Clark Crouch, a prize-winning Cowboy Poet of Bothell, Washington, delivers the reality of the West through his western and cowboy poetry. His performances are drawn from more than 400 original poems which capture the humor and the pathos of the west of yesterday and today. He is especially known for the brevity and wit of his poems, many of which end with a humorous twist. His book, Western Images, won the 2008 Will Rogers Medallion Award for Cowboy Poetry and was named as one of the top five cowboy poetry books of 2008 by the Western Music Association.

 

2008 Will Rogers Medallion Award to Western Images for Outstanding Achievement in the publishing of Western Literature which exemplifies excellence in content and design with an enduring quality that preserves and celebrates the history and spirit of the west.

    He was born in 1928 and spent his youth in the Sandhills of Nebraska, earning his own way as a cowboy from the age of twelve until he was nearly eighteen. His interest in poetry stems from a 1940's acquaintance with Badger Clark, then Poet Laureate of South Dakota, who inspired him to write his first cowboy poem in 1941. In 2002 he began writing and performing cowboy poetry professionally.

    He has performed in the Northwestern U.S. and Western Canada at cowboy gatherings, county fairs, retirement homes, and community events. His appearances have included: Kamloops Cowboy Festival in British Columbia; Legends of Country Tour in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington; the Tumbleweed Music Festival in Richland, Washington; the Jefferson County Fair at Port Townsend, Washington; the Clatsop County Fair at Astoria, Oregon; and the Benton Franklin County Fair at Kennewick, Washington.

He has six books of poetry in print, the last four of which are in traditional ballad format: Voices of the Wind (2002), Reflections (2003), Where Horses Reign (2004), Sun, Sand & Soapweed (2005), Western Images (2007)and Views from the Saddle (2009). He also has a CD, Where Horses Reign, containing thirty-five of his poems. Selected poetry has been syndicated to some fifty regional editions of The Country Register, an antiques and crafts tabloid, in the U.S. and Canada. His work has appeared in Open Range Magazine .

      You can read a selection of his poetry on his beautiful web site:                     http://poetry.crouchnet.com/western.html . In addition he is featured on the premier  web site http://www.cowboypoetry.com .  He is a member of the Washington Poets Association, Columbia River Cowboy Heritage Society, Poets West, and Western Music Association.

      His life and attitudes were shaped by drought and The Great Depression. He and his parents lived for a time on a ranch occupying a one room sod house which was about twenty feet square with an earthen floor and a sod roof. Cheesecloth strung beneath the roof caught falling dirt and insects and sheets strung on wires provided partitions for two rudimentary bedrooms. The amenities were strictly mid-19th Century.

   Clark attended a succession of rural, one-room schools walking or riding his pony as much as five miles morning and evening. Employed as a ranch hand during the summers from the time he was twelve until he was nearly eighteen, he worked his way through high school, supplementing his summer income by working at various times as a retail clerk, telephone operator, janitor, and truck driver.  Clark joined the Army Air Corps right out of high school toward the end of WWII and was recalled to the U.S. Air Force during the Korean conflict.

    He was employed by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.  During his 32 years of service, he held such positions as Director of Contracting and Procurement, Assistant to the Director of Nuclear Materials Safeguards, Assistant to the Director of Engineering and Construction, Contract Administrator for programs valued at nearly $500-million, Public Information Officer, Freedom of Information Officer, and Technical Information Officer for all reporting on the Hanford Project in Washington State.

      Now, past 80, Clark does a lot of volunteer work. His service includes the following: vice-chair of the Washington State Hanford Area Economic Investment Fund Committee (an economic development agency which invests in job creation), chairman of the Richland Housing Authority (a regional agency), board member and immediate past president of the Tri-Cities Food Bank (a regional organization serving four small cities and a large rural community), member of the Economic Development District of the Benton Franklin Council of Governments, president of a local chapter of the National Active and Retired Federal Employee Association (NARFE), planning coordinator for the Washington Federation of Chapters of NARFE.    

          You can learn more about Clark Crouch at his web site.
                                                             http://poetry.crouchnet.com/

                                             Contact:  e-mail Clark Crouch  - 509-946-1558