Books – Lynn Downey, Author https://lynndowney.com Sun, 28 Jun 2026 14:50:15 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1 Levi Strauss: The Man Who Gave Blue Jeans to the World https://lynndowney.com/books/nonfiction/levi-strauss/ Tue, 16 Jan 2024 21:22:14 +0000 http://staging.lynndowney.com/?p=228

Levi Strauss: The Man Who Gave Blue Jeans to the World

Winner of the silver INDIE for Biography from Foreword Reviews

Despite creating an American icon, Levi Strauss himself has been a mystery. As company Historian for Levi Strauss & Co. for 25 years, I was able to do the research to uncover the life of this fascinating man.

“Levi Strauss is a beautifully penned depiction of a man who, in his amazing journey across cultures and continents, is truly the quintessential American.” – Paul Trynka, author of Denim: From Cowboys to Catwalks.

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]]> Arequipa Sanatorium: Life in California’s Lung Resort for Women https://lynndowney.com/books/nonfiction/arequipa-sanatorium/ Wed, 17 Jan 2024 14:00:00 +0000 http://staging.lynndowney.com/?p=216

Arequipa Sanatorium: Life in California’s Lung Resort for Women

As San Francisco recovered from the earthquake and fire of 1906, dust and ask filled the city’s stuffy factories, stores, and classrooms. Dr. Philip King Brown noticed rising tuberculosis rates among the women who worked there, and he knew there were few places where they could get affordable treatment. In 1911, with the help of wealthy society women like Phoebe Apperson Hearst, and his accomplished wife Helen, Brown opened the Arequipa Sanatorium in Marin County. Together, Brown and his all-female staff gave new life to hundreds of working-class women suffering from tuberculosis in early 20th century California.

“Downey wished to breathe life into the stories of the many people whose lives intersected at Arequipa. She achieved her goal.” – Journal of Arizona History

Winner of The WILLA Literary Award for Scholarly Nonfiction from Women Writing the West.

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]]> American Dude Ranch: A Touch of the Cowboy and the Thrill of the West https://lynndowney.com/books/nonfiction/american-dude-ranch/ Wed, 17 Jan 2024 14:24:00 +0000 http://staging.lynndowney.com/?p=205

American Dude Ranch: A Touch of the Cowboy and the Thrill of the West

The dude ranch is America’s original Western vacation, and in this book, I trace the history and cultural importance of this buckaroo getaway: food, clothing, movies, literature, and the role of women in ranching.

“A well-researched study that successfully captures the allure, and the myths, of the West.” – Kirkus Reviews

“Without a doubt, if you love the popular history of the Wild West you will want to read American Dude Ranch.” – True West Magazine

Finalist for the Next Generation INDIE Book Award in Nonfiction

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]]> 100 Years Of Dude Ranching https://lynndowney.com/books/nonfiction/100-years-of-dude-ranching/ Sun, 21 Jun 2026 20:35:12 +0000 https://lynndowney.com/?p=576

100 Years Of Dude Ranching

In celebration of the centennial of the Dude Ranchers’ Association in 2026, 100 Years of Dude Ranching explores modern and historic dude ranching at 26 ranches that were at the forefront of the industry, hosting dudes and dudines, and giving them a taste of the West.

I wrote the main essay for the book: “No One Is Ever a Stranger for Long: The History of Dude Ranching and the First 100 years of the Dude Ranchers’ Association. With photographs by award-winning photographer Scott T. Baxter, this book explores modern dude ranching at these historic ranches as captured over the course of a year.

100 Years of Dude Ranching won the 2026 Will Rogers Medallion Award for Western Photograph Essays.

]]> Dudes Rush In https://lynndowney.com/books/dudes-rush-in/ Wed, 17 Jan 2024 14:25:00 +0000 http://staging.lynndowney.com/?p=243

Dudes Rush In

Phoebe Kelley McFarland is a restless war widow and writer living in 1952 San Francisco. She decides to quit her job and spend six months on her in-laws’ dude ranch in Tribulation, Arizona, called the H Double Bar.

She helps out in the ranch’s office and hopes to finish the novel she is working on. When some travel writers come to stay, Phoebe sees a chance to connect with professionals. But Tribulation lives up to its name. When she finds an old diary hidden in her desk, she stumbles onto secrets from the town’s past that collide with a shocking revelation of her own, sending her down a trail to both discovery and danger.

Winner of the Will Rogers Medallion Award and first place for Arizona Historical Fiction, New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards

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]]> Dude or Die https://lynndowney.com/books/dude-or-die/ Wed, 17 Jan 2024 22:33:47 +0000 http://staging.lynndowney.com/?p=246

Dude or Die

Sequel to the award-winning Dudes Rush In.

It’s 1954, and San Francisco writer Phoebe Kelley is enjoying the success of her first novel, Lady in the Desert. When her sister-in-law asks her to return to Tribulation, Arizona to help run the H Double Bar dude ranch, Phoebe doesn’t hesitate.

There’s competition from a new dude ranch this year, so the H Double Bar puts on a rodeo featuring a trick rider with a mysterious past. When accidents begin to happen around the ranch, Phoebe jumps in to figure out why, and confronts an unexpected foe.

“Dude or Die is charming and fun. It will keep you turning the page.” – Cowgirl Magazine

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]]> Arizona’s Vulture Mine and Vulture City https://lynndowney.com/books/nonfiction/vulture-mine/ Wed, 17 Jan 2024 13:30:00 +0000 http://staging.lynndowney.com/?p=233

Arizona’s Vulture Mine and Vulture City

Finalist for the New Mexico-Arizona Book Award.

Discovered by Henry Wickenburg in 1863, the Vulture Mine was one of the greatest gold strikes in Western history. This book brings to life the mine and its wild town, Vulture City, through stories of fantastic ore strikes, murderous bandits, the struggle for water, and the people who came from as far away as Mexico and China to find their fortunes.

Finalist in Arizona History, New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards

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]]> Wickenburg: Images of America https://lynndowney.com/books/nonfiction/wickenburg-images-of-america/ Mon, 15 Jan 2024 22:09:00 +0000 http://staging.lynndowney.com/?p=288

Wickenburg: Images of America

Once known as the Dude Ranch Capital of the World, Wickenburg, Arizona has had many lives since its founding during the Civil War years. I tell this story through vintage photographs, advertising, postcards, and artifacts from the Desert Caballeros Western Museum, and my own collection.

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]]> A Short History of Sonoma https://lynndowney.com/books/nonfiction/a-short-history-of-sonoma/ Tue, 16 Jan 2024 19:41:00 +0000 http://staging.lynndowney.com/?p=236

A Short History of Sonoma

Sonoma is one of America’s most picturesque and historic towns, and this book traces its evolution from rowdy frontier settlement to the paragon of sophisticated living it is today.

“Downey has a strong narrative voice that effortlessly guides the reader through decades of information.” – Richard Moreno, author of A Short History of Carson City

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