Larry Ray Rather is a longtime Roaring Fork Valley resident. His family moved here in the fall of 1960, and his father worked for the company that helped rebuild the Castle Creek Bridge. He is a rancher, a father and now a writer.
His debut novel, “As Long as Rivers Run,” hit the shelves in August of 2025.
It is a majestic, sweeping tale set in the Colorado Territory in the year 1868. It follows Tom Dunagan and his daughter, Brooke, deep into the territory, where they run into the Ute tribe, form a sense of friendship and live alongside them for a while.
It is a story of adventure, love, life, birth, death, beauty, nature, celebration, survival and heartbreak, painting a genuine picture of what life was like back then. I visualized a side of Colorado that I didn’t know was there, and recognized other places, like Maroon Bells, Hanging Lake, Sopris and the Glenwood Hot Springs.
Rather mentioned that he plans to create a map for the next edition to better show the area covered in the book.
“Ultimately, it’s a romantic story about water and how its life-giving qualities weave relationships between individuals and their love of the land,” Rather said.
It’s easy to tell that the author has a deep connection with the land himself. The book is not your typical western, and Rather covers the spectrum of human emotion and experience.
His depiction of the Ute characters is respectful, and he said that he strived to be true to their story and ways of life. It was fascinating to learn the different names the Utes have for places, as well as about their culture; to see the land through someone else’s eyes.
“I want my novel to be both educational and provocative. Educational in the sense that it gives the reader [an] understanding of the environment, from the geology to the hydrology, and a peek into the culture and history of the Ute Indians and their interaction with white settlers.”
When Larry was going back over his notes for the book, he found that his earliest musings were from December 1991. As with anything, it takes time to create something and there are always ups and downs. He wrote the first chapter in one sitting, then a few years later he lost all of his work. That set him back, but he eventually picked it back up again.
He has written by hand, with a typewriter and on a computer, and his favorite setting for work is a cafe. He draws from his own imagination, of course, as well as dreams, real life experiences and research, including works by other western authors and artists, such as James A. Michener, Larry McMurtry and Terry C. Johnston.
When Rather first started the book he said it was going to be much bigger. There is a lot more to tell, so he realized he could continue the story with another novel, so stay tuned.