By Matt Smith/msmith@trcle.com
Bill Neeley, a former Johnson County resident who taught Spanish at Rio Vista High School, recently published his second book, “Rodeo Clown.”
The book centers on Choc Ridgeway, a young half-blood Choctaw escaping a failed marriage by traveling the rodeo circuit as a rodeo clown in the mid 1970s.
Bill Romer, a retired bullfighter, writes in the forward that the characters exude the public image of cowboys 20 to 30 years ago, when they ran on the wild side of life.
Capturing that bygone age of the rodeo lifestyle before it became too slick and commercialized was his goal in writing the book, Neeley said.
Neeley’s first book, “The Last Comanche Chief: The Life and Times of Quanah Parker,” has sold more than 24,000 copies to date.
Neeley said he wrote most of “Rodeo Clown” years ago.
He decided to finish and publish the book based on positive feedback he received from students who read the manuscript at RVHS and Andrews High School in Andrews, where he used to teach English.
Living in Lawton, Okla., Neeley said he is working on a screenplay for “Rodeo Clown,” a project he hopes to film, in part at least, in Cleburne and the Johnson County area.
Neeley said he hopes to film the Quanah Parker book, some of which he hopes to film in the area.
“Rodeo Clown” is available at www.amazon.com and can be ordered through local bookstores, Neeley said.
For information on the book and the planned movie, visit www.rodeoclowninc.com or e-mail Neeley at billn@lcisp.com.
