In this dark memoir of Tom Liggett's early life, he examines how Western masculinity has perpetuated violence, instability, and the cycle of abuse in numerous families.
The first cowboy in Liggett's life was his father, who met his mother while she was living in a makeshift bordello.
Liggett goes back to look at the tragedies of his parents' lives before they had that eventful first encounter.
His father, MT, was born into a brilliant and successful family but squandered his intelligence on a hedonistic lifestyle. Liggett's mother, Lita Snow, could trace her lineage back to the Trail of Tears. In harsh conditions and under the control of a sadistic stepfather, Lita still flourished. She even became a head majorette and basketball star. Then she met MT, and Liggett was born soon after.
MT wasn't the only cowboy in Lita's life. There was also Frank McMillan, a rough soldier who wanted Lita but didn't want her son.
Liggett details the long shadows the two cowboys cast over his childhood and the abuse and neglect that followed. At the same time, Liggett recalls his growing love of horticulture and the ways he has stopped the cycle of violence from continuing to control his life.
About the Author: Tom Liggett was born in a brothel and has been homeless. He didn't let life's challenges stop him from reaching his dreams. He has worked as a printer's devil, chef, brothel cook, engineer, electrician, medical laboratory technician, tree cutter, lawn mower, boiler maker, and Apple computer employee number 114.
Liggett graduated from the Aerospace School of Medicine and completed research projects for the surgeon general of the air force. He was briefly in the last class of the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps at Stanford University.
Liggett has been internationally recognized as a horticulturalist. He founded the second-largest public rose garden in the world and served as chief rosarian for another large garden.
Liggett has been publishing his work since 1965. He is also an avid musician. He has played in two bagpipe bands and a symphony orchestra. He is an award-winning amateur actor and orator. Liggett currently lives in San Jose, California.
