Texas Reads>> archiveGlenn Dromgoole

4.2.2017   Picture book tells story of rodeo cowgirl Tad Lucas

Houston author Laura B. Edge has written a picture book biography, Tad Lucas: Trick Riding Rodeo Cowgirl (Pelican, $16.99), illustrated by Texas artist Stephanie Ford.

Lucas (1902–1990), who performed in rodeos and Wild West shows from the 1920s until her retirement in 1958, is considered the greatest rodeo cowgirl of all time, according to the Texas State Historical Association. She is the only person elected to all three rodeo halls of fame — the National Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1967 (first woman elected), the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in 1978, and the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1979. Upon her death in Fort Worth, her will established the Tad Lucas Award honoring women who excel in any field related to western heritage.

Lucas was born Barbara Barnes in Nebraska, the youngest of twenty-four children. “She didn’t crawl like most babies; she slithered,” Edge notes. “Her dad thought she looked like a tadpole. The name stuck, and everyone called her Tad. She learned to ride almost before she could walk. By the time she was seven, she was helping her dad tame wild horses.”

The family moved to Fort Worth, and at a rodeo there she met bronc rider Buck Lucas. They married and spent their honeymoon on a ship to England with a Wild West show. She suffered a major riding injury at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1933 and was told she would never ride again. “She was back in the saddle trick riding in a year,” Edge writes. She and her daughter, Mitzi, performed trick riding routines together for twenty years.

Young readers: Dallas journalist, author, and humorist Michael Merschel has written Revenge of the Star Survivors (Holiday House, $17.95 hardcover), a 320-page humorous sci-fi novel for ages 10-14.

“My situation is desperate,” the novel begins. “I have crash-landed in an inhospitable world. I am surrounded by aliens. Hundreds of them. All hostile. They look humanoid, but so far I have been unable to make sense of their primitive social order.”

This is Clark Sherman’s reaction to being enrolled in the eighth grade at Festus Middle School. Read more at HolidayHouse.com.

Cookbook: Stan McDonald of Big Lake has published his own cookbook, The Texas Chef: Down Home Texas ($20 spiral-bound). The eighty-nine recipes are organized into nine categories: breakfast, soups, party foods, vegetables and sides, poultry and fowl, pork, beef, seafood, and desserts.

A few gems: Grandma’s corn cakes, Texas kolaches, catfish stew, bacon deviled eggs, ranch style vegetables, chicken and dumplings Texas style, slow roasted BBQ ribs, Little Hoss Ranch pot roast, Hill Country roasted oysters, and no-churn cinnamon banana ice cream. For more information, and to order the book, see his website, www.thetexaschef.com.

Glenn Dromgoole’s latest book is West Texas StoriesContact him at g.dromgoole@suddenlink.net.

>> Read his past Texas Reads columns in Lone Star Literary Life here.