LPD Press & Rio Grande Books

National Federation of Press Women, 2013
First Place Award, Non-fiction Humor, “Home Country,” by Slim Randles

New Mexico Press Women, 2013
First Place Award, Non-fiction Humor, “Home Country,” by Slim Randles

International Book Awards, 2013
Finalist, Humor, "Home Country: by Slim Randles

Home Country is not a place, but a state of mind. In this place Slim Randles is the recorder of everything – good and bad. Slim is a down home kinda guy with a sense of humor that often makes fun of himself. Slim would no sooner land a really big fish, or track a bear than tell a really great tale of his friends in the outdoors. Over 2 million people in 42 states read his Home Country weekly column in big and small newspapers.

Slim is an award-winning author and journalist who has seen it all and then some more. These are tales of real people with stories that will make you cry, laugh, and say, “I never thought of that!” Home Country is your home no matter where it is. Kick back and read the best stories of five years of Slim’s Home Country columns. Take a minute to sip a lemonade, sit in the old rocker with your dog by your side, relax, and watch the sunset – you are home.

Slim Randles brings a lot to the table when he talks about America’s heartland. A veteran outdoorsman and journalist, Slim shares the drama, dreams, and laughter we all feel in our everyday lives. All along the way, Slim uses his highly evolved sense of humor and seems to find a way to poke fun at his own daily life. This book is a collection of the best of Slim’s wit and wisdom. Over 2 million readers of hometown newspapers in 42 states follow Slim on a weekly basis.
Just where is Home Country?

Home Country is not just a place, but a state of mind. It is a place where few doors are locked and laughter can be heard at all hours.
Home Country is the friendly philosophy counter down at the Mule Barn truck stop, where Doc and Bert and Dud and the rest of the world-dilemma-think-tank gather each morning over coffee to solve the world’s problems and plan mischief.

Home Country is that swimming hole on Lewis Creek, where the children drop from the tire swing into the pool, making wet diamonds flash in the sun. And it is the old movie theater that has reverted to showing silent movies just to try to stay afloat in this age of DVD players.

Home Country is where young guys get moon-eyed over young girls who can’t see them for sour grapes, but they all manage to live through it, and it is the place where Dewey the Accident Prone tries many different ways of earning a living to see if he can find one that doesn’t cause too much harm.

Home Country is where Sarah runs the Read Me Now bookstore and has one special category called “Love and Other Fiction.” It’s the place where stories travel faster than electricity and laughter outruns the stories. It’s a place where a potluck supper is a major and much-anticipated social event and where a stolen garden hose is reported in the local newspaper.

So just where is Home Country? It is here, in our hearts. It’s a warm summer evening, a place by the fire in winter, a place of hope and love and sometimes tears, too. It’s a place where we can be ourselves and kick off the shoes of care any time we want to — It’s home.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Slim Randles learned mule packing from Gene Burkhart and Slim Nivens. He learned mustanging and wild burro catching from Hap Pierce. He learned horse shoeing from Rocky Earick. He learned horse training from Dick Johnson and Joe Cabral. He learned humility from the mules of the eastern High Sierra. For the last 40 years or so, he’s written a lot of stuff, too, especially in his Home Country column, which is syndicated all across this country. He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and in a small cabin in the middle of nowhere at the foot of the Manzano Mountains.