Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Hal Herring on Colonel Cooper

As mentioned below. In his excellent Amazon review of To Ride, Shoot Straight, and Speak the Truth, Hal Herring writes:

"...Cooper is an authentic American voice, and the rare man who has read and written as much as he has studied weaponry, ethics, and war. He is opinionated- I never agreed with him about the wars in Central America, or about his rigid interpretations of morality. But it does not matter- Cooper's opinions are his own, and because of his powerful intellect, they are always worth reading, considering, questioning. He is a serious man, a serious writer, and a serious thinker. Reading him reminds one of Andre Malraux and other warrior scholars, who have lived big lives, witnessed history, and feel enough a part of it to offer their take on almost anything.

"Cooper is a hard--edged right winger of the old school, as far removed from these radio shock jocks like Limbaugh as you could ever get. In fact, the conservative movement in the US could use a good read of To Ride, Shoot Straight,and Speak the Truth. Maybe they would learn why the Republican party has collapsed, just by seeing what a real conservative is. At least it would make them read.

"To give an idea of Cooper's wide audience, I heard the Texas songwriter [and Q favorite] James McMurtry (Larry McMurty, Lonesome Dove, etc.'s son) talking about Cooper on the satellite radio not long ago, saying he was one of the only gunwriters who can truly write, and has something larger to say. That's high praise from a wordsmith and a half."

Of course, if you use the blog's search function using his name, you will find I could never convince the Colonel, even with photos, that eagles could kill wolves, and that Jonathan Hanson alleges that he should have perished in the Cretaceous extinction event...

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