Texas Historical and Literary Blogs

Hot off the electric press, as the August issue of "Will's Texana Monthly: Reviews, News and Electric Observations," is "Texas Historical and Literary Blogs," an annotated, illustrated, and categorized list of over 100 blogs "about" Texas.  The email attachment is illustrated and available free upon request.  The non-illustrated version is posted at TEXAS BLOG NOTES, http://texasblognotes.blogspot.com The categories include   Will's History, Literature, and Reference Blogs - Architectural Preservation & Appreciation - Book Agents, Editors, Publicists, Consultants, and Their Ilk - Book Reading Clubs & Book Companions - Book Reviews & News - Classroom Experiments - Commercial Expressions - Culturally Convergent with Historical or Literary Interests - Historical Interests & Projects - Historical Museums, Libraries, & Archives - Historical Organizations - History via Newspaper Blogs - Literate Writers - Literate Naturalists - Literary Organizations - Oozing Toward Politics - Blog Cousins, The Fort Worth Museum Anomalies - Favorites, Bookmarks, and Subscriptions to Feeds - Starting a Blog -

Bordertown - Jeff Gusky, Ben Johnson

The Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture will sponsor BORDERTOWN on Tuesday October 7.  Their description begins below:   BORDERTOWN: THE ODYSSEY OF AN AMERICAN PLACE Dr. Jeffrey Gusky and Dr. Ben Johnson Dallas photographer Dr. Jeff Gusky and SMU historian Dr. Ben Johnson have just published through Yale University Press a new book that gives us a radically different way of viewing the U.S.-Mexico border, a region all too often the subject of thoroughly negative stereotypes.  In Bordertown: The Odyssey of an American Place, the authors focus on the small town of Roma, Texas, as an encompassing narrative about how the border has shaped and been shaped by American life.  Through Gusky's captivating black-and-white photographs and Johnson's accompanying text with its engaging personal accounts, Bordertown expresses the immediacy of the region and at the same time captures a powerful sense of the place as a microcosm of the American experience--Roma, Texas, as both distinct and familiar."     READMOREAT http://www.dallasinstitute.org/Programs/Fall%202008/bordertown.htm

History of Texas Music - Hartman

The Texas Observer offers a lengthy review: And the Beats Go On Michael Hoinski | August 22, 2008 | Books & the Culture - It begins: "Music has proved a wand of empowerment for the vast array of Texans who have wielded it. The state's native inhabitants ramped up their tribal music in part to free themselves from the incoming Spanish settlers. Later, Mexicans played conjunto to unburden themselves of the white man, while blacks played the blues as a way to loosen those same chains. Even the whites played music to free themselves—from their history, expectations self-imposed and otherwise, and in some cases their homelands. This between-the-lines conclusion—that music enables transcendence—grows out of Hartman's thesis: that Texas' ethnic diversity has engendered a musical cross-pollination that forms the backbone of American music." Hoinski also refers to "Rick Koster's Texas Music for a more colorful take and The Handbook of Texas Music, compiled by multiple editors" READ MORE  OF THIS OBSERVATION AT http://www.texasobserver.org/article.php?aid=2830

Finding Birds on the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail - Ted Eubanks, Bob Behrstock, and Seth Davidson

Book Review by Ro Wauer [Review begins] "Finding Birds on the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail is a very different kind of bird-finding book. My wife, Betty, who is not a serious birder, was impressed with the colorful, eye-catching page design. She found the scattered historical facts an interesting addition to a nature book. We think this is a book that would make a great Christmas present. The key purpose of the book, of course, for finding birds, is also very worthwhile. It not only includes all of the best ingredients of such a bird guide but also includes numerous highlights about wildlife other than just birds."  READ MORE FROM the Nature Writers of Texas at the August 27 posting http://texasnature.blogspot.com

Supreme Courtship - Christopher Buckley

The New York Times reports A Texas Babe to Join the Brethren (Any Dissenting Opinions?) By JANET MASLIN  Published: August 24, 2008   [Review begins] "Christopher Buckley's usual weapon of choice is a rapier, not a blunt instrument. But he usually writes satirically, while his new book is a broad farce. An anomalously funny thing happened to Mr. Buckley on his way to the "Supreme Courtship": nothing funny occurred to him. This is that rare occasion when Washington's wickedest wit takes aim at a humor-squelching comedic target." It's a novel from the William F. Buckley clan that once sported a Texas sheriff in the clan. READ MORE AT http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/25/books/25masl.html

