Hal Borland wrote When the Legends Die

It is the birthday of outdoor writer Hal Borland (1900), who is best remembered for his novel When the Legends Die (1963), which became a young adult classic and was adapted for a 1972 film starring Richard Widmark and Frederic Forrest. The book tells the story of a Ute indian youth who leaves the reservation and enters the rodeo circuit and is befriended by a drunken old former rodeo star. It examines the clash between the traditional tribal ways and the 20th century. Borland was born in Nebraska and grew up in Colorado. His father was a rural newspaper editor. Borland graduated from Columbia University and later wrote for the Denver Post, Audubon Magazine, and The New York Times, where he produced a popular Sunday outdoor column for 37 years. Borland wrote numerous nature books and novels.