{"id":999,"date":"2018-12-31T15:10:01","date_gmt":"2018-12-31T15:10:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=999"},"modified":"2018-12-31T15:10:01","modified_gmt":"2018-12-31T15:10:01","slug":"lone-star-reviewsmichelle-newby-nbcc-77","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=999","title":{"rendered":"Lone Star ReviewsMichelle Newby, NBCC,"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/span><\/span>Lone Star Reviews<\/span>Michelle Newby, NBCC,<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n

Contributing Editor<\/span><\/h1>\n
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POLITICS\/BIOGRAPHY<\/p>\n

Janet M. Neugebauer<\/p>\n

A Witness to History: George H. Mahon, West Texas Congressman<\/p>\n

Texas Tech University Press<\/p>\n

Hardcover, 978-0-8967-2988-9, $45.00<\/p>\n

Reviewed by Si Dunn<\/p>\n

Weighing in nearly 2.5 pounds and 576 pages, this impressive political biography<\/span> of U.S. Representative George H. Mahon should be engrossing summer reading for policy wonks and aficionados of twentieth-century American politics. General readers also likely will enjoy learning more about the legendary West Texas Democrat from Colorado City.<\/p>\n

A Witness to History: George H. Mahon, West Texas Congressman<\/span> deftly tells the story of how a tall, strong-voiced young man became a \u201ccountry lawyer,\u201d thanks to a loan from a sympathetic judge, and later one of the most powerful and longest serving leaders on Capitol Hill.>>READ MORE<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/span><\/span><\/span>Texas Reads<\/span>Glenn Dromgoole<\/span><\/h1>\n

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\u00a0UNT Press offers wide range of Texas titles<\/h1>\n

The University of North Texas Press, founded thirty years ago,<\/span> has published more than 300 titles and continues to turn out quality general interest and scholarly books on Texas history and culture, military history, and other topics. The press has an excellent series of biographies of early-day Texas Rangers.<\/p>\n

Director Ron Chrisman<\/span> capably oversees the operation that produces about fifteen books a year. Here are a few recently published titles:<\/p>\n

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Rounded Up in Glory: Frank Reaugh, Texas Renaissance Man<\/span><\/a><\/span> by Michael R. Grauer<\/span> is the first full-length biography of Reaugh (pronounced Ray) who lived from 1860 to 1945 and is often considered \u201cthe dean of Texas artists.\u201d The 460-page book ($39.95 hardcover) includes a color plate section featuring fourteen of Reaugh\u2019s paintings of cowboys, cattle drives and western landscapes. Grauer is curator of the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum in Canyon, which holds the largest public collection of Reaugh\u2019s work.<\/p>\n

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Single Star of the West: The Republic of Texas, 1836\u20131845<\/span><\/a><\/span> is a collection of sixteen essays by noted Texas historians about the nearly ten-year period when Texas was a fledgling republic. The 550-page anthology, edited by Blinn College professors Kenneth W. Howell<\/span> and Charles Swanlund<\/span> ($34.95 hardcover), is a literary gold mine for readers interested in early Texas history. Essays cover economic, political and military topics and personalities as well as social and cultural matters dealing with women, Indians, slavery, and religion in the republic.<\/p>\n

Graham Barnett: A Dangerous Man<\/span> by James L. Coffey, Russell M. Drake,<\/span> and Barnett\u2019s grandson, John T. Barnett,<\/span> is a biography of a legendary gunman and lawman who didn\u2019t always walk the fine line between law and outlaw ($29.95 hardcover). Born in 1890, Barnett gained the reputation of being \u201cthe most dangerous man with a gun in Texas\u201d in the 1920s and \u201830s. He was slain in a machine-gun blaze in Rankin in 1931. While Barnett was feared, he also was admired by many in West Texas as a \u201ctough guy with a good heart\u201d who \u201clived a life a little more intense and colorful than that of the people around him,\u201d Coffey writes.<\/p>\n

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Another colorful Texas character is profiled in The Notorious Luke Short: Sporting Man of the Wild West<\/span><\/a><\/span> by Jack DeMattos<\/span> and Chuck Parsons<\/span> ($29.95 hardcover). Short (1854\u20131893) was once described as \u201cthe cowboy by birth and training, the gambler by choice, and the slayer of men by force of circumstances.\u201d He made his reputation as a \u201csporting man\u201d in gambling halls in Dodge City, Tombstone, and Fort Worth and as a gunman in shootouts in Tombstone and Fort Worth. He was born in Arkansas and died in Fort Worth, where he is buried. The authors, both respected western historians, criticize two earlier books on Short as being more concerned with legend than with facts. They try to set the record straight in The Notorious Luke Short.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

