Former Soil Conservation Service employee and longtime writer Mat Taylor offers his outdoors column for Dispatch Record readers. He can be contacted at (254) 518-2262 or via e-mail at mntaylor@agristar.net. Dove season opens today, and I had planned to do a follow-up column on dove hunting, however just before I began this column, I learned that western novelist Elmer Kelton had died at the age of 83 in San Angelo after a fall and contracting pneumonia.

Kelton was my favorite author, and I have purchased, read and re-read most of his more than 60 novels about cowboys, farmers and ranchers, and droughts throughout Texas history.

Checking the Internet, I read a number of news stories and columns following his death. One of the best articles, believe it or not, was in the Washington Post. I had the good fortune to have many of his novels signed at various books signings and to hear him speak at several meetings and events.

Kelton was recognized as the best western writer of all time, and he won seven Spur Awards for his novels, more than any other writer.

If you had the pleasure of meeting him, you came away being impressed by Kelton's humbleness. He was a gentle and gracious man, and no matter who you were, he was willing to spend some time visiting. He also would sign copies of his books for several hours on end, and he never complained.

I once heard him say, "If I am so famous, why do I have to show my driver's license to write a check just two blocks from my home?"

I saw Kelton for the first time many years ago on a range tour at the Sonora Experiment Station Ranch. To tour the ranch, participants were loaded into a cattle trailer pulled by a pickup.

As we traveled along a rough ranch road, the rancher next to me pointed out that the man in the front of the trailer was author Elton Kelton, who wrote "The Time It Never Rained." I thought that was an indication of what kind of man he was, as he could have ridden in the pickup but chose to stand up like everyone else in a cattle trailer.

As a result, I purchased a copy of "The Time It Never Rained," and I still consider it one of the best -- if not the best -- fiction novels about Texas.

From that time on, I read almost everything he has written.

I met Kelton later on a tour of the Bamberger Ranch near Johnson City when I worked with the Soil Conservation Service. I had a small part on the program discussing some of the conservation practices on the ranch, and I had the opportunity to spend a few minutes with the famous author.

He discussed novels he was writing and spoke about a movie deal for his book, "The Good Old Boys."

"The Good Old Boys" later became a Turner Network movie, directed and starring Tommy Lee Jones. If you can get a video of the movie, I would recommend it. I have a VHS tape and have seen it several times.

Kelton also had a quick wit. At one of his book signings, I asked him if I could sit next to him and have a photo taken of the two of us. He did not hesitate to say yes, and I sat beside him while a friend took the photo.

Just before I stood up, he looked at me and with a twinkle in his eyes said, "You know, both of us together do not have enough hair to cover one head." I almost fell out of my chair laughing. As you know, we were both hairchallenged.

At a later book signing, Kelton autographed the photo, and it is now one of my prized possessions.

My favorite Kelton novels in addition to "The Time It Never Rained" and "The Good Old Boys" are "The Wolf and The Buffalo," and his autobiography "Sand Hill Boy, The Winding Trail of a Texas Writer."

His book characters are complex, flawed and even in some cases unlikable. But that is the way it is in real life. His books are fiction, but many contained historical events and places. He said his books were "historically correct, not politically correct."

Kelton's first book was "Hot Iron," published in 1956.

He kept writing to the very end. He recently completed his last book "Texas Standoff," due out next year. Another novel, "Other Men's Horses," will be released this fall.

Of course, I will buy a copy of each, but my regret is that Kelton will not be here to sign them for me.

I did not know it at the time, but on the day he died I was reading Kelton's small book "My Kind of Heroes." The book contains several written speeches he presented to different groups. In the speech titled "My Kind of Heroes," Kelton said that instead of famous athletes, politicians or musicians, his heroes were the people who settled and tamed the West -- homesteaders, ranchers, farmers, cowboys, schoolteachers, business owners and others seeking a better life.

Kelton is one of my heroes, and even though I had the opportunity to meet and talk with him on several occasions, I wish I could have spent more time with the writer. I have spent many enjoyable hours with him through his books, however.

He truly was one of the good old boys, and I will miss him very much.

If you want to read his obituary, you can go to the archives at gosanangelo.com and find it under the search words "Elmer Kelton." Also, access the Web sites Elmerkelton.net and cactusbookshop.com.