Cowpokes Follow Ode of the West

--For the second straight year, cowboys from across the West are headed for the Nevada town of Elko for a three-day celebration of their tall tales, trail songs and poetry of “light and smell and open places, hard times and soft evenings. It’s a language coded with insider’s words, special phrases and meanings, and shared values,” said Hal Cannon of the Western Folk Life Center in Salt Lake City, who worked with other folklorists for several years to start the first gathering in 1985. About 100 men and women from working ranches have been invited to recite their verses this year, and another 100 or so poets, musicians and story tellers are expected to sign up, organizers of Thursday’s roundup said. The poems, Cannon says, are meant to be read aloud. Among the cowboy poets scheduled to appear is Ernie Fanning, a Nevadan whose poems recited at the first event last year included “One Red Rose,” which reads in part: “And I guess my fondest wish, I really shouldn’t tell, But I pray to God that when I die I’ll go right square to hell. For it’d kinda be like punchin’ cows On the Arizona desert once more, So goddamn hot at midnight You can’t touch a latch on the bunkhouse door.”

--Actress Sally Field’s “diversity” and actor Sylvester Stallone’s ability to create unforgettable characters prompted their selections as man and woman of the year by the Hasty Pudding Theatricals group at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. The award is presented annually to a man and a woman who have made “a lasting and impressive contribution to the world of entertainment.” Field was cited for her growing from “Gidget” to Oscar-winning portrayals in “Norma Rae” and “Places in the Heart,” and Stallone was selected for creating Rocky and Rambo. Presentation is preceded by a parade through the Harvard campus. Field will be honored Feb. 11; Stallone on Feb. 18.

--Air Midwest pilot Capt. Gary Forshee had a familiar crew when he guided his 30-passenger Saab-Fairchild into the clouds on a flight from Wichita, Kan., to Kansas City and Des Moines. At Forshee’s right was his son Mike, a 25-year-old Air Midwest first officer who served as co-pilot. Out in the passenger cabin, his daughter, Lisa Collins, 22, was a flight attendant. “It takes a lot of the pressure off because we’re kind of tuned into each other and you know what to expect,” said Forshee, 49. Collins said it puts her at ease to be able to get on the intercom between the passenger cabin and the cockpit and say, “ ‘Hey, Dad!’ He likes me to call him ‘Capt. Dad,’ but I won’t,” she said.