>> archive Historian explores Sam Houston’s leadership qualities

Bill O’Neal of Carthage, the official Texas state historian for the past four years, has written Sam Houston: A Study in Leadership (Eakin Press, $19.95 paperback).

“Sam Houston radiated leadership,” O’Neal writes. “Physically imposing and a man of powerful convictions, Houston gravitated to leadership roles throughout his adventurous life.”

But it was in Texas, O’Neal points out, where everything came together. “During the Texas Revolution, all of Houston’s leadership qualities — courage, decisiveness, powers of persuasion, physical stamina, military experience, willingness to shoulder vast responsibilities – were mined to their fullest extent.”

The book grew out of a lecture O’Neal delivered at the Bob Bullock Texas State Museum after he was appointed Texas State Historian and covers Houston’s life in fifteen chapters, beginning with “The Making of a Leader,” continuing through Houston’s ups and downs in public and private life. By Chapter 7, Houston has come to Texas, where he commanded the successful revolution and became president, senator, and governor before dying on July 26, 1863, his final words being “Texas — Texas — Margaret.”

O’Neal concludes with the chapter “Remembering a Leader” and a list of leadership principles that shaped Houston’s life as a leader. O’Neal, author of more than forty books, was the 2015 recipient of the A. C. Greene Award given annually to a distinguished Texas author at the West Texas Book Festival.

Joe Lansdale: Hap and Leonard is the title of a crime-fighting series that debuted this spring on the Sundance cable channel, based on two of Joe R. Lansdale’s favorite fictional characters, straight white liberal Hap Collins and gay black conservative Leonard Pine.

As a way of introducing the unusual duo to viewers, Tachyon Publications produced a 240-page paperback collection of short stories and novellas under the title Hap and Leonard ($15.95). If you haven’t read any of the dozen or so Hap and Leonard novels, start here. You’ll no doubt want to read more.

The first Hap and Leonard mystery, Savage Season, came out in 1990, and the most recent, Honky Tonk Samurai, was published this year. As with most of Lansdale’s entertaining but often violent novels, reader discretion is advised because of strong language.

Lansdale, a prolific author with dozens of novels and hundreds of short stories in several genres, is writer in residence at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches. Read more on his website, joerlansdale.com.

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Glenn Dromgoole’s latest book is More Civility, Please. Contact him at g.dromgoole@suddenlink.net.

>> Check out his previous Texas Reads columns in Lone Star Lit

UPCOMING CONFERENCES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

Sachse Author Con slated for May 21

SACSHE—The Sachse Public Library’s annual Author Con is slated for Sat., May 21, 2016, from noon to 4 p.m.

The kind of autograph-seekers who will descend on the Sachse Public Library on Saturday, May 21 and eagerly approach the 30 personalities gathered there will not be your typical sports or showbiz fans, says Library Manager Mignon Morse.

“These autograph-seekers will more likely prefer reading a book over attending a game or a concert,” she said. “And, the event is really more of a book-signing than an autograph session. The excitement, though, will be the same.”

The Sachse Library is presenting the second annual Author Con on May 21 from noon to 4 p.m. The current list of local and area authors who will attend, showcase their work, offer them for sale, and sign them include 30 local and area published writers. Authors will accept cash or checks for the book sales.

The library is located at 3815 Sachse Road, Building C in the City Hall complex.

Sponsored by the City of Sachse, the event is believed to be the only of one its kind in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and promises to offer a wide variety of book styles and writing genres. Of special note will be the number of authors who write for the young adult, or YA, audience.

“This is an important demographic,” said Morse. “These young men and young ladies are forming what could be lifelong habits. Using their time to read books and increase their exposure to literature is an extremely worthy goal. Many of our authors are speaking directly to that audience.”

Each of the 30 authors will be provided with their own display table, giving them the opportunity to show and sell their books and discuss their works with interested participants.

In addition to YA, other genres expected include romance, science fiction, cookbooks and mystery. Books for young children as well as for adult readers will also be available for sale.

Among the authors expected to attend are several Sachse residents, husband and wife authors, members of the Sachse Wylie Authors Group, authors who have exhibited at statewide library conferences, and Bella and Charlie Campbell, young siblings who write together.

“Some of the authors exhibiting at Author Con are people who decided to start writing to entertain their own children,” said Morse. “That is exactly how the Harry Potter series began. By her own admission, J.K. Rowling was imagining stories for her kids’ entertainment, and out of that emerged one of the best-selling series of all time.”

There may not be a J.K. Rowling among the authors at the May 21 event, but to the “autograph-seekers” in attendance, it likely won’t matter.

(Information from organization’s press release)