 "Photo: Amy Adams")
A well-known West Texas saddle maker, H. H. Schweitzer, is studied in the new book. Schweitzer made saddles in Matador for 32 years before his death in 1956.
McGinnis introduces the reader to the character of Schweitzer and his saddle making through firsthand accounts, letters and pictures of Schweitzer, his shop and his saddles.
“He was always suspicious of saddles made elsewhere,” McGinnis said, because Schweitzer was unsure of the quality and care of the craft of other saddles.
McGinnis goes to lengths to show not just the superiority Schweitzer had in saddle making, but his day-to-day business dealings.
The sales register of Schweitzer’s business shows that he sold more than 2,000 saddles, horse riggings and other works of leather.
McGinnis is a recipient of the Southwest Regional Conference English Award for Excellence in Teaching English in the Two-Year College.
He also received the John F. Mead Faculty Excellence Award from Amarillo College in 2001 and is a Member of the Texas Institute of Letters.
McGinnis has been at AC for 37 years and is an award-winning poet as well as the author of four novels: The Fence, Sweet Cane, Reflections in Dark Glass and Dog Dreams.
He is an avid collector of cowboy gear, including more than 60 saddles (12 of those saddles are Schweitzer originals). He also collects antique typewriters and cash registers and hunts Indian artifacts.
A copy of Schweitzer is available at the circulation desk on the fourth floor of the Lynn Library through the summer along with two saddles, other Schweitzer memorabilia and a display explaining “everything you were afraid to ask about saddles.”
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