>> <\/span>Check out his previous Texas Reads columns in Lone Star Lit<\/a><\/span>erary Life<\/span><\/h1>\n

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2017 Kids’ Summer Reading: Check it out!<\/h1>\n

sponsored by Blue Wilow Books<\/a><\/span>hop<\/h1>\n

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From read-to-me books to early readers,<\/span> chapter books to middle readers to YA, you\u2019ll find these terrific new titles at your neighborhood bookshop or online. >>READ MORE<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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LONE STAR LISTENS interviews\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>>> archive<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/h1>\n

Kay Ellington, Editor and Publisher<\/span><\/h1>\n

7.9.2017\u00a0 Jan Reid talks about his long career as journalist, biographer, and novelist<\/h1>\n

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Jan Reid has lived the quintessential life of a Texas writer <\/span>\u2014 born in West Texas, raised in Wichita Falls, and a Dobie Paisano fellow following grad school at UT Austin. He was nurturing a fledging reporter\u2019s career at the New Braunfels newspaper when he pitched a few story ideas to a brand-new magazine called <\/span>Texas Monthly in 1973. Since then he has had a front row seat to history in the Lone Star State\u2014from the rise of Redneck Rock to the rise \u2014 and fall \u2014 of Ann Richards and Karl Rove. Reid himself was taken down by a robber\u2019s bullet in Mexico, but came back to walk and work again. Last week, he was in Marfa at an event with Joe Ely promoting his latest novel <\/span>The Sins of the Younger Sons <\/span>when he spoke with us via email for this interview.<\/span><\/p>\n

LONE STAR LITERARY LIFE:<\/span> For a generation of Texans, <\/span>Texas Monthly<\/span> was their Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Faulkner all delivered in their mailbox\u2014long-form wordsmithing that spoke truth to power. How did you get the call to join the storied publication?<\/span><\/p>\n

JAN REID:<\/span> In early 1973 I was a few months out of graduate school, writing well enough but just learning the craft of reporting at small newspapers. On my way to such a job at the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung, <\/span>I heard about Texas Monthly<\/span> and dropped off a couple of unpublished nonfiction pieces. They had formed the staff but not brought out their first issue. To my great surprise some days later I got a short note from Greg Curtis,<\/span> who had been Bill Broyles\u2019s<\/span> first hire and later succeeded him as the magazine\u2019s most long-standing editor in chief. Greg said they couldn\u2019t use those pieces but they liked my writing and hoped I would get back to them if I had any ideas. I did, initially for a brief story about a San Antonio \u201cice house\u201d robbery, a hundred-mile shootout with TV copters trying to follow, and a wild chase that ended with a hundred bullet holes just in the dead driver\u2019s door after a rollover in New Braunfels.\u00a0 >>READ MORE<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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Texas’s only statewide, weekly calendar of book events<\/h1>\n

