Stephen Mackay
In Motion Staff Writer
A self-described farm boy, cowboy and engineer, William “Cowboy Bill” Cummins lived up to his billing as “Truly a Legend” during a Feb. 17 appearance on the Daytona Beach campus of the College.
Reviving his act of 50 years ago to entertain students and staff, he told his audience “You have to jump through a lot of hoops to be a writer.” The 93-year-old and his lasso made an exciting return to the stage with not only fancy rope tricks, but also trade secrets of the publishing industry. In the process, he reminisced about the remarkable achievements he has made throughout the last century to dozens of onlookers.
Cummins has several successful books in circulation — including “The King and the Cowboy” and the provocatively titled “Life is Sexually Transmitted” — and is the owner of his own local publishing company, CAI Publishing. The topics of his books range from his time as a stage performer to a historically accurate fiction novel following an American soldier in the Korean War.
Apart from his impressive literary prowess, Cummins remains a capable showman, at one point lassoing his wife and stage assistant, Anne. Cummins, donning full cowboy attire, explained a few of his lassoing maneuvers, like the Side Spin, to the captivated crowd of students.
Despite being in his 90s, Cummins still has the heart, soul and moves of a real-life cowboy. He shared some of his many achievements with the audience, among them having ridden a horse 300 miles from his home in Ohio to the nearest Greyhound station in Chicago, Ill. In the fall of 1941.
The monumental journey took Cummins eight days and when he arrived in town everyone had their heads turned to look at him as he walked through the streets of 1940s Chicago wearing a cowboy hat and carrying a saddle and a rope over his shoulder.
“It was the first time I felt like I was something really special,” he said about the reaction he received from passerbys.
Cummins’ main focus was in sharing his valuable perspective as an insider of the publishing business with students who hope to someday author books. Most importantly, he confessed to his captive audience, that “people don’t buy books because they are books; they buy them because of who writes them. The author is absolutely important.”
He explained that the writer’s job is not simply to write the story, but the responsibility to sell the books also falls on the author.
The students who attended left entertained and well-informed about the publishing industry.
“It was very insightful to see someone who has so much experience keep it simple,” said James Crage.
After having had lassoed his wife, reminiscing about his exciting life achievements and dispersing invaluable information on being an author, Cummins ended his performance saying simply that “I hope I’ve inspired you to never give up on life.”