Rain Or Shine

Book excerpt: Cy Taillon was the molasses-voiced king of rodeo announcers. When he died in 1980, newspapers in the West canonized him as the dean of rodeo and compared him to John Wayne. A reformed rake, handsome and charming and flashy, he was also difficult, often more lovable to the public than to his family. In the thirties he married a spitfire dancer from Arkansas who changed her name from Nedra Ann to Patricia, and they hit the road in pursuit of stardom. Their daughter, Cyra, grew up on the rodeo circuit, traveling all over the West with her free-spirited, hell-raising parents, often eating hamburgers and sleeping in the Packard. She was the mascot, dressed in cowboy gear in spite of her father, who wanted her to look like Shirley Temple. Rain or Shine is the story of Cyra’s complex relationship with her parents and eccentric relatives. She looks back with pride, regret, and humor on family life spent and misspent in the gaudy, gritty world of rodeo.