{"id":824,"date":"2018-12-31T14:11:04","date_gmt":"2018-12-31T14:11:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=824"},"modified":"2018-12-31T14:11:04","modified_gmt":"2018-12-31T14:11:04","slug":"glenn-dromgooles-texas-reads-column-appears-weekly-at-lonestarliterary-com-49","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=824","title":{"rendered":"Glenn Dromgoole’s Texas Reads column appears weekly at LoneStarLiterary.com"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/span><\/span>Texas Reads<\/span>>> archive<\/span><\/a><\/span>Glenn Dromgoole<\/span><\/h1>\n

2.12.2017\u00a0\u00a0 Texas A&M women\u2019s basketball coach tells his story<\/h1>\n

With college basketball\u2019s March Madness just around the corner, <\/span>Texas A&M women\u2019s coach Gary Blair<\/span> tells his story in a very engaging style in A Coaching Life<\/span><\/a><\/span> (Texas A&M University Press, $29.95 hardcover).<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/span>Blair has been a highly successful college coach for more than thirty years, the last fourteen of them at A&M. His 2010\u201311 Aggie team won the NCAA championship. Before going to A&M, Blair coached the girls at Dallas South Oak Cliff High School to three state titles, was an assistant at Louisiana Tech during two national championships, and built nationally-ranked programs at Stephen F. Austin University and the University of Arkansas.<\/p>\n

In his memoir, with veteran sports author Rusty Burson,<\/span> Blair quickly gets to the point of what he values from his coaching experiences.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat drives me,\u201d he says, \u201cis the need to make a difference in the lives of young people. What motivates me is the concept that victories and defeats, trials and triumphs, and adversities and accomplishments can teach life lessons that will be applicable to my players long after their basketball careers have ended.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of the 233 pages in his memoir, the last 100 or so concern his coaching at A&M. Blair, 71, says he is often asked when he might retire. His answer: \u201cWhen I don\u2019t enjoy it anymore.\u201d He doesn\u2019t see that happening soon.<\/p>\n

Two popular authors: <\/span>I enjoyed zipping through the latest novels from two popular Texas authors.<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/span><\/span>Wild Horse Springs<\/span><\/a><\/span> is Jodi Thomas\u2019s<\/span> fifth book in her Ransom Canyon series (HQN, $7.99 paperback). Sheriff Dan Brigman and itinerant singer\/songwriter Brandi Malone feel a growing passion for a wild and memorable fling with no strings attached, if they can ever get anytime alone.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a hardened Texas Ranger\u2019s life is saved by a woman park ranger, who seems adept at nearly everything except matters of the heart. A five-year-old girl in a red coat becomes the focus of a resourceful teenager trying to save her from a brutal gang, including one bad guy who is suddenly missing an ear.<\/p>\n

Diane Kelly\u2019s<\/span> Above the Paw<\/span><\/a><\/span> (St. Martin\u2019s, $7.99 paperback) is the fifth installment in her entertaining Paw Enforcement series featuring Fort Worth police officer Megan Luz and K-9 partner Brigit. They go undercover at TCU in an effort to find out who is selling a deadly\u00a0 drug called Molly. Exactly how does one go \u201cundercover\u201d with a German shepherd in tow? Kelly gets creative.<\/p>\n

Spanish missions:<\/span> The History Press has published Austin author Byron Browne\u2019s<\/span> account of the Spanish Missions of Texas<\/span><\/a><\/span> (21.99 paperback). He tells the stories of the early Spanish missions\u2014most of them established in the 1700s by Franciscan priests\u2014focusing on those around Goliad, El Paso, and San Antonio as well as Central and West Texas and the Panhandle.<\/p>\n

The book includes a number of photographs but cries out for more and larger pictures, as well as maps and lists to make it more accessible to the general reader.<\/p>\n

Glenn Dromgoole\u2019s<\/span> latest book is West Texas Stories<\/span><\/a><\/span>Contact him at g.dromgoole@suddenlink.net.<\/p>\n

>> Read his past Texas Reads columns in Lone Star Literary Life here.<\/a><\/span><\/h1>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Texas Reads>> archiveGlenn Dromgoole 2.12.2017\u00a0\u00a0 Texas A&M women\u2019s basketball coach tells his story With college basketball\u2019s March Madness just around the corner, Texas A&M women\u2019s coach Gary Blair tells his story in a very engaging style in A Coaching Life (Texas A&M University Press, $29.95 hardcover). Blair has been a highly successful college coach for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}