Loren Steffy and T. Boone Pickens

If you lived in Houston in the 1980s, oilman T. Boone Pickens was very divisive. You either loved or hated him. The very mention of his name could jump start an argument leading to a fistfight.

It all depended on your viewpoint, whether he made you money or you lost your job because of him. Pickens was labeled a corporate raider as he was at the catalyst of change as undervalued properties of big oil companies were challenged leading to an onslaught of reorganization of the industry.

Loren Steffy was right in the middle of Houston’s business as business columnist for the Houston Chronicle, and writer for Texas Monthly and Bloomberg. He is first hand knowledgeable about the ‘oil bidness.’

His latest book, he has four, “The Last Trial of T. Boone Pickens” is about the 87 year old conservative Republican’s suit against partners in a West Texas oil venture. The civil trial was held in Pecos, Texas. In an unlikely twist, Pickens’ attorney was a liberal independent woman, Chrysta Castañeda, who happens to be a current candidate for Texas Railroad Commissioner.

Steffy is now a full time Wimberley resident and his latest book is the first as publisher, his company being Stoney Creek Publishing. The book reveals a side of T. Boone that people never saw.

“It’s a window on life. He became a different person, more reflective, which comes out in the book,” Steffy said. “He was starting to show a side of him that’s not familiar.”

“It’s a modern day ”True Grit,” in Steffi’s words. T. Boone made an investment in West Texas’ Delaware Basin known as Red Bull. “It was a typical oil deal. T. Boone got a 15% stake, to him it was a peanut investment.” Then he stopped getting checks.

“In 2014 he asked, ‘What ever happened to Red Bull?” That’s when the other side said that he opted out, which he of course denied, leading to the 2016 civil trial.

They gave away his interest when the Red Bull came in with “about 3 billion barrels worth a billion dollars.”

The book is a courtroom drama. “(It) relies heavily on the case record…It’s unusual, Pickens and Chrysta are the main characters… She’s a solo practitioner, a solo (female) lead on a case like that…It tells a Boone Pickens story not told, after three bios. It’s different than anything else.”

Castañeda’s story is one that makes it a head scratcher for Pickens to choose her as his lead. “She worked at a big law firm in Dallas, got disenchanted, got some time away, dabbled in politics…but she missed the law and ran her own law firm, (and) set up her own company.” This was completely different from the very conservative Pickens.

Although he is the publisher, Steffy has Texas A&M distributing the book. “With the coronavirus, getting the book out, every step has been delayed…printing it in the U.S., A&M has a skeleton crew, everything is moving, but slower.”

The book is available through the Texas A&M Press, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other major bookstores.