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Show Finley H. Bayles Blanding, Utah born: 28 March, 1931 Fin Bayles was born and raised in Blanding, the heart of southern Utah's ranching country. His grandparents were among the original "Hole in the Rock" pioneers who were sent to settle the area and establish ranches and farms. Fin's father has been a stockman and a successful breeder of both horses and hinny mules for over 60 years. As a result, Fin grew up helping with ranch chores, spending summers on the range and occasionally listening to stories told by the cowboys who worked for his father. After spending time with the Marines in Korea and finishing his university degrees, Fin moved to St. George where he spent many years working with youth, both as a teacher at Dixie High School and as a Boy Scout leader. He shared with students his creative abilities in knifemaking and jewelry making as well as his interest in writing cowboy poetry. When it comes to writing poetry, Fin's mother is his real inspiration. She has been composing specialized verses for people and events throughout her life. From childhood, Fin occasionally composed rhymed verse, but he didn't really start writing poems down until the early 70s. Since then, he's written a considerable amount of poetry and has published two of his pieces, "Country Comfort" and "My Mom." Fin's cowboy poems are basically narratives in rhyme and the stories that he versifies are often taken from personal experience as in "The Day Me and Strawberry Fell." For some pieces he parodies or recasts 70 Cowboy Poetry From Utah |