Behind the Chutes
Stories from the research, interviews, and writing behind
The Official Biography of Bodacious: Master of Disaster—
and the people who lived it.
The Life of a Bucking Bull
While writing the official biography of Bodacious, I expected to learn about wrecks, championships, and the men brave enough to ride him. I did not expect to discover how carefully bucking bulls are protected, how intimately they are known, or how deeply they are loved.
After the Last Gate
Bodacious retired as the most feared bull in rodeo, but his influence did not end when the last gate closed. He became a living legend who helped bring the American bucking bull into the conversation about great animal athletes.
The Chapter I Didn’t Know the Book Needed
I thought I had finished writing the bull riders’ chapters. Then James White gave me the story that revealed what Bodacious had become: not merely a bull in the draw, but the bull—the one whose name no longer needed to be said.
When the People in Your Book Read Their Chapters
What happens when the people whose lives you have reconstructed finally read the pages? Sometimes they correct an entire timeline. Sometimes they tell you there were no pine trees—and they definitely were not eating strawberry ice cream.
This Story Can’t Be Real
On October 1, 2023, I heard a story about Bodacious that sounded too extraordinary to be true. One photograph, one question, and an unexpected trip to the Andrews Ranch changed everything.