Skinny Rowland (1926 - 1997)¹

His Life

Skinny (Art) Rowland, was born on 10 July 1926 in Tillamook, Oregon, U.S.A. The family, Art, Ralph, Lorraine, and Charlie and their parents spent their first years up in the mountains in a small cabin near their paternal grandparents. As a child Art excelled in his studies, and showed much artistic talent even then. At the age of 15 he went to work in the shipyards.

Art had a varied working life which included ranching and logging. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War 2 and the Korean war. He eventually moved to San Francisco, where he spent several years on a horse ranch, caretaking and caring for the horses. Then he started travelling around, ending up in Montana in a log cabin in Basin where he started in on his poetry in earnest

Married at the age of 20, he had two children a son and a daughter. He was diagnosed in 1978 with ALS ², and survived long past the normal expectation of 4 to 5 years after diagnosis

For many years Skinny wrote poetry and only started saving it after he became disabled. His poetry was very diversified. The first poem that gave him recognition was 'From Bad To Worse' which he entered in a contest, and was awarded first prize. He was the first person to receive the Cowboy Poet's Hall of Fame award from Idaho and was one of the first living poets to receive the same honour in Montana

Skinny (Art) Rowland died February 27, 1997, at the Veteran's Hospital in Tucson, Arizona. His sister, Lorraine put the following poem in his obituary. It was written and sent to her by a friend of his, Perry Williams

Memories

Skinny walked out through the garden gate


and down a peaceful lane


He said 'I hate to leave you,


but I can't come back again'

So even though the body's still


and the spirit's left and gone,


You'll never really be alone


--for his memory lingers on.

Perry L. Williams had the following to say in tribute to the Cowboy Poet:

It was my pleasure to be around Skinny several times at some of the cowboy gatherings. Always enjoyed him and his dry wit. He kept everyone around him laughing. As a matter of fact, just the mention of Skinny Rowland's name and people would start smiling!

He did some cowboy poetry, but his strength was his humor. He kept 'em in the aisles with tales of his imaginary wife and how dumb, mean, etc. she was. He used to write some good humorous columns that would be featured in 'Rope Burns' and other cowboy publications.

As happens so many times, we don't slow down long enough to really appreciate the talents folks have until first thing we know, as in Skinny's case, the good Lord sends out a call and they hit the 'glory trail'

The Two sides of Skinny's Poetry³

Almost all of Skinny's poetry is humorous but in the middle of all the humour one can suddenly find a poem which grips at the heart and can bring tears to the eyes. The following is an example of the man behind the humour

THE END IS THE BEGINNING

by Skinny Rowland

Old friends live on in my memory,

as do the days of long long ago,

and as I grow older and feebler,

so do those memories grow.

The laughter and voices grow clearer,

the faces seem to draw near,

and I know that I am again closer,

to the ones I once held so dear.

Old friends have gone on before me,

to a place where again we shall meet,

when life has made its full circle,

and our stay here on earth is complete.

Visions of heaven may differ,

as to what each may have in his mind,

but I'm sure that God has arranged it,

so it's what each expected to find.

So should a child be taken,

don't feel he's been taken away,

he was just a part of another ones heaven,

as he will be of yours one day.

Should the time come for an old friend to leave you,

and you feel that fate is unkind,

just remember your heaven includes him,

and you are not that far behind.

So weep if you will at misfortunes,

as you smile when things go your way,

and as you ask the Lord's help with your troubles,

remember the good when you pray.

For life here on earth is the schooling,

and just a fraction at best,

of all ahead which awaits you,

if you succeed in passing the test.

So love and be loved by many,

make each person your friend,

for the life here on earth is short,

and the real life begins at its end.

This poem was copied from one of the Books Skinny Rowland published Poetry, Complete works to 1993 in which he states 'Anyone has my permission to make copies of any of these poems to give away. None may be sold, except that periodical publications may use one or more if credit is given to the author and a copy of each publication containing a poem be sent to the author.'

See the reference to visit a site which pays tribute to Skinny Rowland and which features a number of his humorous poems. At this site you can read the following poems:

Skinny also wrote a column for Cowboy Magazine which was also a popular feature in Rope Burns magazine. The following are some excerpts from his column 'Stackin' It High'

• 'Somebody asked me the other day what my wife was like. The best way I could explain it to him was to ask him if he had ever cuddled up to a Pit Bull wearing lipstick.'
• 'Christmas was a little messed up. Old Santa slipped in some fresh Reindeer dung and came head first down my chimney and messed up my new fireplace insert.'
• 'I just got back from a trip through Idaho and Nevada. Nevada is a backwards place, along the highway I seen three rabbits feeding on a dead crow.'
• 'Cowboy poetry gathering time is here again. Last year the editor of this publication said he would meet me at their local museum and buy me a coffee. I waited for about an hour and he came in and said, 'Hi Skinny, you're looking great. I see you have put on a lot of weight.'-- and I wasn't anywhere near that skeleton he was talking to.'
• 'I just got a letter from my old rancher friend. I had told him about my computer and how it done half my work for me, so he tells me now he is going to buy two as soon as he can.'
• 'I went to a publishing company asking for a job and they asked me if I could write, I said I sure can, and I can do cyphers too. Anyhow, I just signed a contract with a big publishing company. I send them 19.95 a month and they send me a new book.'