Pastry Queen Christmas - Rebecca Rather with Alison Oresman

The Blogger News Network reports: Book Review: The Pastry Queen Christmas: Big-Hearted Holiday Entertaining Texas Style Posted on August 24th, 2008 by Kevin Tipple in All News, Book Reviews, Entertainment, Literary News, Reviews Read 261 times. [It begins] "Fredericksburg, Texas area resident Rebecca Rather, owner of the "Sweet Bakery and Cafe" since 1999 has created a very good holiday book full of Texas color and recipes. After an acknowledgment that thanks her customers as well as many others who helped in some way with her writing career, and an introduction that gives personal background, it is time for the recipes. Chapter One "Holiday Open House" starts with "Old-Fashioned Eggnog." Be warned, this isn't the kind of eggnog one buys in the grocery stores these days." READ MORE AT http://www.bloggernews.net/117389

Mexican Enough - Stephanie Griest

Texas Public Radio's "Texas Matters" August 15 show includes a segment on Stephanie Elizondo Griest's latest book Mexican Enough.  Give a listen.

http://www.tpr.org/programs/texasmatters.html

Houston Homicide - Bill Crider, Clyde Wilson

Houston Homicide by Bill Crider and Clyde Wilson

Posted on August 21st, 2008  by Kevin Tipple 

Review begins:  "Detective Sergeant Ted Stephens isn't bothered by the heat and humidity of Houston, Texas in the summer of 1969. Known to one and all as "Steve" he is bothered that his Lieutenant is shoving him onto a case assigned to other detectives. Lieutenant Bolce has his reasons and knowing the fact that Detective Wetsel is on the case explains at least part of it. Wetsel isn't one of the best in the Houston Police Department though he thinks he is the greatest thing since sliced bread."  READ MORE AT http://www.bloggernews.net/117338

Mexican Enough - Stephanie Griest

 'First Stop in the New World' by David Lida and 'Mexican Enough' by Stephanie Elizondo Griest: Fresh takes on an old country Sunday, August 17, 2008 By EDWARD NAWOTKA, a freelance writer in Houston.

Extract from Nawotka, "

In Mexican Enough, Stephanie Elizondo Griest describes how on Dec. 30, 2004, she, too, moved to Mexico, motivated by a need to resolve her conflicted feelings about her mixed ethnicity (her mother is Mexican, her father is from Kansas). A Corpus Christi native who rarely visited Mexico, Ms. Griest's goal is to learn Spanish and "Mexicanize" herself." ... READ MORE AT 

http://www.guidelive.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/books/stories/DN-bk_mexicombo_0817gl.ART.State.Bulldog.4d58b7d.html

Outrageous Texans - Mona Sizer

Glenn Dromgoole files a review in the Beaumont Enterprise

What Would Kinky Do?  By Glenn Dromgoole   August, 16, 2008

[He begins]  "Texas is not lacking for colorful characters - and author Mona Sizer has captured some of the most vivid in her new book, "Outrageous Texans," (Taylor Trade Publishing, $16.95 paperback).

Like these:

-- Janis Joplin, the Port Arthur singer.

-- Racehorse Haynes, the Houston defense lawyer.

-- Stanley Marsh III, the eccentric (odd but rich) Amarillo billionaire.

-- Texas Guinan, the exotic dancer who became a movie star during Prohibition.

-- Kinky Friedman, singer, author and political candidate." ....  READ MORE AT http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/ent-life/glenn_dromgoole__what_would_kinky_do__08-16-2008.html

Leather Maiden - Joe Lansdale

 'Leather Maiden' by Joe R. Lansdale: Iraq war vet comes home to a missing person's case

Sunday, August 17, 2008  Review By TOM DODGE / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News - NPR commentator Tom Dodge, www.tomdodge books.com, lives in Midlothian.

