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Rhymn' Rudy

Somewhere outside the fog of the Golden Gate Bridge, away from the espresso stands and micro-breweries is a world that might seem foreign to city slickers; one of open plains, running horses, family values and handshake ethics. This is the world of Rudy Gonzales, a real working cowboy turned poet and professional entertainer.

Gonzales was born into the cattle business in Ragged Mountain, Colo., and spent his lifetime raising and training horses. As a child he spent many a night listening to the tales of cowboys and their lives in the wilderness.

"People are in love with the legend of the cowboy way. It was an era of honor and distinction. It was a time when a man's word was stronger than a lawyer's contract," says Gonzales, a jovial ol' buckaroo with an elaborately waxed handle-bar mustache that makes people ask, "Can I touch it? Is it for real?"

"When I was a kid every contract was sealed with a handshake and it meant something. It was also a time when people had respect and love for one another, not hatred, distrust and violence," he adds.

Gonzales says women are treated with greater deference in the cowboy world. "Women should always be revered as ladies and vulgarity in front of a lady is unacceptable. We were taught that women should be respected as wives, sweethearts and mothers. Real cowboys know how to be polite to women."

According to Gonzales, "There is a wide gap between cowboy poetry and music, and country and western music. "For one thing," he says, "there is not one single divorce in cowboy poetry and real cowboys wouldn't be caught dead line dancing; buckaroos wouldn't even be caught watching."

Real life is the primary influence in Gonzales' poetry. "All of my stories are real or they're going to be," he laughs. "All of my pieces have a three point criteria: nothing lewd (there's enough of that in our world), the subject has to be real cowboy, and it has to have entertainment value. People like to be entertained. There has to be a balance between nostalgia and humor. It's important that people laugh and have a good time. If we want to be depressed we can talk about politics."

Preserving the "real" cowboy is the only thing Gonzales says will drive him away from his wife, Rose, and the horse ranch they run together in Eagle, Idaho. He is also the publisher of "The American Cowboy Poet Magazine" and the founder and director of the original Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Idaho which will be celebrating its 10th year this September.

Gonzales says he organizes his cowboy poet gatherings as showcases for amateur poets and real cowboys to tell their tales of cowboy life. The rival Elko gatherings (see main story), "are run by snobbish arts commission people who are simply Hollywood cowboys who wouldn't know the first thing about saddling up a horse," he says. "They're great entertainers from Nashville and the likes, but they're not real cowboys and they don't live the cowboy way of life. They're only in it for the money."

Reciting poetry all over the country does have its drawbacks. "Unfortunately I'm so busy performing I've traded my saddle for an airplane seat, but I love what I do," Gonzales says . "What a wonderful treat this life has been."

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