Lakota ranch worker, Raymond Yellow Thunder at the hands of four white men in 1972, and the subsequent involvement of the American Indian Movement in the case. Among the other stories is the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890 and the border towns’ role in the incident, the life and death of Nebraska AIM Coordinator Bob Yellow Bird Steele and a comprehensive history of the town of Whiteclay, Nebr., a hamlet on the border that continues to sell millions of cans of beer per year to the dry reservation.
The Death of Raymond Yellow Thunder is published by Texas Tech University Press under its Great Plains series, and is available at http://ttupress.org, amazon.com, and other online booksellers.

Reviews for The Death of Raymond Yellow Thunder

“Stew Magnuson uses his considerable journalistic talents to chronicle the cross-cultural exchanges along the border between the Pine Ridge Reservation (which is located in South Dakota) and Nebraska … The book is a model of how local and regional history can and should be written.”
W. David Baird
Journal of American History

“From the long history of racial unrest in these towns to community efforts to overcome internal violence and strife, The Death of Raymond Yellow Thunder is packed with powerful blends of history and cross-cultural conflict and interactions.”
Midwest Book Review

“This well-researched, excellently written, and informative book flows in and out of the history of the border of South Dakota and Nebraska. From readers looking for an informative read that flows like a well-written novel to researchers seeking information, this text is a valuable source.”
Jeanette Palmer
Studies in American Indian Literature

“In the classic sense of the literature of “true stories,” Omaha native and journalist Stew Magnuson expertly weaves together threads of sound historical research with social mythology and contemporary politics to produce an intriguing historical overview of the shared fate of Nebraska’s Sheridan County and the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota … This is an extremely well written and engaging work.”
Roger Davis
Nebraska History

“In terms of artistry, [The Death of Raymond Yellow Thunder] is a grand sweep of history told in the best tradition of literary journalism. Border town inhabitants come to life and past and present merge seamlessly.”
Carol Berry
Indian Country Today