A student singing “The Ballad of Earl Durand” in Professor Jerred Metz’s course led him on a 32–year search. That course took place in 1973 at Webster College in St. Louis, MO. In 2000, Metz and his wife moved to Columbia. He teaches creative writing at Coker College in Hartsville, Webster University, and Strayer University. His wife Sarah Barker is a professor of drama at USC. In 2005, Metz’s research and years of interviewing materialized into the book, The Last Eleven Days of Earl Durand.

Metz researched old newspapers and telephone books and found 15 people from Cody and Powell, WY, and Billings, MT, who actually had first hand knowledge of Durand in the 1930s. From 1978–81 Metz interviewed these people. It is these 15 who tell the story in their own words in the book.

Durand’s last 11 days changed many lives. The Durand family lived in Powell, WY. They were a normal church–going family with daughters as school teachers. But Durand chose to live in a tent in the back of their house. He was a clean shot and stayed in the mountains most of the time where he killed animals and ate raw meat.

Jerred Metz He was a man “out of step with his time. He was an embodiment, a manifestation, an incarnation of the archetype of the mountain man on the edge of civilization. The seven men he killed left behind wives, children, fathers, and friends who had to live through loss, disgrace, and anger.”

Recently, Metz re-turned to areas where Durand lived out his deadly escapade: Meeteese, WY, and Billings, MT.

Metz signed books and did readings with his wife. People who came to buy books and hear the couple were connected in some way with Earl Durand and also had more stories to share. Only one of the 15 people he interviewed was still alive.

Alan K. Simpson, author and former Wyoming senator, said about the book, “It’s all here — vivid as when I was a boy — the life, capture, flight, and last days of the poacher turned murderer, Earl Durand. This book will excite your emotions, sadden you, puzzle and anger you. It happened just that way. I remember.”

The Last 11 Days of Earl Durand may be purchased at The Happy Bookseller on Forest Drive.