Tom Mix Died for Your Sins

Book excerpt: TOM MIX DIED FOR YOUR SINS - A NOVEL BASED ON HIS LIFE Here is a brilliantly colorful evocation of the life and times of Tom Mix, as based on fact but told in fiction. The rodeo and ranching days, the movie stunts and the movie glamour, the private and public circuses, Mix's wives and girls, are all covered in a tale as authentic as it is engrossing. Kid Bandera tells the story—tells it with wit, cynicism, and affection. When he met Tom in 1904, Tom was 24 and knew nothing about being a cowboy. But he knew how to ride, he knew how to fight, how to tell stories, and how to ingratiate himself with every girl who came along. The Kid and Tom were lawmen to­gether in Kansas, worked a combination ranch and wild west show in Oklahoma. And Tom Mix learned his craft—as he learned every craft he tried—and there were no stunts too hard for him. When Tom Mix went to Hollywood, he brought his incredible stunts to the silent films and brought incredible wealth—and world fame—to himself. Before his career ended, there were command performances in Europe. For neither be­fore nor since was there a movie cowboy his equal. Tom Mix Died for Your Sins is the story of a larger than life cowboy in a larger than life era.