The author is a retired farmer/cattle rancher turned cowboy poet. He graduated from Washington State University but says he got most of his education in the school of hard knocks.

He explains it here in his words:

In eastern Montana on a cold winter morn
On a wind swept prairie is where I was born.
My mama and daddy were poor as could be
They plenty problems and they didn’t need me.

I grew up hungry and I grew up lean
I struggled for survival so I grew up mean
Now that you know how I got my start
You’ll understand why I’m an ornery old codger