Fearless Funnymen: The History of the Rodeo Clown

As a former rodeo clown and bullfighter, I was absolutely spellbound by this book. As a former editor of Rodeo News and current publisher of Texas Rodeo, I was impressed with its accuracy. As a professional journalist and amateur rodeo historian, I was excited to have it as reference material. As soon as I finished it, I decided I needed to meet the author, Gail Woerner, someday. The next year, we ran into each other anonymously at the Western Writers of America convention in Kerrville during a reception at the Cowboy Artists Museum. During the conversation, we figured out that we had similar intersts, and the moment I heard her name, I wouldn't let her get away for the rest of the evening. Woerner has documented much of the history of the early rodeo clown--history that is largely forgotten by most rodeo people and historians. If you want a wonderful insight into what early rodeo clowns were like and where they came from, this is THE book. It served as a main source for a historical article I did for Cowboys and Country magazine in the summer of 1998 (Rodeo Clowns: Tough Times 10). That article would not have been as good as it was if Gail Woerner had not done such a good job on the extensive research needed for a book like this.