John R. Erickson
From Wikipedia
John Richard Erickson (born October 20, 1943) is an American
cowboy and author, best known for his Hank the Cowdog series of children's
novels. Born in Midland, Texas, he was reared in Perryton in the northern Texas
Panhandle. He graduated in 1966 from the University of Texas at Austin and
spent two years at Harvard Divinity School. He began publishing short stories
in 1967, while still working as a cowboy and ranch manager in Texas and
Oklahoma. Hank and Drover are both dogs he'd worked with at the ranch. In 1982,
after receiving numerous rejection slips from large publishers, Erickson
borrowed $2,000 and began his own publishing company, Maverick Books. Hank the
Cowdog debuted in The Cattleman, and two related short stories appeared in the
first book published by Maverick Books, The Devil in Texas. Erickson began
selling books out of his pickup truck wherever cowboys gathered. Erickson soon
found himself receiving letters addressed to Hank, and so, the next year, in
1983, he published the first full-length book in the series, The Original
Adventures of Hank the Cowdog. His 2,000-book first printing ran out in six
weeks. With the book's success, he shortly afterward recorded the book,
word-for-word, on audio tape. Hank the Cowdog has since become the
longest-running successful children's series on audio. That book has since
spawned over seventy sequels, becoming one of the most popular children's
fiction series, selling more than 7.5 million books and winning several awards.
The full series of books and tapes are usually available in most school
libraries around the United States. His books are endorsed by the Texas Library
Association and have, for two years, been serialized in The Dallas Morning
News. His "Hank the Cowdog" series has been translated into Persian,
Spanish, Danish, and Chinese, and have sold over 8.5 million copies. Erickson
has written over seventy books, and is frequently invited to perform, reading
book selections and singing songs, in classrooms and school libraries. He lives
in Perryton with his wife.
Life and career
He was born John Richard Erickson in Midland, Texas on
October 20, 1943. His parents were Joseph W. Erickson and Anna Beth Curry
Erickson. In 1946 the family moved to Perryton in the Texas Panhandle. John
Erickson attended school in Perryton and upon graduation studied at the
University of Denver for a year. He then attended the University of Texas,
where he met his future wife Kristine. They were married in 1967. Erickson
later went to Harvard Divinity School but walked away a few credits short of
graduating.
After leaving Harvard, Erickson began working as a cowboy
and ranch manager on various ranches in Texas and Oklahoma. In 1982 he set up
his own publishing company, Maverick Books, and began writing the Hank the
Cowdog stories. On March 6, 2017, Erickson's ranch home was destroyed in the
fires that swept across more than 315,000 acres of the Texas Panhandle. Upon his loss from the blaze, he quoted
Scripture: "Naked we came into this world and naked we will leave
it," and added, "but we will sure miss that house." His property is south of Perryton in Roberts
County. In the books, Hank is "Head of Ranch Security" of an unnamed
ranch in nearby Ochiltree County.