Sometimes I really can’t believe I used to be an assistant sports editor/co-copy desk chief sitting right next to the bandanna-, bolo tie-, and cowboy hat-wearing Johnny D. Boggs (who had the same titles I did) at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
When he left the S-T, and the newspaper business, for good in 1998, the South Carolina native set off on an absolute sprint into the career he was meant and destined for, becoming a writer of Western novels. And Johnny has become the most decorated of them all, having just won his record 10th Spur Award for his most recent book, Bloody Newton, chosen Best Western Historical Novel. The author closest to him on the Spur list has won five. And Johnny’s been a Spur finalist a bunch more times.
The guy is downright incredible. Since joyfully walking out the S-T door at 400 W. 700th St. in downtown Fort Worth, Johnny has written in the neighborhood of 70 books with titles like Camp Ford, Doubtful Cañon, Hard Winter, Legacy of a Lawman, West Texas Kill, Return to Red River, Taos Lightning, and A Thousand Texas Longhorns. And those are just his Spur-winning titles.
If he’s not the most prolific author in the history of words, who in blazes could be? In 2020, JDB received the Owen Wister Award for lifetime contributions and was inducted into the Western Writers Hall of Fame. And he’s only 62, so he has a LOT more writing left to do.
Johnny writes both historical fiction and nonfiction, and he doesn’t write only about the American frontier and West. He also writes about baseball (he’s a KC Royals fan), film, and other topics. He’s been a freelancer who can cover any subject you hand him. Johnny and his family have been living in Santa Fe for a good spell, and he and his son Jack have done a lot of bonding while driving the country to watch their beloved baseball.
If you’re interested in reading some of Johnny’s work, here’s his website:
And here’s the link to a story about the 2025 Spur Awards:
Johnny, it’s an honor to know ya, sir. Keep up the uber-productive prose. I’m thrilled that you’ve been able to live your dream. 
A Life of Words 
You’re way to kind, Frank. But I will say that newspapers back then provided the best training in the world to be a novelist and/or a freelance magazine writer. Make every word count. Get your facts right. Deadlines are not figments of an editor’s imagination. There are at least two sides to every story. And pray that the copy editors will catch anything that’ll get you in trouble.
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I believe you’re right and am glad you were able to get that training under your belt. But I also believe you already had it in you and could’ve accomplished this without having to go through much of the aggravation (I can think of worse words) we endured back in the day. But hey, we had some fun too, and we put out a damn good sports section, right? I had a feeling you’d write a book or two or three, but never could I have imagined you’d achieve such greatness and be this proliferative. Way to go, my friend!
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To kind? See what I mean about a copy editor?!
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Lol. I saw no typo. You need to get your glasses fixed. 🙂
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