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Show Floyd A. Jensen Magna, Utah born: 23 December, 1939 Floyd Jensen is a true westerner and the jobs he's had and the places he's lived prove it! He's spent time on farms, on ranches, with sheep outfits and in the mines. For a while he even worked for a carnival company that toured many of the small farming and ranching communities throughout the West. Like many other Utahns, Floyd's experience in working with cattle and horses has been in tandem with farm work. Born in Santaquin and raised in Goshen, both fertile farming and orchard areas at the southern tip of Utah Lake, Floyd has many memories of his childhood on the family farm. The thinning, weeding and hand-topping of sugar beets and the manual bailing, tying and hauling of hay are among his most vivid memories. Until he was twelve years old, Floyd was responsible for hitching and driving the farm horses, and since there were beef cattle in the area, he gained some ranching experience along with his work on the farm. Although Floyd was recognized while still in elementary school for his ability to write rhymed verse, he didn't write again until the mid 70s while working on a mine hoist in Arizona. He soon discovered that writing was a good way to relieve the boredom of a monotonous job and before long was composing verses about the things he knew best. The material for Floyd's poems comes from his own western experiences, from stories or incidents he's heard others mention or from potentially humorous situations which he visualizes and develops into poems. 86 Cowboy Poetry From Utah |