Max Barnes, 67; Country Music Writer and Award Winner

Max D. Barnes, 67, two-time winner of the Country Music Assn. song of the year award with “Chiseled in Stone” in 1989 and “Look at Us” in 1992, died Sunday in Nashville of pneumonia.

A native of Hardscratch, Iowa, Barnes worked as a truck driver, construction worker, bartender and deckhand before he became successful at writing country songs.

He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992, the same year he shared the award for “Look at Us” with Vince Gill, who recorded it. Barnes said he wrote the love song as a tribute to his wife, Patsy, and all the years they had shared -- adding that Gill felt the same way about his wife, Janice.

Barnes’ other CMA winner, “Chiseled in Stone” recorded by Vern Gosdin, offers the heart-breaking lyric “I didn’t know how bad I could hurt until I saw my son’s name on his tombstone.” Barnes was also nominated for the award in 1983 for Gosdin’s “If You’re Gonna Do Me Wrong (Do It Right).”