Lazy B: Growing Up on a Cattle Ranch in the American West (2002) by Sandra Day O’Connor and Alan Day

The first time I ever set foot in the Southwest I remember feeling the dry, hot air settle around me along with the dust from the road as I looked over the horizon and saw a lone horseman rounding up cattle. This idyllic picture of the American Southwest legendary cowboy has held me for a decade after, and only after upon reading Sandra Day O’Connor’s memoir of her life on a horse ranch did I realize that the reality is not so idyllic after all. However, while the life of a rancher is not simple, it is beautiful and was the birthplace of one of our nation’s most important female voices.

The Lazy B is a simply written memoir of the Day family’s history as one of the largest cattle ranches in the southwest. Sandra dives into her grandfather’s beginnings as a rancher and her father and mother’s ambition and drive to become successful cattle ranchers in the arid desert of Texas and Arizona. The oldest of a family of five, Sandra pioneered her siblings’ way into success as each Day child did rise to a place of status and power in American politics or ranching, as her brother Alan quickly took over the Lazy B. Day chronicles her life in episodic chapters which speak of a world completely different from ours, a world of illiterate cowboy hands with hearts of gold, hundreds of cattle roaming the plains, pet javelins. Through her childhood and adolescence of hard work, dedication, and resilience to the harsh weather and economic realities of cattle ranching, one can see how her childhood molded Sandra Day O’Connor’s voice to be the one we will remember in history books. While the story doesn’t feature many glimpses into O’Connor’s life as a Supreme Court Justice, this is a wonderful book to read if you’d like to know more about the American Southwest cattle ranching, as well the Day family’s early beginnings and the root of the O’Connor ambition and resilience.