Jerry A. "Jake" White

Jake is proud to have served his country in Viet Nam as a United States Marine.

He is past President of the Missouri Cowboy Poets Association, and helps keep the spirit of the American Cowboy alive through his poems, storytelling, and jokes. He bases his work on personal experience and insight into the cowboy ethic, including love of God, country, family, and the land.

Jake has traveled throughout the U.S., Mexico, and Canada with his own brand of entertainment. He is a member of the Academy of Western Artists, Oklahoma Western Heritage, Inc., Cowboy Poets of Idaho, British Columbia Cowboy Heritage Society, and the Ozarks Writers League, as well as Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion.

Jake has produced, directed, and performed western shows and charity events for groups such as 4-H and the Ozark Food Harvest, as well as for church groups.

Jake's poem, The Utah Trip won a blue ribbon in Texas, and he has received countless complimentary reviews. In addition to his own book, Broken Jaw Poetry, Jake is published on the Missouri Fox Trotters' web site, The Big Round Up and the MCPA Anthology.

Recent appearances include the Shepherd of the Hills play and outdoor theater in Branson, Mo., where he opened the show with his own act of comedy and poetry in addition to performing in the play. He has done shows with Dennis Weaver of Gunsmoke fame, and Dale Robinson of Tales of Wells Fargo at the Kansas Cowboy Symposium in Dodge City, Kansas. In the past few years, Jake performed at the Lewis and Clark festival in Lewiston, Idaho, the Academy of Western Artists convention, the Will Rogers Award show in Fort Worth, Texas, the 6th Annual Cowboy Gathering in Mountain View, Mo., the Triangle Y Ranch in Potosi, Mo., and at numerous trail rides and fundraisers.

Jake has been a regular performer for Echoes of the Trail for many years, and also has appeared in Branson at Cowboys Heroes, and Friends and the Moe Bandy Theater; the Michael Martin Murphy Christmas Ball in Springfield, Mo., the Kamloops Cowboy Gathering in British Columbia, the Superbull Bullride and Festival in Prince George, B.C., and many more, too numerous to name.