Long time S.A.S.S. cowboy action and mounted shooter, John W. Shaw (aka Brit Johnson) passed away March 31, 2008 after a long bout with cancer.
He was a close friend of mine, and my wife, Bobbie. I need to tell you about his love of the west and living the cowboy way of life.
Although we were both born in Baltimore, Maryland (he was several years my senior) “Brit” and I never met until a Buffalo Soldier meeting in Phoenix around 1993. He was an expert on the history of African Americans in the west and his enthusiasm matched my love of the west and all its colorful characters.
We joined S.A.S.S. and collaborated with Dutch to bring the “Bronze Buckaroo” (Herb Jeffries) into the organization several years later. “Brit” led the way with a style that was a joy to behold.
He could “B.S.” with the best that S.A.S.S. had to offer and when it came to proving historical facts, John was always right on the money. I’m positive his many hours in a darkened theater watching the old westerns aided his deep knowledge of the “Reel to Real” Western culture!
Now he had his faults, all of us do, but we generally gave him a pass because of his unique way of accomplishing the task at hand. Somehow the job was completed and we all had a good laugh. Sometimes with him but we never laughed at him.
Through “Brit’s” love of the west, S.A.S.S. was introduced to Hollywood celebrities such as: Reginald T. Dorsey, Glenn Turman, Obba Babatunde, Mykal Williamson, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Herb Jeffries, and many more.
John was an agnostic, so he would only like to be remembered as a man who loved horses, the west, and women, not necessarily in that order!
Nat Love