Bookish Texas<\/span> event highlights\u00a0 7.9.2017
<\/span>>><\/span><\/a><\/span> GO this week\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Michelle Newby, Contributing Editor<\/span><\/h1>\n
SPECIAL EVENTS THIS WEEK: Kilgore, Nacogdoches, Austin, Fort Worth, Archer City, Arlington, Tyler, Waco, Irving<\/span><\/span><\/span>DALLAS\u00a0 Mon, July 10<\/span>\u00a0 Interabang Books, Beatriz Williams reads and signs COCOA BEACH, 7PM<\/span><\/span><\/span>AUSTIN\u00a0 Tues., July 11<\/span>\u00a0 BookPeople, Story time: Local author Emma Virj\u00e1n is here to read her newest Pig in a Wig book, What This Story Needs is a Vroom and a Zoom, 10:30AM<\/span><\/span><\/span>HOUSTON\u00a0 Tues., July 11<\/span>\u00a0 Fix Coffeebar, Poetry Fix featuring Loueva Smith and Elina Petrova, 6:30PM<\/span><\/span><\/span>DALLAS\u00a0 Wed., July 12\u00a0 <\/span>Highland Park United Methodist Church, Authors Live!: Becky Aikman discusses and signs Off the Cliff: How the Making of Thelma and Louise Drove Hollywood to the Edge (in conversation with Chris Vognar of the Dallas Morning News), 7PM<\/span><\/span><\/span>AUSTIN\u00a0 Thurs., July 13 <\/span>\u00a0 BookWoman, Second Thursday Poetry Open Mic featuring Jonathan Moody, hosted by Cindy Huyser, 7:15PM<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>SAN ANTONIO\u00a0 Thurs., July 13 The Twig Book Shop, David Tomlinson reads and signs The Midnight Man, 5PM<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>SEABROOK\u00a0 Thurs., July 13\u00a0 Harris County Public Library – Evelyn Meador, Storyteller Jean Donatto presents \u201cThis Train is Bound for Story,\u201d 2:30PM<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>AUSTIN\u00a0 Fri., July 14<\/span>\u00a0 Malvern Books, celebrate the launch of the debut issue of Kallisto Gaia Press\u2019 literary journal, The Ocotillo Review, 7PM<\/span><\/span><\/span>PORT NECHES\u00a0 Fri., July 14\u00a0 Fleur Fine Books, Rachel Caine meet & greet and book signing, 5PM<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>EL PASO\u00a0 Sat., July 15\u00a0 Sunland Park, The Broken Spoke signing and talk with Donna Marie Miller, 2PM<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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News Briefs 7.9.17<\/h1>\n

Archer City Story Center offers two workshops in July<\/h1>\n

ARCHER CITY \u2014 The Archer City Story Center is offering two workshops<\/span> in July. \u201cWriting the Non-Fiction Book Proposal\u201d will be held July 14\u201316, 2017, and \u201cLiterary Nonfiction Workshop\u201d runs from Sun., July 23 through Sun., July 30.<\/p>\n

The Archer City Story Center is a program of the Royal Theater, a non-profit theater group operating in Archer City since 1993 with its first production, Tumbleweeds.<\/span> The Royal Theater, a small-town silver screen, was the inspiration for Larry McMurtry’s<\/span> 1966 novel The Last Picture Show,<\/span> which was adapted into the Oscar-winning 1971 film starring Cybill Shepherd<\/span> and Jeff Bridges.<\/span> A fire gutted the theater in 1965 and the building stood in ruins for decades before being rebuilt by the Archer Community Foundation in 2000. The new theater sits adjacent to the original space, which now houses outdoor amphitheater programs.<\/p>\n

In its new life, the 230-seat theater quickly became a leader in North Texas and beyond as a listening and live performance venue as well as a gathering spot for the arts. For generations, the Royal Theater has been more than the symbol of an iconic book and movie. It has been the soul of the town, a place for the community to gather with, as McMurtry once said, “something to do.”\u00a0 >>READ MORE<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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Texas authors, performers featured at Texas Plains Trail Region Roundup, July 19\u201321, in Plainview<\/h1>\n

PLAINVIEW\u2014The 9th annual Tourism & Preservation Roundup,<\/span> a heritage tourism conference presented by the Texas Plains Trail Region, will feature authors Joe W. Specht<\/span> on West Texas music history and Ryann Ford,<\/span> creator and photographer of The Last Stop,<\/span> during its three days of programming, July 19\u201321, 2017, in Plainview.<\/p>\n

Destination marketers, museum workers, parks personnel, elected officials, and followers of Texas history are all welcome. Registration for the full conference, which includes:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Wednesday afternoon tour of the Jimmy Dean Museum and other museums on the Wayland Baptist University campus, 400\u20135:30 pm;<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span>\u2022 Wednesday evening reception (cash bar) and barbecue banquet at the Plainview Country Club, with a talk on West Texas music heritage by historian Joe W. Specht,<\/span> author of The Roots of Texas Music<\/span> and The Women There Don’t Treat You Mean: Abilene in Song,<\/span> preceded by Texas piano stylings of Lucy Dean Record<\/span> and cowboy poetry performances by students of Boys Ranch<\/span>, beginning at 5:30 pm;<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span>\u2022 Thursday morning and afternoon sessions on museums, historic highways, trails, and more, including a presentation by Ryann Ford<\/span> on The Last Stop: Vanishing Rest Stops of the American Roadside;<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Thursday lunch with a program on the new Texas Music Trail;<\/p>\n

