Nine Years in the Saddle Book

The twin-engine plane had delivered me to a small air terminal at Springfield, Missouri, which was nearly empty. As I entered the terminal, I heard a woman whom I had never met before exclaim,

"Here he is! I found him!"

She led me to a waiting television crew, which began to film this historic meeting between me and the elderly gentleman who accompanied her.

Dressed in western attire from his wide-brimmed hat to his cowboy boots, his six-foot frame retained a certain vigor that belied his years. When he saw me, a smile spread across his square face illuminated by alert, penetrating blue eyes as he extended a firm hand, molded by a lifetime of hard work.

While the camera rolled, the interviewer plied us with questions about my search that culminated in this meeting. This is a story of a man whom I never got to know until he was eighty-one-years-old, my father.

James V. Lee

In Nine Years in the Saddle, James V. Lee has told an important story. More than just the life of his father, it is the tale of an American hero. "Dud" Lee was a hero, not because he was some glossy rendition of a Hollywood ideal, but because he was an average, real person who survived and thrived in rough times. Thankfully, James Lee has written about those times. As editor of Doing It Write!, an e-newsletter for writers, I've seen my share of historical books. With _Nine Years in the Saddle_, you'll feel as though you're sitting by the fireplace, listening to Dud himself talk.

Dud's life, although only one or two generations ago, is foreign to modern teenagers. Bootlegging, lion hunting, working from ranch to ranch ... it all feels like something from an adventure book or a history tome. Knowing that this was a real person, the author's father no less, brings the story into reality. Few books have been written about the real people who lived and worked, and survived, this era of American history. By writing it down, and backing it up with pictures, Lee has preserved this slice of a time past.

Helen Ginger


Mr. Lee,
Your book, which I purchased last Friday from Hastings in Bryan, is as we speak, history...you were right, it was as great a read as you warned, I wasn't able to put it down for long...
I feel sad that I will never have the oppurtunity to meet such a rounder as your father...
I visualize many of the scenes described in our book and I personally think that a good screen play is waiting to be discovered in your writtings!
I have the "signed" copy of your book in my library in it's place right in there with my printings of "Lonesome Dove" and "Texas"...
I look forward to reading your next book when it "arrives".
See ya in the movies............:)

Respectfully,
Ken "earl" Havel


Review of James V. Lee's book, Nine Years In The Saddle,
James V. Lee writes about his father's life as a cowboy in the 1920s and 1930s in the Southwestern states. The book is captivating. It's a folksy story of Judson Warren (Dud) Lee's various jobs as a cattleman. Lee's son James vividly recounted his dad's exciting adventures of hunting lions when they could earn $100 for each one (in California and Arizona). Dud's creativity as a guide to "wanna-be" cowboys, with a guarantee to hunt and kill a lion, added humor to the story. An easy read. I found myself cheering for the cowboys' success in each escapade. An enjoyable glimpse into an era when times were rough and cowboys like Dud were tough enough to find creative answers.

Phyllis Qualls Freeman, Writer and Speaker


A quick and entertaining read about a real life person's experiences cowboying, mountain lion hunting, bootlegging in 1920s and 30s Texas, NM, and AZ. I wanted MUCH more in the way of details, but it's a great book.

J. Scott Ezzell