One of my greatest honors was to meet Elmer Kelton and his wife in Scotsboro, Arizona. Elmer makes his home in San Angelo, Texas.
I met a new writer friend at the WWA. His name is Gary McMillan and he lives in Odesa, Texas. Glenda and I had a great time with Gary.
Cowboy Mike is a very kind friend with a compelling and contagious laugh. He is an educator with a love for good jokes. I only had one or two to share :). He writes about the expoits of the Buffalo Solders in the west. 
This is a much better picture of Larry taken from his web site.
Two other friends made a lasting impression on me.
Larry Sweazy has a spur under his belt, he is on the left.
Loren Estleman is also a winner in many areas.
These two are accomplished writers and were very helpful to the "greenhorn."
Loren's picture above also comes from his web site.
Pictured here with Elmer Kelton is Dusty Richards. Dusty has many accomplishments, one of which is that he actually cowboyed in the area around Scotsdale as a young man.
I met many new faces and people who have a love for the Old West. The WWA was like attending a family reunion where everyone was interested is knowing what you are doing and how well you are progressing. Most of the folks are regular attendees and a new face was fairly easy to spot. All the members were especially interested in making the "greenhorns" feel included and directed to the contacts they needed to make. I met some great christian people and several who wrote from that perspective. One such writer was Major Mitchell.
Some were prolific writers. I asked Chet Cunningham how many books he had written and the answer was 369. At least I think it was 369, I was so taken by the number I am not sure. My next question was, "What is the most you have written in one year." His reply was, "18."
Rod Miller, a quiet man with a big heart. A poet of poets. Read some of his poetry at Cowboy Poetry.
Paul Colt, a man with a heart for the west.
Johnny Boggs, a man with a great sense of humor and a gift of writing. He is also the current WWA president.
Paul Hutton is an educator at the University of New Mexico and also director of WWA.
L. J. Martin and Kat Martin are a husband wife team that crank out some great writing. When I asked him what type of material he wrote, his humble answer was, "I have a couple of westerns out."
Another great writer is John D. Nesbitt.