Let's make this birthday one to remember.

77 years old (Born on December 08, 1947)

Happy Birthday, Ron Hansen! May your day be as thrilling and memorable as a Western showdown—minus the shootouts. Your vivid storytelling in "Desperadoes" still has readers saddling up for adventure, while "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," with its PEN/Faulkner finalist nod, continues to captivate audiences like an outlaw legend.

Here's hoping this birthday brings you plenty of inspiration (and cake!) so we can keep enjoying more literary masterpieces from our favorite cowboy chronicler. Keep riding high on success—and remember: unlike poor Jesse James, you're always safe around friends named Bob or Ford!