Lone Star ReviewsMichelle Newby, NBCC,
Contributing Editor
TEXAS SPORTS
Jeff Miller, with foreword by “Mean” Joe Greene
The Game Changers: Abner Haynes, Leon King, and the Fall of Major College Football’s Color Barrier
Sports Publishing
Hardcover 978-1-61321-937-9, 241 pages, $24.99; also available as ebook; October 2016
Reviewed by Carlton Stowers
With all due respect to Charles Dickens, it was the best of times and the worst of times.
In the mid-1950s, the Texas education system was moving toward integration. The good news was that black students would finally be given places in the classrooms of formerly all-white public schools, colleges, and universities. The bad news was that integration was most often carried out in an atmosphere of political warfare, hateful racial slurs, and angry demonstrations. Even in academic outposts where things went “smoothly,” it was rarely pretty.
Recapturing those unsettling times, in The Game Changers Texas journalist Jeff Miller follows the travels of two gifted young athletes, products of all-black Lincoln High in Dallas, who chose to continue their education and football careers at North Texas State College (now the University of North Texas). >>READ MORE
Texas ReadsGlenn Dromgoole
>> archive
Sutherland Springs promoted its healing powers
Prolific author and historian Richard B. McCaslin has compiled the history of a small Texas town that once held great promise as a health resort. Sutherland Springs, Texas: Saratoga on the Cibolo (University of North Texas Press, $24.95 hardcover) details the rise and fall of the small town southeast of San Antonio, near Floresville.
At one time, Sutherland Springs was a resort spa known for its healing waters. But as other towns developed along Cibolo Creek (pronounced “see-willow” by the locals, McCaslin writes) and the water tables declined, Sutherland Springs began to fade away in the early twentieth century. Today the community has about 300 residents.
The book grew out of a college research paper McCaslin undertook at the University of Texas about thirty years ago. I was drawn to McCaslin’s story because I grew up in a small town with a similar background—Sour Lake, near Beaumont, known for its curative mineral waters in the late 1800s before it became one of the earlier Texas oil boom towns.
Forever Menard: Speaking of small towns, Menard has a new book it can take great pride in. Forever Menard tells the story of the city and county of Menard in short, readable three- and four-page historical essays written by Menard High School students from 1979 to 1988 under the tutelage of English teacher Patty Miller.
The book is divided into four sections— Menard History, Menard Places, Menard Stories, and Menard People. It was edited and published in a handsome $40 hardback edition by Gus Clemens with Mulberry Avenue Books of San Angelo. A deluxe leather edition also is available. Contact or call (325) 658-8008. Proceeds will benefit various Menard causes.
Hap and Leonard: Rusty Puppy is the new Hap and Leonard novel by Joe R. Lansdale of Nacogdoches, the tenth in the series featuring detectives Hap Collins and Leonard Pine.
Like all Hap and Leonard novels, Rusty Puppy (Little, Brown, $26 hardcover) has plenty of action, violence, humor, weirdness, and justice. And strong language. If you’re a fan, you kind of know what to expect, although I thought this one went a bit far in the language department.
Hap and Leonard are hired to investigate the murder of a young black man who was a straight-A student until he began raising questions about police racism. As the investigation proceeds, the detectives suspect corrupt cops in a neighboring town. And Hap and Leonard end up having to fight each other to save innocent lives. Hap and Leonard also star in a TV series on the Sundance cable channel, with Michael K. Williams as Leonard and James Purefoy as Hap.
Glenn Dromgoole’s latest book is West Texas StoriesContact him at g.dromgoole@suddenlink.net.
