Courage (Page 11)

She called him Black. He called her Kiddo. Keith Leroy Black and Johnnie Dorris McSpadden. I called them Mom and Pop though they were not my parents. They belonged to my soulmate but treated me as their own. This compilation is my song to them in gratitude for enriching my life. It is a three-part symphony….

Thus opens a stunning rural love story that fills my mind with a background line-up of many of my decades-old favorite cowboy songs. Nearly all chapters are titled with era songs such as the first one: “Yellow Rose of Texas.” There, in those Lubbock, TX pages, we meet Dorris (with two r’s, she always says). She is, we soon learn, one of seven children of her tenant-farmer father and his wife. They are hard-working parents who care well for their family despite their ever-present financial challenges. Yet they have treasured family moments more valuable than dollars can ever provide.

Unable to attend college, Dorris nevertheless feels lucky to have graduated from high school and have a clerking job at Montgomery Ward. Now, it’s February, 1940. Dorris is 22 and dreaming of becoming a real lady who wears fine clothing and shoes, like her mother’s clothes from long ago, packed in an attic trunk. 

On this particular afternoon, Dorris walks into a college party her cousin has invited her to. Suddenly, through the noise and clamor of the packed house, she hears singing, loud applause. Blackie is in the living room. She’s met the handsome singing and trick-riding cowboy—a friend of her cousin, Truva—and she’s heard him sing on the radio. He’s a nice guy, small compared to his big guitar, but she loves Blackie’s wavy dark hair, the charming grin that makes her think he has a secret, and his rich tenor voice.

When Dorris begins moving through the crowd into the living room, Blackie starts to croon Tumbling Tumbleweeds. Rousing applause encourages him to sing several more songs. When he takes a break, he spots Dorris leaning on a wall. Dorris catches her breath as he seems to look into her soul.

“Hi, Blackie. Remember me? I’m Dorris with two r’s.” she says.

“I remember you, Dorris with two r’s,” he replies, “I asked Truva to invite you.” He paused and then said, “You look like a Kiddo to me, though, as in Kiddo with two d’s.”

Dorris didn’t mind.

“Most people call me Blackie, but you can call me Black.”

Thus began their stunning rural love story. He was the man who almost became Hollywood’s Roy Rogers and the woman who dreamed of becoming a real lady.

For all their lives, Black and Kiddo were oral storytellers. In addition, Kiddo kept a diary for decades while Black began writing his stories in his 80s. Thus, they bestowed upon their loving daughter-in-law, Brenda Clem Black who married their son Russell Owen Black, a huge cache of their history.

Without reservation, I invite you into the pages of Black and Kiddo, A True Story of Dust, Determination, and Cowboy Dreams. Walk with this salt-of-the-earth couple as they meet all that life brings their way—the trials and the victories. Be near and honor them, as they live their rich rural values: love of family, friends, neighbors, and hard work. Enjoy the wonder and fullness of their lives. And, if you listen closely, you may also hear the rich symphony of music that softly accompanies this stunning rural love story.

Note: An earlier version of this book review appeared at http://www.storycirclebooks.org