A monthly series including news about an Arkansas book, author, event, or item of literary interest to Arkansans.
by Erin Wood
“Black & Kiddo” by Brenda Clem Black
Did you know that a long-time Arkansan, Keith L. Black, almost became Roy Rogers?
Instead of the Hollywood life that almost was, he eked out a long, hard-earned cowboy living before ultimately becoming a sculptor later in life.
His bronzes—compared to Remington’s—became public art in the forms of a life-sized coal miner for the City of McAlester, OK, a bust of a Vietnam soldier for the Veteran’s Hospital in North Little Rock, AR, a life-sized Italian immigrant (“Antonio”) in front of City Hall in Tontitown, AR, and elsewhere.
The Choctaw Nation, banks, town squares, museums, and cemeteries from Arkansas to New Mexico called on him. By his side through it all was Kiddo, whose story and personality are as warm and compelling as they come.
As of its August 15, 2018 release, you can read their story in Black & Kiddo: A True Story of Dust, Determination, and Cowboy Dreams. Written by Prairie Grove resident Brenda Clem Black, each chapter is set to the music of the time and accompanied by nearly forty images.
About: Hear the music of a singing cowboy—who almost becomes Roy Rogers—as he finds love with a hat-wearing, quirky lady. Their coming-of-age stories converge, revealing lives honed by life-threatening hardship in the flatlands of Texas, the high plains of New Mexico, and the green hills of the Arkansas Ozarks.
In an unlikely “Land of Opportunity,” their young sons rise, and Black & Kiddo turn weathered hands to new work, heartened by the long arc of dreams. 8.5 x 11, 344 pages, $17.95. Use code B&K10 for 10% off plus free shipping for a limited time at etaliapress.com.
A Hot Springs native, Erin Wood is a writer, editor, and publisher in Little Rock. She owns and runs Et Alia Press (etaliapress.com). She is editor of and a contributor to Scars: An Anthology and is currently at work on Women Makers of Arkansas, featuring 50+ women creatives. Wood’s work has appeared in Catapult, The Rumpus, Ms. Magazine’s Blog, Psychology Today, Tales from the South, and elsewhere, and was a Best American Essays notable.
