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The Last Cowboys

JOSH HANER / THE NEW YORK TIMES / REDUX / WW NORTON

Thursday, we're talking about the Wright family of ranchers and rodeo cowboys in central Utah. They're the subject of a new book that explores the challenges of keeping a foot in the West’s past while trying to navigate its new realities.

RadioWest divider.

Thursday, we’re talking about a family of ranchers and rodeo cowboys in central Utah. But the Wrights aren’t just any rural family. The sons and grandsons of patriarch Bill Wright are some of the best saddle bronc riders in the country, with the championship buckles to prove it. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist John Branch has written a book about the Wright family. It’s a narrative tale that explores the challenges of keeping a foot in the West’s past while trying to navigate its new realities.

John Branch is a reporter for the New York Times. His story "Snow Fall" about a deadly avalanche in Washington State won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for feature writing. His new book is called The Last Cowboys [Indie bookstores|Amazon|Audible].

Doug Fabrizio has been reporting for KUER News since 1987, and became News Director in 1993. In 2001, he became host and executive producer of KUER's RadioWest, a one hour conversation/call-in show on KUER 90.1 in Salt Lake City. He has gained a reputation for his thoughtful style. He has interviewed everyone from Isabel Allende to the Dalai Lama, and from Madeleine Albright to Desmond Tutu. His interview skills landed him a spot as a guest host of the national NPR program, "Talk of the Nation." He has won numerous awards for his reporting and for his work with RadioWest and KUED's Utah NOW from such organizations as the Society of Professional Journalists, the Utah Broadcasters Association, the Public Radio News Directors Association and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.