Don King: The Man in the Center 

By Nick Pernokas 

They say that a good writer should never interject himself into his stories. They say a lot of things. When dealing with “legends” of the West, they say when the legend outshines the fact, print the Read more

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Where There’s a Mum, There’s a Way 

Breakin’ the Rules Like Proper Brits: 

The Cambridge Satchel Story 

by Gene Fowler 

British mum Julie Deane found herself in a pickle one day back in 2008. Her eight-year-old daughter was being bullied at school and Deane decided to Read more

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Mean Jean Leather 

By Nick Pernokas 

Thirty-six-year-old Lyndsi McGee grew up in central California. In her twenties, she moved to Los Angeles. Perhaps it was the ghost of L.A.’s pop culture, that is so prevalent there, which fueled her love for 1960s Read more

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Business is Booming at Broncy Donkey Leather 

Moccasin-style footwear collections spark leap of success and faith  

By Lynn Ascrizzi 

It’s easy to recall a business that has the charmingly quirky name, Broncy Donkey Leather Company. It trips off the tongue and delights the ears, and Read more

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Bill Gomer: The Teacher Rides Away

By Nick Pernokas

The 13-year-old boy sat in the shade of the air-conditioned railcar that he slept in at night. The inch-and-a-half thick harness made hard work for him as he pushed the awl blade through it. Still, his Read more

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Weinaug Leather – Classic Western with an Alien Twang

By B. Crawford

If you bring a knife to a gunfight, at least make sure it has a nice sheath. Tooling a bull on a dead cow is ironic.

These words of leatherworking wisdom come straight from Kingsbury, Texas, Read more

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Revisiting Western Skies Handmade        

Emergence of the Circle

by Gene Fowler 

Throughout the American West and Southwest, the vast cathedral of space that looms and soars above the landscape inspires and humbles all who behold it. In praise of this great natural temple, Read more

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Lost Dutchman Leather Nears Double-Digit Growth 

by Liisa Andreassen 

In September 2020, we ran an article about an up-and-coming entrepreneur Nate Walker, founder of Lost Dutchman Leather. We were excited to catch up with him again and learn all that’s happened since we last Read more

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Don Gonzales: Riding the Wave of Social Media

By Nick Pernokas

Many of us, who have been in the leather business for a long time, started out with Al Stohlman books and Tandy Leather tools. Some craftsmen were even able to go to a Tandy store and Read more

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Lifetime Leather Co. 

By B. Crawford 

ShopTalk! is proud to have supported the age-old skills and resilience of leather craftsmen for the last five years. In this, our yearly anniversary issue, it is only fitting that we reach back into our own Read more

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