European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 23, 1981, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 20 the stars and stripes february 1981 my modern living for a Dallas Cowboy h by Peter Applebome new York times e leans on his Cane in front of a downtown Fried Chick in restaurant in Dallas like a caricature of the Marlboro Man fallen on hard lie wears dark a red Felt Cowboy Denim Blue jeans with a Belt buckle inscribed and spit polished leather he carries a red plastic cup and a sign that no in please thank George Tex Cook was one Urban Cowboy who came Home its different in and found out that Texas myths often have nothing to do with Texas i feel pretty Low if you want to know the said a 49yearold for Mer Rodeo Gas pipeline worker and ranch i didst expect to come Here and become a a High class but i dont blame he Texas is a Beautiful state with some Beautiful its just some of them forget the Way it Cooks fascination with Texas goes beyond his the tiny apartment that he shares with his is filled with Texas horse figurines and a picture of John Wayne and is dominated by a constant twang from a country radio he owns 13 pairs of Cowboy accumulated Over the and almost As Many Cowboy who looks at least a decade older than his thought his troubles were Over when he returned to Texas in 1979 after eight years in he was born outside Rochester but moved to Texas and spent his youth with relatives in Houston and fort he Rode in did Odd worked on Gas pipelines and other jobs he a Rodeo Accident in 1960 inflicted on him the first of what would become a number of medical Cook says he has undergone spinal fusion operations and subsequent cancer treatments that have left him unable to walk without a stand up straighten his left leg or sit he was forced to sell his ranch in and in 1971 he left for where his daughter was getting he lived in a Public housing project an incongruous figure in Cowboy until april when an Anonymous donor granted his wish to return to Texas by arranging a special flight to dal me received considerable attention by the news Media when he got off the plane in a Buckskin Cowboy hat and boots and made it Clear that coming Home to Texas was the great the its like a script for a est thing that Ever happened to that script was supposed to end with a i just cant believe it vet Cook said at return to a state of extraordinarily Friendly 1 just can t believe it ook Saia Ai open leg Rural Virtues of things like that tend to get lost in a City like and experiences that outsiders associate with such As country music and Are available Only for a so his return has been nothing like what he had in Cook was resettled to a Public housing project in a West Dallas he lost his disability payments when he began doing occasional jobs at the was harassed and ridiculed by other Resi dents for his Cowboy ways and finally left As a result of another news Story about his hard he was offered a rent free studio apartment in another part of unemployed and fighting to re gain his disability he began begging for change in downtown an area where Cowboy garb is sold to tourists but almost never worn by the police moved him from Corners near the most expensive but he has been Able to stand still Long enough to collect some people from Indiana walked by and a Little boy is that Guy a Freak people can Hurt More than the pain youre he they think its some kind of in no in just trying to keep my head i dont ask anyone for a Nickel or a i dont open my i let my sign do the you have to have a Little he says he would rather Praise the past than criticize the but he admits to being puzzled that just when All things stereotypical of Texas seem unavoidable in the he cant find them where he in his new neighbourhood he cant even keep the american Flag from being ripped from his since this big thing Dallas on they have big country discos in new York he gulping Down the iced water he drinks almost constantly because of his medical but it takes More than a pair of boots to make you a who that actor John Travolta to that just a Bunch of he taking another this country was built on horse shows and rodeos and and i want to be part of that Good part of i dont want to be part of this Here and and Nasty talk and dirty when i left there was no trash on the Street or dirty words on it just seems if i never left Texas it  maybe it sounds but George Tex Cook appealing for help on Street Corner in that the Way i v new York times Jay Godwin every few months or with agonizing some scholar will come out and deplore the education he will Point to the Appal Ling fact that a fifth grader somewhere was asked who William Shakespeare was and the kid in not but my dad loves his or critics will quote Low Reading scores and attack the curriculum As being the one that caught my Eye the other Day was an announcement that 25 percent of american students have massive problems in trying to they simply cannot communicate by written i have found just the maybe the grammar is less than the punctuation Lack and the spelling a Monument to but kids have a tendency to Cut through the rhetoric and get right to they say exactly what they example dear Bombeck i hav to do a paper on some one no one knows anything i picked you because i didst know if Fidel Castro could get Back his stuff to me by next i really need in not fell me anything because i wont Check it when you think about childrens Early literary efforts Are limited by How much prose can you get into a note that is passed in class three feet away from the teachers desk How Many adjectives can you pre ceding a name and phone number on the restroom Wall How intimate can you get on a Public refrigerator door sometimes i think adults could learn something from childrens instead dear sir i am in receipt of your letter of the 24th and it is with regret that i must inform you that it is not in our common interest to continue future relations with one another due to a Complete disregard for personal feelings and a Lack of sensitivity in our relationship a child would simply you stink i stopped bugging my kids about formal than you notes when i read one that my son had written to his it dear grandmother for a sweat its i have Faith this generation will be under stood in spite of i offer this letter from a camper dear How Are you i am i told you this was a i will Tell you the whole Story when i get i have nothing else to say Beckace i cant i have to know the books of the Bible by tomorrow Ore i cant go the Consler is very Well see you i love Tell daddy i love him and miss love any questions c Field enterprises