Provided Press Release

Former Southwestern Oklahoma State University president, state legislator, educator and cattle rancher Randy L. Beutler has been recognized as a finalist for the prestigious Spur Award from the Western Writers of America (WWA) for his work, Impresarios of the Rodeo Arena: The Story of the Beutler Stock Contracting Legacy. The book competed for the award in the Contemporary Nonfiction Book category.

Beutler’s book relates the amazing story of a rodeo company that continues to have a significant impact on the development of professional rodeo in the United States to this day. The Beutler family of western Oklahoma has had a compelling influence on this uniquely American sport since 1929. The book chronicles the role the Beutlers have played in providing stock for rodeos across the country and leadership within the sport.

In his research, mainly from personal collections, historian Randy Beutler follows the careers, highlights, and challenges of the Beutler Brothers, Elra Beutler and Sons, Beutler and Morgan, Beutler and Gaylord, and the current Beutler and Son rodeo companies. Filled with many first-time published photographs and interviews, this book will be treasured by both the rodeo enthusiast and curious novice as a definitive publication on the history of rodeo in the United States. The book was published by Oklahoma Hall of Fame Publishing.

Since 1953, the Western Writers of America has promoted and honored the best in Western literature with the annual Spur Awards, selected by panels of judges. Awards for material published during the previous year are given for works whose inspiration, image and literary excellence best represent the reality and spirit of the American West. The WWA has more than 600 members worldwide, including writers and editors of fiction, nonfiction, songs, poems and screenplays.

Presentations to winners and finalists are scheduled during WWA’s convention and banquet on June 21 in Amarillo, Texas.

Winners of Spur Awards in previous years include Larry McMurtry for Lonesome Dove : A Novel, T. J. Stiles for Custer’s Trials: A Life on the Frontier of a New America, and David Grann for Killers of the Flower Moon.

Copies of Impresarios of the Rodeo Arena may be purchased online at https://beutlerandsonrodeoco.com/shop or at the following locations: The Oklahoma Hall of Fame, 1400 Classen Dr., Oklahoma City, OK, Alma Mater Merc (SWOSU Bookstore), 103 E. Davis St., Weatherford, OK, Elk City Museum, 2717 W. 3rd St., Elk City, OK, Oklahoma History Center Bookstore, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive, Oklahoma City, OK, or Persimmon Hill Store (National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum), 1700 Northeast 63rd St., Oklahoma City, OK.