Profoundly Country bookcover

Profoundly Country

Memories and Meditations of an Old Farmer/Cowboy

Dick Courteau 

(Author)

Maeve Courteau 

(Illustrator)

Jacqueline Courteau 

(Contribution by)
4.9/5.0
21,000+ Reviews
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Description

When you read this book, you will hear, in your mind's ear, a lucid, authentic, distinctive voice. It is the around-the-campfire voice of a sanctioned old-timer. You are going to be captivated by the voice's rhythm, and awed by its precision, and you will be, without a doubt, amused by its wit and humor. Dick Courteau is going to share anecdotes, musings, and reflections about leading the country life and about your country neighbors' adeptness, the craft of their language, their humility, and their deep respect for others. You will listen, to temp you but with a few vignettes, to the psychological insights of horse country auctioneers, and the wisdom and mercy of one-armed country judges. You are going to encounter first-person accounts of the scrappiness of rodeo saddle bronc riders, and of family Homeric cross-country travels in a covered wagon amidst the vertigo of automobiles. You may even get practical advice along the way in case you are in dire need of acquiring teamster skills. Horses will fall in love in this book, but no, cows will not be jumping over the moon. Cows will leap out of small unbarred barn windows. And so they should.

Even if you are an unredeemable city slicker who cannot tell apart a breeching ring from an engagement one, when you hear Dick Courteau's voice you will agree that Profoundly Country cannot help but be, above all, profoundly human.

Product Details

PublisherMission Point Press
Publish DateJuly 09, 2024
Pages258
LanguageEnglish
TypeBook iconPaperback / softback
EAN/UPC9781961302730
Dimensions9.0 X 6.0 X 0.7 inches | 0.8 pounds

About the Author

Author Dick Courteau's earliest memories, from infancy, are of seeing horses at work. He has been riding and working horses-and then donkeys and some mules-since age eleven, when his foster father gave him his first pony, a stone-blind but spirited twelve-hand pinto mare named Toots. Dick Courteau has lived an itinerant life centered around working with horses, and, more recently, donkeys. His book on donkey training, Get Your Ass to Work! An Illustrated Guide to Training Your Donkey to Harness (Mission Point Press 2020), has been called "indispensable reading." He started contributing essays and how-to tips to Rural Heritage magazine in 2020 and has been a regular contributor since 2021.

Reviews

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

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