Here’s an e-mail from Steve Kelton, the son of Elmer Kelton, responding to NR’s list of great conservative novels, which includes a book by his father:

I’ve been meaning to drop you a line ever since you mentioned Dad’s “The Time It Never Rained” at NRO’s Corner blog shortly after his death. I’ve been a Corner junkie for some years now, and it was quite a surprise to see Dad’s name there, not to mention the honor it conveyed. He was indeed conservative, and I doubt he ever really thought of that outlook as anything but common sense. His books reflected things as they were, whatever the time period in which they were set, and he could never understand the mindset of writers who persist in viewing the actions and attitudes of a different time by the standards and conventions of today. I daresay many of the standards and conventions of today do not bear scrutiny, but maybe that’s my upbringing showing. Dad was also bemused by academics who combed through his work and professed to find layers of deep meaning buried in places where he’d never thought to wield a shovel. One interviewer once asked him when he’d “found himself.” Dad said he didn’t realize he’d ever been lost. Thank you for recognizing him and his work.

My capsule review of Kelton’s The Time It Never Rained, from the current issue of NR, may be read here.