Joel delivers this devastating heartbreak of a poem with dash and danger and life and love. Joel Nelson recites "Lasca" by Frank Desprez during the "Cowboy Classics" show at the 10th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering.

This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. On the web at arts.gov.

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Joel Nelson
Alpine, TX
Joel Nelson has been a cowboy since age six when he helped on a cattle drive to the railroad. For more than 30 years, Joel made his living working on cow outfits in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Hawaii, specializing in breaking colts. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Forestry and Range Management, has built custom saddles, and served in Vietnam with the 101st Airborne Division. He was a founder of the Texas Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Alpine, Texas, and a 2009 recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts’ National Heritage Fellowship. Joel’s poem “Equus Caballus” was selected to be a part of the national Poetry Out Loud program for high school students. He and his wife Sylvia run Corriente cattle in the beautiful West Texas ranch country.

“Lasca” poem by Frank Desprez.

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Filmed in front of a live audience at the Elko Convention Center’s Laurena Moren Theater in Elko, NV, on Jan. 29, 1994.

Made possible by the multitude of staff, artists, volunteers, and community members working behind the scenes to make this show happen.

Brought to you by the Western Folklife Center, using story and cultural expression to connect the American West to the world.
www.westernfolklife.org

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