Meet Cousin Nancy

Cousin Nancy (Parker-Simons) was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas. She is 69 and holding, a retired cowgirl, an avid animal lover and is a published author.

In 2006, the University of Texas Press published her first book The Road to Utopia: How Kinky, Tony & I Saved More Animals Than Noah. And for nearly 20 years Parker-Simons was the executive director of the famous Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch, located on Kinky Friedman’s ranch, in Medina, Texas.

Nancy’s husband Tony Simons was the ranch manager and Kinky declared himself their part-time Ghandi-like-figure until 2018, when the three of them decided it was time to close its doors.

After the University of Texas Press published Cousin Nancy’s first book she started her own publishing company Undepressable Press and has self-published four books:

• Meanwhile Back At The Rescue Ranch: The Dog Days of Cousin Nancy (2010 Non-fiction)
• The Cowgirl Sisterhood: Part I, The Membership Drive (2012 Fiction)
• The Cowgirl Sisterhood: Part II: Death In New Mexico (2013 Fiction)
• The Cowgirl Sisterhood: Part III: The Terlingua Treasure Map (2020 Fiction)

Also during this time, Cousin Nancy began blogging, in 2007, about her daily life living at the Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch. Mainly telling humorous stories about the animals they cared for, their adoptions, rescue stories, life with Tony and living on Kinky’s ranch ( for over 16 years) and having him as their nearest neighbor.

Nancy’s hobbies include: painting, playing guitar, mandolin, banjo, horseback riding and acting. Her goal in life is to make people laugh and she has accomplished this through radio, books, art, blogging, videos, acting, Public speaking and podcasting.

Cousin Nancy lives in a cabin, on their small ranch, in Medina, Texas, with her husband Tony, four dogs and one feral cat named Sunshine.