Camp Coffee: Tales of a Wyoming Cowboy

by Bob Sullivan

Camp Coffee is not just about a person-Grant Beck-and his stories, it's about a way of life-the cowboy way of life. Most people will never feel the warmth of a high mountain campfire or experience the eye-burning smoke wafting from the branding coals. Few will have any firsthand experience of what the American cowboy was all about. Lots of books have been penned about lots of cowboys, both fictitous and real. But few cowboys have touched as many people in the encouraging way that Grant Beck has through his chosen profession. This is a must-have volume for all that are drawn to the essence of the western experience.

208 pages, Paperback

First published October 16, 2006

Reviews

[Karen Siddall · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating, humor-filled, but most of all, loving tribute to a cowboy mentor and friend.

Camp Coffee: Tales of a Wyoming Cowboy by Bob Sullivan is a fascinating, humous, and loving tribute to a real-life cowboy hero. Grant Beck was a hero, not because of overt acts of derring-do, though there are some mentioned throughout the collection of stories, but for the positive impact he made on so many people with whom he crossed paths.

The author met Beck in the summer of 1976 in a Pinedale, Wyoming bar; a young man at loose ends, and the older man offered him a job with his hunting guide business. Their serendipitous meeting resulted in a lifelong friendship. The author soaked up Beck’s many tales of his life growing up in Idaho, losing his parents at a young age, striking out on his own at age 13, and eventually ending up cowboying in Wyoming in the early 1940s, his marriages, and his 50-years of successful dude ranch and guiding operations. Beck’s stories are warm and wonderful, telling of a different time, a simpler life reproduced in modern times, and how he was able to share that with the hundreds of children who participated in his summer dude ranch experiences. He had a deep and true desire to give urban-reared children an understanding and appreciation of the great outdoors and the natural world and to build self-reliance and confidence in themselves. Grant Beck was known for his serious respect for all wildlife, especially his horses, and many of the collected tales feature one or more of his beloved mounts.

The author’s own storytelling is vivid, easy to read, and a sincere tribute to a man who clearly meant a lot to him and many others. Sullivan includes the reminiscences of Beck from mutual friends and lots of candid photos of the man and the beautiful Wyoming scenery. Every page of the book is imbued with their deep regard for this singular man and readers will come away knowing that they missed out by never having crossed Beck’s path.

I recommend CAMP COFFEE to readers of biographies, memoirs, and cowboy stories, especially those with an affinity for horses and the beautiful natural spaces in Wyoming.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy through RABT Book Tours and PR.