Readers of The Purple Sage
Max Evans
[1925-2020]
| Western Authors Pages | 
| short profile |
“Among those raised to the saddle, the word cowboy is always one of “Max Evans is one of these guys you can take anywhere . . . and still be ashamed of him.” Western author Max Evans was first a cowboy and then an author of fiction & non-fiction.
such honor that it is used with great care.” — Max Evans
— Charles Champlin, editor emeritus at Los Angeles Times
Western author Max Allen Evans was born 29 August 1925 in Ropes, Texas.
he published over 25 books and won multiple Spur, Wrangler, and Owen Wister awards.
m o r e
P R O F I L E
h e r e
combat soldier during WWII in France, Belgium, Germany, wounded twice
married Pat James 8/1949 in Raton, NM, twin daughters born in 1954
wrote for Hollywod, moved family to Studio City, CA 1964-65 and became friends with Sam Peckinpah, Warren Oates, Robert Culp, Brian Keith, Lee Marvin; no longer fit in in Taos, moved to present house in Albuquerque South Valley 1/1968
Albuquerque resident since 1967; Max Evans died at age 95 in hospice care at the V.A. Hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico on 26 August 2020.
Max Evans entry at Wikipedia
browse Max Evans Store at Amazon
incomplete Max Evans credits [1965-98] at Internet Movie Database
Major Works
browse Max Evans Store at Amazon
Max Evans at Fantastic Fiction U.K.
"Southwest Wind" [1958]
"Long John Dunn of Taos: From Texas Outlaw To New Mexico Hero" [1959]
"The Rounders" Trilogy
The story of feckless Dusty Jones and Wrangler Lewis, begun in Max Evans's first novel "The Rounders" [1960],
and continued in "The Great Wedding" [1983] and "The Orange County Cowboys" [1987 novella].
 | "The Rounders" [1960 novel] Two stove-up cowboys set out to break a wild roan named Old Fooler – part horse, part devil – if he doesn't break them first! Listed in Top Ten of 100 Best Books In New Mexico [Jan 2011] Univ NM Press 50th Anniv Edition 9x6 pb [6/2010] for $13.22 Univ NM Press 8x5¼ pb [10/83] out of print/used Gregg Press hardcover [7/80] out of print/used Macmillan hardcover [1960] out of print/rare |
 | "The Rounders" feature film [M.G.M. March 1965]
Two aging bronco busters out of Sedona spent the winter corraling steers; usually they blow their winter pay in one night, but this year they have a plan: to take an ornery, unbreakable roan to the Sedona Rodeo and bet their bankroll that no cowboy can ride him. • Adapted & directed by Burt Kennedy; starring Glenn Ford, Henry Fonda, Sue Ane Langdon, Hope Holiday, Chill Wills, Edgar Buchanan, Kathleen Freeman, Joan Freeman, Denver Pyle, Barton MacLane, Doodles Weaver, Allegra Varron, Peter Fonda, Warren Oates & Casey Tibbs Warner Bros. Archive Collxn widescreen color DVD [1/2010] for $24.49 M.G.M./Warner color VHS [5/94] out of prodn/used full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia |
 | "The Rounders" TV series [MGM-TV / ABC-TV 1966-67] half-hour 17-episode color TV series Starring Ron Hayes, Patrick Wayne, Chill Wills, G.D. Spradlin & Strother Martin VHS/DVD/Blu-ray not available • full credits at IMDb • series entry at Wikipedia |
Univ NM Press pb [10/83] out of print/used
"The Orange County Cowboys" [1987 novella]
 | "Rounders 3: The Acclaimed Trilogy of Classic Cowboy Novels" [1990] includes "The Rounders" [1960 novel], "The Great Wedding" [1983 novel], and the Spur Award-winning "The Orange County Cowboys" [1987 novella]; with b&w pencil drawings by cowboy artist Grem Lee Random House/Domain mass pb [11/90] out of print/used Univ Press CO 9x6 hardcover [12/97] for $18.96 Doubleday 8¼x5¼ hardcover [3/90] out of print/used |
