Bio
Dr. Baxter Black, large animal veterinarian, cowboy poet, and philosopher, grew up in Las Cruces, New Mexico immersed in agriculture and the ranching way of life. His decision to become a veterinarian occurred when he realized that no matter what came about, he could always ‘fix your cow.’
After graduating from vet school at Colorado State University in 1969, he ended up in Idaho working as the company vet for J.R. Simplot Company. During this time, driving around and talking to old cowboys, his storytelling style started to take root. Dr. Black began writing poetry based on the cowboys’ tales. With no TVs and few radios, he would take his guitar and recite the stories back to the cowboys. They loved it.
In 1980, while working as a troubleshooting vet for a pharmaceutical company in Denver, Dr. Black’s reputation as an entertainer began to spread. Soon, the constant requests for his brand of poignant, insightful and hilarious storytelling allowed him, after 20 years as a working vet, to transition from part-time cowboy poet to full-time cowboy entertainer. His audience grew to expect physical performances and onstage antics which always guaranteed a laugh. Dr. Black spoke throughout the U.S., Canada and Australia.
His weekly column, “On the Edge of Common Sense,” was carried by over 130 newspapers and his radio program aired on 150 stations through the years. The author of 30 books, he sold over 2 million copies of his books, CDs and DVDs. He was a guest on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” multiple times and was a regular commentator on NPR’s “Morning Edition” for 20 years. Over his 40-year career, Dr. Black wrote about what he knew – cowboys, cowgirls, rodeo, cattle, horses and ranch life. He wrote with a flair that still captures the imagination of everyone who reads his stories today, regardless of whether they work on a ranch or live in an urban setting. More importantly to Dr. Black was that no one was a stranger, whether they sat next to him on the airplane for thirty minutes or had known him for decades. Every person he met was a friend.
