Some people really ought to write a book. I mean, people who have looked death in the face, maybe time and time again, and lived to tell the tale. Now that may seem a bit dramatic, but when it comes to horse — or ass — rearing and cowboying the risk is there. Jim Duke, who many a Carbondalian knows, is one of these people.
Duke finished putting his life story into words just a few years ago, and is riding back into town this weekend to talk about the book and sign some copies.
In “Dances with Donkeys: The Memoir of a Half-Assed Cowboy,” Duke takes the reader on a wild ride, from his time as an angsty teenager dropping out of high school to chase a life of cowboying in Texas to evading the police on a burro’s back after fibbing his way into Colorado State University sans a high school diploma.
There’s hardly ever a dull moment, and if there is, it’s mostly a time of reflecting on some crazy shit that just happened, how fragile life is and what a waste it is not to risk it every once in a while.
There is also a real sweetness to Duke, who, through the trails of the book, fills the reader in on each relationship he had with various equine companions. His respect for and innate desire to understand each of them comes through in a sincere, sometimes heart-wrenching, way.
The writing is honest, sans an effort to diminish the lessons from his past and paint a more proper figurative figure of himself. Duke bares it all, which makes for a much more interesting read.
You also learn a lot, such as the difference between a Jenny and a Jack, a female and male equus asinus (the scientific term for the species, also learned from the book), respectively. It actually gets quite complicated, especially considering the variations of offspring from an Equus asinus and a horse, resulting in the birth of a hinny if the father is a horse and the mother a Jenny, or a mule if the father is a Jack and the mother a horse. There’s a whole chapter about it — so take it from Duke!
Interestingly, mules and mollies (female mules) can’t produce offspring themselves, although there have been a few rare occasions over the course of human history, according to Duke.
Eventually, his story leads him to Aspen, about halfway through the book, and there are plenty of anecdotes Roaring Fork Valley locals will pick up on from there. From riding donkeys and mules in the Bareback Bonanza at the Carbondale Rodeo grounds to buggying in the adjacent Potato Day Parade, there is plenty to reminisce about.
And if you’re lucky enough to know Duke, you can hear him tell the whole damn story as you read along.
Duke will be at White River Books on Saturday, June 27 at 6:30pm to discuss the book, sign copies and make some half-assed jokes — many about asses — that are sure to make you crack. Tune in to Everything Under The Sun on KDNK at 4pm on Thursday, June 25, for a live interview.