"The Mountain of Gold" [1965]
"Shadow of Thunder" [1969]
"My Pardner" [1972]
"Bobby Jack Smith, You Dirty Coward!" [1974]
"One-Eyed Sky" [1974]
"The White Shadow" [1977]
"The Hi-Lo Country" [1980 novella]
 | About ranchers and changing times near the New Mexico border after WWII; also a complicated love story: two cowboy pals are both in love with another man's wife. Kindle Edition from Wolfpack Publng [11/2015] for $2.99 Western Edge 8¼x5½ pb [6/2014] for $12.66 Boulevard movie tie-in mass pb [12/98] out of print/used G.K. Hall hardcover [7/80] out of print/used |
 | feature film [Polygram Dec 1998] Directed by Stephen Frears; script by Walon Green, from the novella by Max Evans; starring Woody Harrelson, Billy Crudup, Sam Elliott, Patricia Arquette & Penélope Cruz; won Western Heritage Bronze Wrangler 1999; filming locations included Pritchett, Colorado and Bernal, Cerrillos, Galisteo, Española, Las Vegas, San Jose & Santa Fe in New Mexico USA Films widescreen color DVD [5/2001] out of prodn/used USA Films color VHS [11/99] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia |
"Xavier's Folly and Other Stories" [1984]
"Super Bull and Other True Escapades" [1985]
"Bluefeather Fellini" [1993] 978-0-8263-4260-7
listed among the 100 Best Books In New Mexico [Jan 2011]
"Spinning Sun, Grinning Moon" [1995]
"Broken Bones and Broken Hearts" [1996]
"Hi-Lo To Hollywood: A Max Evans Reader"
[33 stories, essays & novellas 1998]
"Faraway Blue" historical novel [1999] $9.95 ( paperback ) 978-0-8263-3585-2
"Madam Millie: Bordellos From Silver City To Ketchikan" [2002]
$19.95 pb 978-0-8263-2783-3
"Now and Forever: A Novel of Love & Betrayal Reincarnate"
[2003] 978-0-8263-3318-6
"Max Evans' Hi Lo Country: Under The One-Eyed Sky" [2004]
 | Text by Max Evans, photographs by Jan Haley
Univ NM Press 10¾x8¼ pb [12/2004] for $24.95 |
"For The Love of A Horse" [2007] $24.95 ( hardcover ) 978-0-8263-4274-4
"War and Music" [2010]
Other Works
 | "Sam Peckinpah, Master of Violence: Being The Account of The Making of A Movie and Other Sundry Things" [1972] by Max Evans
Dakota Press 8½x5 hardcover [1972] out of print/used see also 'Readers of The Purple Sage' Bookstore's Sam Peckinpah [1925-84] Page |
 | "Albuquerque: Spirit of The New West" [2000] |
 | "Hot Biscuits: Eighteen Stories By Women and Men of The Ranching West" [2002] Co-edited by Max Evans & Candy Moulton contributing authors are: Helen C. Avery, Sally C. Bates, Virginia Bennett, Jimbo Brewer, J.P.S. Brown, Sinclair Browning, Curt Brummett, editor Evans, Taylor Fogerty, Willard Holopeter, Dick Hyson, Grem Lee, Elaine Long, editor Moulton, Paula Paul, Gwen Peterson, Slim Randles, and Lori Van Pelt Univ New Mexico Press 8¼x5¾ hardcover [7/2002] out of print/used |
 | "Goin' Crazy With Sam Peckinpah and All Our Friends" [2014] by Max Evans, as told to Robert Nott . . . and those friends include James Coburn, Brian Keith, Lee Marvin, Joel McCrea, and Warren Oates Kindle Edition from Univ New Mexico Press [8/2014] for $9.99 Univ New Mexico Press 9¼x6 hardcover [10/2014] for $23.79 Univ New Mexico Press 9¼x6 hardcover [10/2014] out of print/used Univ New Mexico Press 9¼x6 hardcover [10/2014] out of print/used |
Movies & Other Media
incomplete Max Evans credits [1965-98] at Internet Movie Database
