Dr. Charles “Bud” Townsend was born in November 1929 in Nocona, Texas. He began his rodeo announcing career at age 16. For the next 50 years he announced rodeos for Bobby Estes, Homer Todd, Cotton Rosser, Beutler Brothers, Everett Colborn, the Steiners, and Walt Alsbaugh. At Rodeo Cowboys Association (RCA) conventions he booked rodeos from Fort Worth, Texas, to Omak, Washington; Greeley, Colorado, to Belle Fourche, South Dakota; Ponca City, Oklahoma, to North Carolina; and into the Deep South.
Townsend received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin and became a history professor, spending his summers announcing rodeos. He spent 27 years at West Texas A&M in Canyon, Texas. “I owe a debt to rodeo I can never repay,” he said. “Rodeo taught me how to teach students so they enjoyed learning.” He was inducted into the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame, and received an American Cowboy Culture “Lifetime Achievement Award” and an “All-Around Cowboy” Award. He participated for years in the Cowboy Symposium at Lubbock, Texas.
Townsend received the 1975 Wrangler Book Award from the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum for his book San Antonio Rose: The Life and Music of Bob Wills. He also won a Grammy award for his album notes to Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys: For the Last Time.
