Rusty Richards, personal friend to Tibbs and author of Casey Tibbs - Born to Ride, wrote the only authorized biography of Casey. As publisher, I can vouch for the fact that most people who knew Casey, who rode with Casey, and who ran with him are dead! Casey died in 1990 at the age of 60. His contemporaries, if living, would be in the 85-age range. I'm sure a few are still around, but I found a number of them in the obituaries.
In a recent Denver Post article, Mr. Koehler says he interviewed lots of people to get his information for the film. I am amazed that so many are still living, but I do know from selling the book at many venues, that there are countless stories out there about Casey - stories that even Rusty never heard. At almost every event we do, someone comes up and tells us another new story about Casey - some are not so nice, either!
I'm quite happy about the movie being a documentary. I would hate to see Casey misrepresented in some Hollywood extravaganza, and I think it would be easy to "overdo" the man. I know, however, that Rusty had hoped the book would be picked up by a major movie producer, but no matter how good the book is (and we have sold thousands of copies) the fact is that Casey Tibbs - Born to Ride is a genre book, and a small genre at that.
We wish Justin Koehler a ton of success with this film. We're all very anxious to see it. It's a long-overdo, terrific project, and Casey deserves all the attention and praise the movie brings! But we hope Mr. Koehler gives Rusty Richards a bit of credit if he used Rusty's book as a reference for the film. I think Rusty would be very pleased with the recognition. I know we would be!
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