[The review begins] "Joe R. Lansdale's books can be hard-boiled, but this one is cracked at the shell. It's entertaining enough, being a naturalistic snapshot of small-town America. We can thank its narrator for that. It's always entertaining to hear the views of an alcoholic, sex-addicted, obsessive-compulsive misfit."  [Another extract is] "Booger is maniacally happy, amoral but ethical. When he kills people he cleans up afterward. But despite his ethics and neatness he's a psychopath, and Cason, being only neurotic and unstable, still believes in the Land of the Happy Neighborhoods. In fact, driving down the highway, he sees his East Texas hometown of Camp Rapture appearing in the mist as the Emerald City."   READ MORE from the Moaning News at   http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/stories/DN-bk_leathermaiden_0817gl.ART.State.Bulldog.4d571ca.html

SHQ Book Reviews Jan 2008

Southwestern Historical Quarterly Book Reviews of January 2008 

Following the Royal Road:  A Guide to the Historic Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, by Hal Jackson. Rev. by Rick Hendricks, SHQ Jan 2008 p344-5

El gran Norte de Mexico:  Una frontera imperial en la Nueva Espana, by Alredo Jimenez. Rev by Joanquin Rivaya-Martinez, SHQ Jan 2008 p345-6.

Cherokee Nation in the Civil War, by Clarissa Confer.  Rev by Andrew Frank, SHQ Jan 2008 p348-9.

Rise and Fall of the Confederacy:  The Memoir of Senator Williamson S. Oldham, ed. by Clayton Jewett. Rev by Antonio Thompson, SHQ Jan 2008 p349-51.

Dance of Freedom:  Texas African Americans during Reconstruction, by Barry Crouch. Rev by Rebecca Kosary, SHQ Jan 2008 p351-2

Getting Away With Murder, by Bill Neal. Rev by David Reichard SHQ Jan 2008 p354-5

Lone Star Lawmen: The Second Century of the Texas Rangers, by Robert Utley, Rev by Stephen Moore, SHQ Jan 2008 p357-8.

Cowboy:  Juan Salinas, Rodeo Roper and Horseman by Ricardo Palacios. Rev by Thomas Britten, SHQ Jan 2008 p358-9

River Walk:  The Epic Story of San Antonio's River, by Lewis Fisher, Rev. by Tim Dravies, SHQ Jan 2008 p359-60.

Ross Sterling, A Memoir by the Founder of the Humble Oil and Refining Company, ed by Don Carleton, Rev by George Green, SHQ Jan 2008 p360-1.

Barn Burning Barn Burning:  Lesson of Lone Star Politics that Can Improve Our Country's Future, by Ben Barnes.  Rev by James Cousar, SHQ Jan 2008 p362-3.

Mestizo in America:  Generations of Mexican Ethnicity in the Suburban Southwest, by Thomas Macias.  Rev by Roberto Calderon, SHQ Jan 2008 p363-4.

Legacy:  Fifty Years of Loving Care, Texas Children's Hospital, By Betsy Parish, Rev by Watson Arnold, SHQ Jan 2008 p365-6.

Jim Bowie, by Robert Hollman, Rev by James Crisp, SHQ Jan 2008 p366-7

Juan Seguin, by Robert Hollman, Rev by James Crisp, SHQ Jan 2008 p366-7.

Will Howard 12618 Ashcroft, Houston Tx 77035 Cell:832-633-0595 Home:713-728-1981
Publisher, Wills Texana Monthly, subscribe at willstexana@yahoo.com
Host, Texas Parlor, a blog at http://texasparlor.blogspot.com/
Host, Texas Bookshelf, a blog at http://texasbookshelf.blogspot.com/
Host, Young Texas Reader, a blog at http://youngtexasreader.blogspot.com/
Who is Will Howard? http://texasparlor.blogspot.com/2006/07/who-is-will-howard-texas-bibliographer.html

Your Blogger Blathering Bibliographically

ED BLACKBURN at TEXANA REVIEW, a podcasting blog of note, cornered me a couple of times over the last year regarding "Just what are you doing?"  Ed's from the "Blackburns of Houston," a family known for their Texas publications (his dad, Ed, Sr., recently went to jail, err, actually went to many jails across Texas to collect information on his book about jails of Texas), and his mother Sadie, well, Sadie, keeps most of us in line. 

