(Author’s Collection)
William L. “Bill” McGee (1925-2019) wrote about the history of which he was a part…whether it was growing up in Montana during the hardscrabble years of the Depression, or joining the Navy in 1942 at age seventeen to get into the fight, or cowboying on an exclusive divorce ranch in Nevada in the postwar ’40s, or working in broadcasting in the early days of 1950s and ’60s television. During his seven-decade career, he wrote 22 nonfiction books, nine of them with his second wife Sandra V. McGee.
“I’m not a celebrity,” Bill liked to say, “but I wanted to write about my life and varied careers in hopes of inspiring anyone who, like me, didn’t finish high school or pursue a formal education with how they could still succeed in the career of their choice.”
Bill was known for his straight talk and that is how he wrote. His writing style was described as “spare, precise, and as economical as a Mickey Spillane novel.” (Marine Corps League Magazine).
Bill’s favorite saying: “There’s only one way to write…ass in seat.” (Sandra liked to soften that to “derriere in chair”.)
Wrangler/writer Bill McGee, age 94, rode peacefully to his last roundup on October 30, 2019. He was listening to Hank Williams.
Bill lived through the history he wrote about…
THE MONTANA YEARS (1925-1941)
THE BLUEJACKET YEARS (1942-1946)
THE BIKINI ATOMIC BOMB TESTS (1946)
THE COWBOYIN’ YEARS (1947-1949)
THE AUTOMOBILE, RESTAURANT, & WORLD TRADE YEARS (1950-1958)
THE BROADCASTING YEARS (1958-1989)
