Profoundly Country

"It's hard to imagine a more pleasing journey through rural America than Profoundly Country-penned by farmer, ranch hand, cowboy, and open-hearted philosopher Dick Courteau. From the farms of Minnesota, to the rodeo rings of the mountain West, to the hardscrabble hills of Arkansas, here is a love song to America's open spaces-and to the lively, disarming, and often brilliant people whose lives unfold there. In these times of mass distraction, it's all too easy to lose touch with what it is in life that really matters. Not to worry. Wherever you are-big city or backwoods-this book will show you the way home....The next time I'm asked that parlor question - what person would you really like to sit down and have a beer with - Dick will be on my short list! Gary Ferguson, author, The Eight Master Lessons of Nature There's lots of folks writing about my home these days, or things that make me think about my home: country life, old-fashioned farming, and more. For my money, Dick Courteau's new collection gives us the best of it all. He may be from off, as we say, but when you make your way through these beautiful, thoughtful pieces, anybody can get a road map on how to do more than make do here in the hills. This is a gem of book-read it and savor it. Jared Phillips, author, Hipbillies of the Ozarks Dick Courteau grew up a student of rural America and the people living there. He's experienced several lifetimes in his 90 years: He's worked on a dairy farm and harvested sugar beets, traveled the rodeo circuit to be thrown from bulls and broncs, and packed his family of five in a covered wagon to flee an Arkansas drought behind a team of horses. Reading this book, you will experience first-hand the lives he led, learning essential truths about country life-the people he's met, the trials he's endured and the animals he's cared for and trained. For of all the skills Dick has learned in his lifetime, I am most grateful for his aptitude to tell a story. His writing throbs with authenticity. Reading about any of the characters in these pages, you will come to know them better than if you met them on the street. Dick recalls details that take the reader to the exact location and time of the story. And his affinity for language makes taking that trip a delight. Joe Mischka, Publisher, Rural Heritage magazine Come along readers and enjoy a walk through some reflections and recollections of Dick Courteau. His easy style of story-telling makes a person comfortable. It's as if you were enjoying a fireside chat around a bonfire in the dark of evening. Dick shares glimpses of his life in ""the rurals"" (farms, ranches and homesteads) from almost 90 years of memories. As a man who treasures reflections himself, I recommend this book with a smile and a country handshake. Ralph Rice, author, Cultivating Memories"