Looking for a wonderful summer read? Check out Cutter Frisco: Growing up on the Original Southfork Ranch, a memoir by Doug Box.
“This is perfect reality summer reading,” Doug said. “It reveals the real story, the untold tale of what life was really like on the Box Ranch (known today as the Brinkmann Ranch).” In anecdotes both sweet and bitter, the youngest Box son remembers what it was like to grow up as a member of Texas royalty; if Frisco had a “first family,” the Boxes were it.
Doug’s father was the storied patriarch and entrepreneur Cloyce K. Box, thought by many to be the inspiration for Dallas’ J. R. Ewing. Doug’s was a one-of-a-kind childhood replete with professional athletes, television crews, celebrities, Miss America pageants, and all the glitz and glamour of southern grandeur. The house caught fire in 1987 and was being rebuilt in 1993, when Cloyce suffered the heart attack that killed him. The partially rebuilt house’s steel frame stands today as it was then, at the northeast intersection of Main Street and Preston Road in Frisco.
Ultimately, a downturn in the Texas economy would come back to haunt the Box family, leading to the eventual sale of Doug’s beloved horse, Cutter Frisco, and ultimately the ranch itself.
Cutter Frisco is a powerful retelling of the end of an era, with 40 photographs and a eulogy written by Frank Gifford, which he read at Cloyce’s funeral. Kathy Lee Gifford also sang a solo of "He Giveth Me Grace.” In this book, Doug beautifully captures those early years of magnificence and magic- albeit a magnificence and magic not meant to last.
The book is available for purchase through the website at BoxFamilyAdvisors.com, Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com and also for download through the ibooks app, Amazon.com’s Kindle and Barnes & Noble’s Nook.
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Quotes:
“Doug has written an amazing set of succinct yet intriguing anecdotes about growing up in Frisco. These behind-the-scene glimpses will create a roller coaster of emotions while also providing important life lessons.”
- Dr. Michael B. Cates,
“Growing up in Frisco, I watched in awe as a mansion was built on the ranch at the northeast corner of Main Street and Preston Road. Then, 46 years later, on November 3, 1987, I watched helplessly as that stately building went up in flames. Read Doug Box’s intriguing book, Cutter Frisco, to learn what it was like to live in that mansion and to grow up on the Box Ranch.”
- Bob Warren, Former Frisco Mayor
“Cutter Frisco will make you laugh and cry. In anecdotes both funny and poignant, Box tells the behind-the-scenes story of growing up on the original Southfork. The book is packed full of hijinks and heartbreak, and after you’ve finished reading, you’ll know exactly what it was like growing up with a father like Cloyce Box.”
- Punk Carter, Past President,
National Cutting Horse Association
“In this book, Doug Box chronicles times and events like none other in Frisco’s history. After you’ve finished reading, you’ll feel like you just stepped off the Texas Plains.”
- J. Brett Adams, History Professor,
Collin College
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