Anyway, Ed found me with his an inquiring mind and a tape recorder in hand, first at the Buffalo Grill and then at St. Paul's UMC.  He said he reduced our two hours to 20 minutes, a testament to his editorial dedication and skills.  If what I say makes sense, it's because of Ed's editing. Listen to Ed and me at:

 

"Will Howard: becoming a less well-kept secret on Texana"

http://texanareview.typepad.com/posts/2008/08/will-howard-tal.html

Lisa Wingate, Christian novelist - Interview

Area novelist to sign new books   Click-2-Listen

By Carl Hoover, Tribune-Herald entertainment editor

Article begins:  "Clifton novelist Lisa Wingate and her husband Sam only have two sons, but she's responsible for creating dozens of new lives in Texas in her 10 books.

She's added some more this year with the publication of two new books, Talk of the Town and A Month of Summer, one released by the Christian publisher Bethany House, the other by Penguin Group's NAL Accent.

Talk introduces readers to Mandalay Florentino, the harried television producer of "American Megastar," who's stuck in small-town Daily, Texas, while organizing a hometown concert for finalist Amber Anderson. There's also 60-something Imogene Doll, a Daily cafe waitress and daughter of the town's former mayor.

Wingate's more-serious A Month of Summer adds troubled Los Angeles attorney Rebecca Macklin, who flies in to Dallas to care for her father with Alzheimer's disease and mentally retarded stepbrother, and Hanna Beth Parker, Rebecca's estranged stepmother, whose mind remains active though a stroke has left her speechless in a nursing home...."  READ MORE FROM the Waco Tribune at

http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/08/09/08092008wacWingatebook.html

John H. Manford - Interview

"A Conversation With John H. Manfold Author of El Tigre: The Life and Times of El Tigre Viejo" - an interview from the American Chronicle begins:

"John is a retired professor and scientific journal editor. He is the author of several textbooks, a lexicon in four languages and now novels that often require extensive research. He provides coaching on various types and phases of writing. He is active in Cowboy Action Shooting and Cowboy Fast Draw. 

Good day John and thanks for participating in our interview.

John:  I thank you, and am most pleased to have the opportunity to do so.

Norm:  When did you first consider yourself a writer?

John: I really am not sure I ever have stopped to think about it. I realize that today there seems to be a great concentration on fitting a person into a specific niche, and there is an almost frightening desire to attain the status of ´a published author´. This is fine, as long as it is enjoyable, and one is aware of the work that follows in marketing the product. But to answer the question, I go back a long way to when there still was belief in the Renaissance way of life. Writing was something that was part of my lecturing, researching and consulting. I enjoyed, and ´just did it´.  

Norm:  What do you see as the influences on your writing? 

John: I love action, sports, and history. ....."  READ MORE AT http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/70854

U.S. Mexico Border - David Danelo

The U.S. Mexico Border: A walk on the wild sides

Aug 7th 2008  A review from The Economist print edition

 

[The reveiw begins] "IT IS hard not to like David Danelo, a marine turned journalist and author. In the three months he spends travelling the length of America's southern border, from the Gulf of Mexico in the east to the shores of California in the west, he displays a pleasing concern for almost everyone except politicians and drug pushers.

As a former military man, Mr Danelo understands the hard-pressed officers of the Border Patrol, but he sympathises also with ordinary Mexicans lured to America by the dream of prosperity. To him, illegal immigrants are often nothing more than brave pioneers in search of a better life. He understands too the anguish of Americans who feel swamped by a rising tide of narcotics-fuelled violence. Nothing is easy about immigration, or borders."  READ MORE ABOUT IT http://www.economist.com/books/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11880221 

Author David Danelo is from Austin. 

Rivers of Way - Eric Flint

Trooper York identifies as the principal in an alternative history, 1812 The Rivers of Way by Eric Flint.  It covers Sam Houston, Andrew Jackson and the Cherokee nation at the time of the Trail of Tears.  Follow-up volume is 1824 The Arkansas War.