>> Check out his previous Texas Reads columns in Lone Star Literary Life
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Bookstore briefs
Absolutely Fiction welcomes readers in Lufkin
During our Lone Star Literary Bookish Tour of Texas, we’re always pleased to discover new bookstores along the trail. On a recommendation, we stopped in at Absolutely Fiction in Lufkin, where owner Becky Jackson (above, center) gave us the nickel tour. Jackson’s store, which opened in July 2016, is the first bookstore to serve Lufkin, which lost its Waldenbooks six years ago. >>READ MORE
LONE STAR LISTENS interviews >> archive
Kay Ellington, Editor and Publisher
2.26.2017 Houston’s Anita Bunkley on weaving fact into fiction
Anita Bunkley is a member of the Texas Institute of Letters, an NAACP Image Award nominee, and recipient of a Career Achievement Award from Romantic Times magazine. The Houston area-writer was voted one of the fifty favorite African American authors of the twentieth century by the online African American Literature Book Club. She took time out of her schedule to talk with us today, as the closing segment in our 2017 Black History Month coverage.
LONE STAR LITERARY LIFE: I see that you were born in Ohio, and received your college degree in Ohio, Anita. What brought you to Texas?
ANITA BUNKLEY: My move to Houston was due to an employment opportunity. I arrived in the mid-1970s and have been here ever since. Moving to the Southwest was a big change for me, but I quickly adopted Texas as my home.
I understand that you have been writing full-time for almost tweny-five years. But how did you get started?
An avid reader all of my life, I was always searching for books with strong African American female characters. I love to read historical fiction with a romantic subplot, and there were not many books in that genre that featured African-American women. When I became aware of the story of Emily West, and learned that music historians referred to her as the possible inspiration for the song “The Yellow Rose of Texas,” I began to look for a book about her. In my search, I found the original lyrics to the song, which indicated that a man of color had written the song to a woman of color, but I could not find much more. Curious, I started my journey to research and write my own version of the legend, which became my first work of historical fiction, Emily the Yellow Rose, published in 1989. >>READ MORE
Texas’s only statewide, weekly calendar of book events
Bookish Texas event highlights 2.26.2017
>> GO this week Michelle Newby, Contributing Editor
ALSO READING AND SIGNING IN SAN ANTONIO SAT., MAR. 4 The Twig Book Shop, 6PMHOUSTON Wed., Mar. 1, University of Houston, Poetry & Prose presents UH Creative Writing Program Professors Tony Hoagland & Nick Flynn, 5:30PMAUSTIN Wed., Mar. 1, The Twig Book Shop, Sabra Moore discusses and signs Openings: A Memoir from the Women’s Art Movement, New York City 1970-1992, 5PMAUSTIN Thurs., Mar. 2 Harry Ransom Center, Helen Shenton, Librarian and College Archivist of Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, presents “The Library of the Future; the Future of the Library,” 7PMMIDLAND Thurs., Mar. 2 Midland Centennial Library, former First Lady Laura Bush will sign Our Great Big Backyard, 1:30PMODESSA Thurs., Mar. 2 Odessa College, Writers’ League of Texas presents Celebrating Texas Independents: Our Great Literary State’s Independent Presses, Journals, Bookstores & More (panel discussion), 7PM
News Briefs 2.26.17
Writers’ League Celebrates “Texas Independents” Mar. 2, Odessa CollegeIn March 2017 the Writers’ League of Texas will partner with some of the state’s greatest Independents—in conjunction with Texas Independence Day—to host a series of free and open events throughout the month of March in communities across the state.These panel discussions (featuring authors and experts and including time for questions and networking) will focus on the great opportunities that Texas has to offer, from independent presses, to journals, to bookstores, and beyond, while also answering writers’ burning questions about the publishing process, submitting to agents, catching the eye of an editor, and more.“Celebrating Texas Independents: Our Great Literary State’s Independent Presses, Journals, Bookstores & More” will kick off in Odessa, Texas, moderated by WLT Executive Director Becka Oliver and four great panelists (including Will Evans, founder and president of Cinestate, and Kay Ellington, publisher of Lone Star Literary Life; the full list of panelists will be available online soon.)March 2, 2017, 7 p.m., free and open to the public
Odessa College – Saulsbury Campus CenterZant Room (West)201 W. University Blvd., Odessa, TX 79764RSVPs are suggested, but not required. Light refreshments served.(Information from organization’s press release)Bookstore briefs: Absolutely Fiction welcomes readers in LufkinDuring our Lone Star Literary Bookish Tour of Texas, we’re always pleased to discover new bookstores along the trail. On a recommendation, we stopped in at Absolutely Fiction in Lufkin, where owner Becky Jackson (above, center) gave us the nickel tour. Jackson’s store, which opened in July 2016, is the first bookstore to serve Lufkin, which lost its Waldenbooks six years ago.
