JUNE 25, 1985: EARL MURRAY & THE “TODO EL MUNDO” INCIDENT

My better half, Karen, was right.  She’d told me recently that she thought we had a picture somewhere of Earl Murray chowing down on the Todo El Mundo Burger (a chili burger of some sort) the day that we were all on the Riverwalk in San Antonio, Texas, scoping out places to eat.  Luckily, I found this picture just this morning.  Therefore, I now give you the photographic evidence of Earl’s accomplishment. 

In an earlier posting on SADDLETRAMP SWAMI, I wrote about Earl’s book, THE HORSE RANCH and in doing so, took the opportunity to tell the “Todo El Mundo Burger” story. 

Earl is eating the Todo El Mundo with a fork here probably because it would have been too messy for him to pick up and eat with his hand.  He would have wanted to keep his white shirt pristine, I’m sure.  The person to Earl’s right whose face is obstructed is Dale Walker, who “snookered” Earl into ordering it in the first place. 

Those were good days and good times.  I just wish that Earl, who left us in 2003, was still here to laugh with us about it. 

THE HORSE RANCH

Funny story about Earl Murray.

San Antonio, Texas – Western Writers of America Convention, June, 1985.  Earl, Dale Walker, my wife Karen and I were strolling along the cool, breezy Riverwalk looking for a place to have lunch. 

I don’t exactly remember the name of the place we stopped to eat, but when we inspected the menu, we came across something called the “Todo El Mundo Burger”.  Near as I can recall, this was a chili hamburger of some sort.  Dale and I were intrigued by this, but it was Dale who kind of subliminally suggested to Earl to try the burger out.  Earl picked up on the subtlety of it and ordered the burger.  The rest of us ordered something else but kept a keen eye on Earl as he chowed down on the Todo El Mundo Burger. 

It’s hard to tell what was funnier – the fact that Earl actually ate the burger or that Dale “snookered” (Dale’s own phrasing here) Earl into ordering it in the first place.  From that day on out, whenever we saw Earl here and there, we called him “Todo El Mundo”.  He smiled and took it all in good fun. 

Just recently learned that Earl left us way too early in 2003.  His sense of humor and fun is quite an epitaph.

As an aside, Karen and I had been eating fine cuisine quite a bit in San Antone, but when we found a McDonald’s proportionally close to the Alamo grounds, we high fived and said “Yay! Home cookin’!”.  It later occurred to me, while scarfing a Big Mac there, that if this same McDonald’s had been there in 1836, perhaps Sam Houston would have been able to get reinforcements to the Alamo while Santa Ana’s men were busy ordering Happy Meals.  Hmmm….

WILL HENRY'S WEST

If you speak the name of Will Henry amongst a group of Western Writers, you will very possibly notice a hushed respect fall over the crowd for the man. 

Although Mr. Henry is no longer with us, he is still very much revered as being top of the line.  In fact, just the mention of his book on Tom Horn prompted one writer to remark, “I think Will Henry really is Tom Horn”. 

The University of Texas at El Paso Press, released “Will Henry’s West” in time to be on the sale tables for the 1984 Western Writers of America convention, which I had the great privilege to attend. 

A man who would become a dear friend, Dale Walker, packaged and edited “Will Henry’s West” which must have been no small feat.  Mr. Henry (real name: Henry “Heck” Allen) used some of the most beautiful, effective, authentic Western prose you will ever read.  No wonder that he - like Richard Matheson - is legend.

I never got to meet Mr. Allen, but I was briefly in touch with him and he was kind enough to sign FROM WHERE THE SUN NOW STANDS for me via the postal service.  He related an interesting story about how he kept getting Louis L’Amour’s royalty checks by mistake because someone in the Bantam Books office kept confusing the two for each other. 

If you can find this book, it really is an essential addition to your collection of Western fiction.  You might contact UTEP to see if they still have any copies still for sale.  I’ve proudly displayed my own copy of “Will Henry’s West” on a bookshelf for every one of those 27 years.  It looks right at home there.