 

http://trooperyork.blogspot.com/2008/08/my-top-ten-alternative-history-novels.html

Will Howard 12618 Ashcroft, Houston Tx 77035 Cell:832-633-0595 Home:713-728-1981
Publisher, Wills Texana Monthly, subscribe at willstexana@yahoo.com
Host, Texas Parlor, a blog at http://texasparlor.blogspot.com/
Host, Texas Bookshelf, a blog at http://texasbookshelf.blogspot.com/
Host, Young Texas Reader, a blog at http://youngtexasreader.blogspot.com/
Who is Will Howard? http://texasparlor.blogspot.com/2006/07/who-is-will-howard-texas-bibliographer.html

Places Left Unfinished at the Time of Creation - John Santos

Caravana de recuerdos- ROMANCE STUDIES & FILM•ESTUDIOS ROMÁNICOS Y EL CINE - leaves a review of John Philip Santos' intriguing volume, a National Book Award winner with a Texas connection.

http://caravanaderecuerdos.blogspot.com/2008/04/places-left-unfinished-at-time-of.html  http://www.penguinputnam.com/

Bounty Hunter - Dan Price

OUR TRIBUNE reviews a Western volume:

Monday, August 04, 2008  by Stephanie Meza

 

"Writing is a hobby for Dan Price, and "Bounty Hunter" will be his first published book. This fiction novel is set in the 1800s and will appeal to anyone, young or old, who loves westerns.

Expect to go back to the American Old West with this read, where Bounty Hunter Dan Jennings gets in a tangle with outlaws, Indians, and romance. Dan has a knack for rounding up wanted outlaws, but his pursuit of a killer named Blake Monroe leads him to the ultimate test. Sure, Dan has high hopes after meeting Jennifer Blackburn, a rancher's daughter, but little does he know what lies further along his journey. He suffers at the hands of Apache Indians in order to prove his courage to not only the tribe, but to White Feather, whose bond with Dan creates a love conflict."  READ MORE AT http://ourtribune.com/article.php?id=4252

Decades of Caring

Fort Worth Star Telegram review:

UT-Arlington students write book about Moncrief

By JOHN AUSTIN  jaustin@star-telegram.com

"They like Mike.w

The folks behind Decades of Caring: A Chronicle of the Political Life of Mike Moncrief, that is.

"I'm a cynical little man," said Allan Saxe, an associate professor of political science at the University of Texas at Arlington who supervised the student project, "but if I see someone who's nice and kind, I just melt."

Eight undergraduates spent the spring semester researching and writing the book on Moncrief's career as a state representative, Tarrant County judge, state senator and current Fort Worth mayor. The book will be about 85 pages long and cost about $32. It is slated for publication in September."  READ MORE AT   http://www.star-telegram.com/855/story/805258.html

Moon Pies and Movie Stars -

The Monsters and Critics fiction section reviews Moon Pies and Movie Stars:  It begins:  "A feisty Texas momma takes on Hollywood in this "funny and engaging" debut novel Ruby Kincaid has her hands full running her bowling alley, wrangling her pistol of a sister Loralva, and chasing after two grandchildren abandoned by her daughter Violet. When she sees Violet in a TV commercial, Ruby vows: it's Hollywood or bust"and packs up the Winnebago to fetch her wayward daughter. Along for the ...  "  more

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/books/fiction/reviews/article_1421089.php/Book_Review_Moon_Pies_and_Movie_Stars

The Bottoms - Joe Landsdale

"Adolescent Literature" reviews Joe Lansdale's The Bottoms

 

The review begins: "Joe Lansdale's novel The Bottoms is presented as a reflection of an elderly retired sheriff on the heinous murders that occurred in his town as a child. The story follows the exploits of a 12 year old Harry and his little sister Tom as they try to unravel these gruesome murders and make sense of the raging race violence in a small east Texas town. The story begins with Harry and Tom finding a dead body of naked black woman tied to the tree in woods by their house." READ MORE AT http://adolescentlybooked.blogspot.com/2008/07/bottoms-lansdale-j.html

Mary Connealy - Interview

From the "Christian Writer's World" we learn that

Mary is [t]here to promote her second book in the Lasooed in Texas series.

The interview begins

"Welcome, Mary. Why do you write the kind of books you do?

