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About this Book:

“The Cows Are Out” and 26 other tales recall simple and happy times in a community of mom-and-pop farms tended by loving, caring people. For the author, it was “the good life,” well worth remembering by those who lived it, worth learning about even for those who didn’t. The stories tell of life with cows, chickens, horses, and pigs; of hoeing and picking cotton, picking up pecans, hauling hay, working in the garden. Readers will learn what it’s like to wash with a wringer washer, watch TV in its infancy, take out the slop, attend a two-room country school, worry about water, fish from an inner tube, and rumble down a steep hill on what’s left of an old wagon. The author makes every effort to entertain with lively, often humorous, writing. The mood changes when he recalls his last day on the farm and, later, when visualizing it cold and dark on Christmas Eve for the first time ever. Appreciation comes with the passing years. This book is about a child who realized as a man that he had indeed lived a boyhood worth writing about.

About the Author:

After graduating from Southern Methodist University and serving in the U. S. Navy, Richard Fluker spent seven years in broadcasting. As a radio news director, he won 10 Associated Press Broadcasters awards. Next came 26 years as the public information officer for a Texas school district and several awards related to newsletters and other publications. During those years, most of his creative efforts went into job-related writing, but he did manage to write several poems and magazine articles that were accepted for publication. In retirement he began focusing his attention on preparing the series of stories that ultimately became The Cows Are Out and Other Tales from a Farm Kid of the 50s. Richard Fluker grew up east of Corsicana, Texas, and now lives in Marshall, Texas.

Book Review:

“Personal events told to perfection from a happy farm-reared kid. The 1950s will prove in history to be the decade of God, family, and fun. Richard well recalls them all with a must read. Having been born just about one generation before Richard, all 27 stories recalled in his book generated a few for me, and will for others reared in the rural Southwest. Start at any chapter and this is a wonderful, positive read. Should you not have had the privilege to live life during this period, you may have missed what America really was. So authentic!” Jack Dillard—well-known Texas radio personality, newspaper columnist, and auctioneer; former county ag agent, radio farm director, school teacher, and bull rider!

Order/Contact Info:

Contact Richard Fluker at rlfluker@hotmail.com.