Book chronicles life of a 'rounder, roper, rancher'

As a 15-year-old boy Red Howell left his home in Kerrville, Texas, to ride west across that big state and into a lifetime of cowboying and ranching.

Now his daughter, Beth Smith Aycock, and Jorga Riggenbach, have written his story, “A Red Howell Fit.”

There will be a book signing of the book at 3 p.m.-5 p.m. today at the Santa Cruz Chili and Spice Co., in Tumac‡cori.

Also at that time Jean England Neubauer, owner of the chili and spice company, will sign her book, “Santa Cruz Chili & Spice Co. Cookbook.”

Aycock, who lives in Green Valley, described the book about her father, Louis “Red” Howell, as a chronicle that captures “the essence, excitement and reality of ranch live in the Southwest during the first part of the 20th Century.”

She described her father as a “rounder, a roper and a rancher.”

Howell ranched in New Mexico.

Beside the book, Aycock has written a song about her father that’s now on musician Jim McConnell’s new CD, “Wild and Wooly.”

Aycock said the 38-minute CD “recalls a simpler time with classic cowboy tunes.”

jlamb@gvnews.com | 547-9749