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Last month, the Center of the American West was proud to present a special Stegner Award & Humor Initiative event honoring Sheriff Dave Ward.

Sheriff Ward did everything imaginable to hold his community together during the 2016 Bundy-led armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County, Oregon. He is also one of the West’s great storytellers (registering, in our opinion, pretty darned close to the achievements of Mark Twain), so this event was also a part of the Center’s Humor Initiative.

The Center of the American West presents the Wallace Stegner Award to an individual who has faithfully and evocatively depicted the spirit of the American West. The Center’s Humor Initiative honors those individuals whose skills and temperaments support the Center’s central conviction: A dose of good humor is essential to constructive public discussion, and not coincidentally, to public health.

“Over the last thirty-five years, living in Boulder and traveling around the West, I have gotten to know hundreds of people who have dazzled me with their strength of character and their unwavering commitment to the well-being of the West and of the nation. I rank Sheriff Ward at the top of that long list of Westerners I admire. His wisdom, integrity, and capacity to bring out the best in his fellow human beings add up to one of this region’s most valuable resources.”

-Patty Limerick, Faculty Director & Chair of the Board, Center of the American West