Terry Johnston

When Terry Johnston died in Billings in 2001 his wife Vanette was holding one hand and my wife the other. People from all over the world flocked to his funeral. He had foretold his death, telling Vanette that when he killed off his hero, Titus Bass, he would soon follow. In his final book, Wind Walker, Bass dies, and Terry swiftly followed, dead of cancer in his 50s. There was a memorial service at the hospital, attended by the doctors and nurses who had cared for him, and at it, the death scene in Wind Walker was read to the staff by Vanette.

He was an acknowledged expert on the Indian wars, and a superb researcher. Critics dismissed his work as prolix and overwrought, but he sold many millions of books to avid readers who believed he was the finest western writer of them all. To this day, the critics carefully ignore Terry and his work. I've never been able to explain his literary gifts, but I regard him now as something of a genius. His novels weren't for everyone, but he did evoke something very deep in millions of readers, and even now, long after his death, his stories continue to sell well.

The reading public, regular Joes and Janes, saw something in him the critics have yet to recognize. He infused his stories with meaning. Whether it was death or rivalry or friendship, he depicted it in ways that struck chords in most readers, and they bought book after book.

He was kinder to me than I to him; I confess to having reservations about his writing, while he enthusiastically endorsed mine, with generous blurbs. I think the critics will continue to ignore him, or peer down their long noses at him, but they ought not to do that. Terry Johnston's books will keep on selling and winning readers and devoted fans for generations to come.