Part of the annual George West Storyfest, held on the first Saturday of November each year in George West, Texas, which is recognized by the Texas Legislature as the Storytelling Capital of Texas, is devoted to honoring J. Frank Dobie. Friday night’s Dobie Dichos centers around a countryside campfire with friends who enjoy bowls of Chili con Carne, Pan de Campo (campfire bread), and snippets of Dobie’s wit and wisdom.
Lanny Joe Burnett, local cowboy poet and singer, was a featured presenter at the Dobie Dichos on Friday evening, November 6, 2015.
Lanny spotlighted with prose and poetry J. Frank Dobie’s book, The Mustangs, where the author said, “They are of the breed that dies before it tires.”
Lanny explained: “When horse people talk about horses, they invariably select their favorite breed and then begin to assign the best qualities of that breed to those animals of a particular color. You will hear of the legendary Mustang and of the favored color, as well as the words of ancient vaqueros that will echo in your ears: ‘If you would lead the riders, pick the coyote dun.’”
In poetic personification, one of the seven verses of Lanny’s poem “El Bayo Coyote---the Coyote Dun” reads:
Many times we helped to turn them, when they stampeded over the plain.
Many times we rode around them, in the cold, the heat and the rain.
Myself, I know that I’m special; I know I’m a privileged one.
They call me EL BAYO COYOTE; they call me THE COYOTE DUN.
