2008 Academy
of Western Artists' Top Male Poet
Jay
Snider was born
into a ranching and
rodeo family in southwest Oklahoma. Today, he makes his home in
Cyril with his wife, Sandi. His dad was a top roper and rodeo cowboy; his granddad was a brand
inspector for the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association.
Jay rodeoed during his early years. He now stays busy
raising cattle and ranch horses and team roping.
Writing
and reciting cowboy stories
in verse since 1996,
Jay says he's not sure his English teacher would consider it
poetry. Explaining the reason behind the pursuit, he says:
"I've been researching the cowboy way for life for nearly
60
years. I felt a need to preserve some of the stories I heard
from the old timers, and I wanted to try to relive some of
my own experiences. Fortunately, cowboy poetry seems to
appeal to most people. I thank God for the
greatest super-hero of all times: the American Cowboy."
Jay has appeared
at
many of the major cowboy gatherings:
the Texas Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Alpine;
Cal Farley's Youth Poetry Gathering near
Amarillo, Texas; National Cowboy
Symposium in Lubbock, Texas; Arizona Cowboy
Poets' Gathering in Prescott; Kamloops Cowboy Festival in Kamloops,
British Columbia; and
four appearances at the National Cowboy
Poetry Gathering, Elko, Nevada. He also
appeared on Country Music Television’s
Christmas in Cowboy Country, hosted by
Clint Black.
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2005 Best of the Best at
National Cowboy Poetry Rodeo, Kanab, Utah
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