http://www.bobbybridger.com/ did score for "The Wheel" movie
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0189204/
!['Report From Santa Fe' NM PBS TV show [est.1973]](covers/ReportFromSantaFeTV.jpg "'Report From Santa Fe' NM PBS TV show [est.1973]") | "Report From Santa Fe" [est. 1973] weekly half-hour interview show produced by KENW-TV and Mills Communications hosted by Lorene Mills (since 2003) official website • official PBS homepage |
"Max Evans, author The Rounders, Hi Lo Country" [aired April 2013]
watch full episode [] online
"Max Evans, author Animal Stories, The Rounders, Hi Lo Country" [aired Nov 2013]
watch full episode [] online
"Max Evans, author Animal Stories, The Hi-Lo Country, Madam Millie" [aired Dec 2013]
watch full episode [] online
"Max Evans, author The Hi Lo Country, Madam Millie, The Rounders" [aired Aug 2014]
watch full episode [] online • watch episode [27:57] on PBS website
"Max Evans, author Goin' Crazy With Sam Peckinpah [aired Nov 2014]
watch full episode [] online • watch episode [28:56] on PBS website
"Max Evans Goin' Crazy With Sam Peckinpah, Part Two" [aired Nov 2014]
watch full episode [] online • watch episode [28:40] on PBS website
Max Evans interview on the PBS "¡COLORES!" TV series [aired Jan 2014] thru 08:30
Works About Max Evans
 | "Ol' Max Evans: The First Thousand Years" [2004] by Slim Randles Univ New Mexico Press 9½x6¼ hardcover [9/2004] for $19.95 Univ New Mexico Press 9½x6¼ hardcover [9/2004] out of print/used |
 | "Max Evans & A Few Friends: The 90th Birthday Book" [2014] Edited by Ollie Reed Jr., Slim Randles & Ruth E. Francis Proceeds from the book go to Animal Humane New Mexico in Max's name; writers here include Barbe Awalt, Sue C. Bason, Jim Belshaw, Johnny D. Boggs, Bridget (Randles) Brister, Don Bullis, Sherri Burr, Charlotte Evans, {wife} Pat Evans, Sheryl Evans, editor Francis, Jan Haley, Jim Harris, Tim Keller (2), Jill D. Lane, Grem Lee, Daryle Ann Lindley, Craig Massey, Robert Nott, Anthony Olmi, editor Randles, editor Reed, Jeb Rosebrook (2), Harley Shaw, Luther Wilson & Jeff Witte Kindle Edition from Rio Grande Books [6/2014] for $5.99 Rio Grande Books 8x5 pb [6/2014] for $17.59 |
"Ol' Max Evans: The First Thousand Years" [Mills Commns Oct 2017]
 | 79-minute docufilm by Lorene Mills, David Leach & Paul Barnes; narrated by Peter Coyote; world premiere showings in Santa Fe and Albuquerque, New Mexico in October, airing on NM PBS/KENW-TV in November, maybe national PBS in future DVD/Blu-ray not yet available • not listed on IMDb |
Family & Friends
Max Allen Evans was born in Ropesville, Hockley County, Texas in 1925; he lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico from 1968 until his death in 2020.
wife Patsy Jo 'Pat' James Evans [b. 1929] - married 1949, widowed 2020
lived for 30 years in Taos, moved to Albuquerque South Valley in 1968
http://www.abqjournal.com/2559918/a-lot-of-problems-a-lot-of-happies.html
twin daughter Charlotte Evans [b. 10/1954]
twin daughter Sheryl Evans [b. 10/1954]
longtime pal Sam Peckinpah [1925-84]
longtime pal Slim Randles
L i n k s
Max Evans entry at Wikipedia
browse the Max Evans Store at Amazon
incomplete Max Evans credits [1965-98] at Internet Movie Database
Max Evans Welsh Style Ale from Evan Evans Brewery [est. 2004] in Wales, U.K.
here on the Max Evans Page at 'Readers of the Purple Sage' Western Bookstore
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