First Fort Wort BookFest set for four days and multiple venues in October
Organizers have announced the Fort Worth BookFest for Oct. 12–15, 2017, in Fort Worth. Envisioned as a cross-cultural, community-driven, multi-genre literary event, Fort Worth BookFest will “provide a platform for raising awareness of the transformative power of literacy” in Fort Worth and throughout the Southwest, according to the event’s press release.
Fort Worth BookFest is a strategic collaboration with Max Rodriguez, founder of the Harlem Book Fair and publisher of QBR/The Black Book Review. A Founder’s Day event in April 2016 kicked off the organizing and planning process. >>READ MORE
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COMING ON TOUR: FICTION
FOY: ON THE ROAD TO LOST by Gordon Atkinson Visit with Gordon March 1–15
3/1 Video Guest Post 1 Hall Ways Blog
3/2 Review Momma On The Rocks
3/3 Excerpt 1 CGB Blog Tours
3/4 Video Guest Post 2 Syd Savvy
3/5 Review StoreyBook Reviews
3/6 Author Interview 1 Kara The Redhead
3/7 Review Forgotten Winds
3/8 Video Guest Post 3 The Page Unbound
3/9 Excerpt 2 My Book Fix Blog
3/10 Review Margie’s Must Reads
3/11 Video Guest Post 4 Chapter Break Book Blog
3/12 Author Interview 2 Missus Gonzo
3/13 Review Book Chase
3/14 Video Guest Post 5 Texas Book Lover
3/15 Review Reading By Moonlight
CONTINUING ON TOUR: NONFICTION
BULLETINS FROM DALLAS: REPORTING THE JFK ASSASSINATION by Bill Sanderson
Visit with Bill through March 2
2/26 Video Interview The Page Unbound
2/27 Review Blogging for the Love of Authors and Their Books
2/28 Guest Post Byers Editing Reviews & Blog
3/1 Excerpt Books and Broomsticks
3/2 Review Reading By Moonlight
Lone Star Literary Life Facts and FAQs
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Lone Star Literary Archives
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Lone Star Listens compilation available Aug. 1, for readers, fans, and writers everywhere
The present generation of Texas authors is the most diverse ever in gender, age, and ethnicity, and in subject matter as well.
Week in, week out, Lone Star Literary has interviewed a range of Texas-related authors with a cross-section of genre and geography. To capture this era in Texas letters, we’re pleased to bring you
Lone Star Listens:
Texas Authors on Writing and Publishing
edited by Kay Ellington and Barbara Brannon; introduction by
Clay Reynolds
Available in trade paper, library hardcover, and ebook Fall 2017
360 pages, with b/w illustrations and index
Featuring novelists, poets, memoirists, editors, and publishers, including:
Rachel Caine • Chris Cander • Katherine Center • Chad S. Conine • Sarah Cortez • Elizabeth Crook • Nan Cuba • Carol Dawson • Patrick Dearen • Jim Donovan • Mac Engel • Sanderia Faye • Carlos Nicolás Flores • Ben Fountain • Jeff Guinn • Stephen Harrigan • Cliff Hudder • Stephen Graham Jones • Kathleen Kent • Joe R. Lansdale • Melissa Lenhardt • Attica Locke • Nikki Loftin • Thomas McNeely • Leila Meacham • John Pipkin • Joyce Gibson Roach • Antonio Ruiz-Camacho • Lisa Sandlin • Donna Snyder • Mary Helen Specht • Jodi Thomas • Amanda Eyre Ward • Ann Weisgarber • Donald Mace Williams
As a collection of insights into the writing and publishing life, the book will be useful in creative writing classes (not just in Texas alone) and other teaching settings, as well as for solo reading and study—and a great Texas reference volume.
- Lone Star Listens will be available for preorder May 1 and will ship around Aug. 1.
- Examination and review copies will be available May 1 in watermarked pdf format.
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