About John Bradshaw
John Bradshaw is a native of the small town of Abernathy, Texas. He is an award-winning journalist with well over a thousand published stories. Elmer Kelton’s The Familiar Stranger, co-authored with Steve Kelton, is his first book.
Bradshaw attended South Plains College followed by Texas Tech University. He spent several years shoeing horses for a living as his writing career progressed.
While the desire to write books was always there, Bradshaw first pursued a career in journalism. He wrote numerous stories for ranching, horse and horseshoeing magazines.
Growing up, Livestock Weekly came in the mail once a week, as it does for most in the livestock industry. Writing for Livestock Weekly was always a goal, and in 2005 Bradshaw’s first story was published. It was a profile of Brownie Metzgar, a humorous cowboy still working in a feedlot while in his late 80s.
In 2007 Bradshaw accepted a fulltime position with Livestock Weekly. While with the paper he had over a thousand stories published, as well as enough market reports to give him permanent nightmares.
Horses have always played an important role in his life. The son of a horseshoer, he has spent a significant amount of time either on or under a horse. He still shows in both ranch horse and reined cow horse competitions.
He and his wife, Sara, live outside Abernathy. Sara owns an architecture firm, SK Architecture Group, and they raise Spanish goats, hair sheep and cattle.
In 2013 the couple had a stillborn son, Fox Joaquin Bradshaw. After several years of heartbreak they adopted an infant boy, whom they named Julian Boone Bradshaw. Boone died in his dad’s arms following an accident at the barn five days before his sixth birthday.