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<\/span><\/span>\u2022 Thursday evening performance at the Fair Theatre, with actress Zoe Kirkpatrick of Post as Cynthia Ann Parker in the late Marybeth Little Weston\u2019s one-woman show \u201cThe Comanche with Blue Eyes\u201d, 7:00 pm;<\/p>\n

\u2022 Friday hands-on session on publicizing your community\u2019s music heritage, 9:00\u201311:00 am.<\/p>\n

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\u2022\u00a0Vicki Hamblen,<\/span> author of the revised edition of E. Hamblen\u2019s<\/span> The Rim to Rim Road: Will Hamblen and the Crossing of Texas’ Palo Duro Canyon,<\/span> will also be on hand to sign copies of her book, publishedin 2014 by Texas Plains Trail Books.<\/p>\n

The all-inclusive registration fee (dinner and lunch included) is only $99.00. Tickets to \u201cThe Comanche with Blue Eyes\u201d are only $10 ($15 at the door). Special hotel rates are available at the Comfort Suites for overnight guests.<\/p>\n

A full schedule of all presentations, sessions, and activities is at \/www.TexasPlainsTrail\/Roundup<\/span><\/a><\/span>, along with online reservation and ticket reservations.\u00a0 >>READ MORE<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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Marfa to host first Poetry Festival Aug. 9\u201313<\/h1>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/span>The first annual Marfa Poetry Festival<\/span>\u2014organized by Canarium Books and friends and hosted by Marfa Book Company and Hotel Saint George\u2014will begin the evening of August 9 and end the afternoon of August 13, 2017. There will be readings, a book fair, film screenings, exhibitions, conversations, live music, and more. All events are free and open to the public. >>READ MORE<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Cortez, Vanishing Points garner prestigious awards<\/a><\/span><\/h1>\n

wards in the U.S. celebrating achievements in Latino literature.\u00a0 >>READ MORE<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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\u00a0\u2014\u2014\u00ad\u2014\u2014\u2014 A D V E R T I S E M E N T \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n

Lone Star Listens compilation available Aug. 1, for readers, fans, and writers everywhere<\/h1>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/span>The present generation of Texas authors<\/span> is the most diverse ever in gender, age, and ethnicity, and in subject matter as well.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

Lone Star Listens:<\/p>\n

Texas Authors on Writing and Publishing<\/p>\n

edited by Kay Ellington and Barbara Brannon; introduction by<\/p>\n

Clay Reynolds<\/p>\n

Available in trade paper, library hardcover, and ebook Fall 2017<\/p>\n

360 pages, with b\/w illustrations and index<\/p>\n

Featuring novelists, poets, memoirists, editors, and publishers, including:<\/p>\n

Rachel\u00a0 Caine \u2022 Chris\u00a0 Cander \u2022 Katherine\u00a0 Center \u2022 Chad S. Conine \u2022 Sarah\u00a0 Cortez \u2022 Elizabeth\u00a0 Crook \u2022 Nan\u00a0 Cuba \u2022 Carol\u00a0 Dawson \u2022 Patrick\u00a0 Dearen \u2022 Jim Donovan \u2022\u00a0Mac Engel \u2022 Sanderia\u00a0 Faye \u2022 Carlos Nicol\u00e1s Flores \u2022 Ben Fountain \u2022 Jeff\u00a0 Guinn \u2022 Stephen\u00a0 Harrigan \u2022 Cliff\u00a0 Hudder \u2022 Stephen Graham Jones \u2022 Kathleen Kent \u2022 Joe R. Lansdale \u2022 Melissa Lenhardt \u2022 Attica Locke \u2022 Nikki\u00a0 Loftin \u2022 Thomas\u00a0 McNeely \u2022 Leila\u00a0 Meacham \u2022 John\u00a0 Pipkin \u2022 Joyce Gibson Roach \u2022 Antonio\u00a0 Ruiz-Camacho \u2022 Lisa\u00a0 Sandlin \u2022 Donna\u00a0 Snyder \u2022 Mary Helen Specht \u2022 Jodi\u00a0 Thomas \u2022 Amanda Eyre Ward \u2022 Ann\u00a0 Weisgarber \u2022 Donald Mace Williams<\/p>\n

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\u2014and a great Texas reference volume.<\/p>\n