I wrote for a long time before I got published, Lena. I wrote in many genres and had a lot of fun doing it. Petticoat Ranch is just the one that finally hit. So I'm thrilled to keep writing in that genre. I really love the voice of westerns. I love having my hero kick the dust and adjust his Stetson and say, "I reckon." 

But Barbour, bless them, wants the historical romantic comedy series, but they've also let me write for their cozy mystery line and Heartsong Presents, which I'm doing a contemporary three book series for. So I'm getting to write in those different styles and I love it."

Orphan - Harry Haines

Review in "Mystery Books" begins

 

"Orphan by Harry Haines
Non-series  Mayhaven Publishing (Hardcover)  ISBN-10: 1-932278-56-7 (1932278567)
ISBN-13: 978-1-932278-56-9 (9781932278567)  Publication Date: June 2008  List Price: $26.95

Synopsis (from the publisher): In a horrific vehicular accident twenty miles west of Amarillo, Texas, veterinarian James Robert Masterson steps out into the night to find the sole survivor is a very young colt. As there is no one to take charge of the frightened animal, Masterson agrees to take him home to his ranch in Bushland, Texas. He and his wife tend "Orphan," never dreaming he will play a significant role in their daughter's life—and in theirs."

READ MORE AT

http://www.mystery-books.com/2008/07/mystery-book-review-orphan-by-harry.html

My Life in Texas - Dolph Briscoe & Don Carleton

BOOK REVIEW from Austin Statesman

Dolph Briscoe's 'My Life in Texas Ranching and Politics': memorable memoir

The former governor's memoir is full of good stories about his years in office, but it's the tales of his days working the land that really shine

By Rich Oppel SPECIAL TO THE AMERICAN-STATESMAN Sunday, August 03, 2008

[The review begins:}  "If you puzzle over what makes Texas tick, read this quietly appealing book by a pioneering southwest Texas rancher who served as the state's governor from 1973 to 1979.

In 1999, historian Don Carleton began lengthy oral interviews with former Gov. Dolph Briscoe. Their collaboration continued until last year. Briscoe was not dealing with a novice. Carleton, executive director of the American History Center at the University of Texas, previously collaborated on books with Walter Cronkite and Waco entrepreneur Bernard Rapoport.

Briscoe's recollections of his years as governor are insightful. Yet the political tales of a conservative Democrat now out of office 30 years aren't nearly as rich as his accounts of eight years as a young, progressive Texas House member, and working as a Uvalde rancher who gathered up tens of thousands of acres of ranch land and fought to kill off the horrible screwworm.

Many colorful political figures walk the pages of this book, and Briscoe is tough on some, especially President Jimmy Carter and former House Speaker Price Daniel Jr. But he is at heart a gentleman, and if you like rancorous political biography out to settle scores, this book is not for you."  .... READ MORE AT http://www.statesman.com/life/content/life/stories/books/08/03/0803briscoe.html

Antique Maps of Fort Worth, 1849-1950 - Pete Charlton

A review from Michael Price's Fort Worth Business Press' column, Lone Star Library:  A digital treasure-trove of antique Texas maps

BY MICHAEL H. PRICE   July 29, 2008 [ It begins ]

Antique Maps of Texas, Vol.  2: Antique Maps of Fort Worth 1849–1950, compiled by Pete Charlton (Electric Books; $20)

Pete Charlton's Electric Books dates from 1997 as a Fort Worth-based publisher of a well-received collection of antique maps of Texas, Indian Territory and the Southwest in general. Charlton's best-of-both-worlds fusion of antiquity and digital modernity allows the compact packaging of such documents in CD-ROM editions — in addition to large-scale prints reproducing such maps.

The newly issued Antique Maps of Texas, Vol. 2: Antique Maps of Fort Worth 1849-1950 serves to launch a series of CD-ROM editions that will focus on specific groups of maps and views."....  READ MORE OF THE REVIEW AT http://www.fwbusinesspress.com/display.php?id=8100

Dallas Citizens Council - Darwin Payne

 Book review in Dallas Morning News

Author doesn't throw book at Dallas Citizens Council

09:47 PM CDT on Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Review by JAMES RAGLAND

{Review begins}  The Dallas Citizens Council still holds considerable sway.

It's just more open about it.

But few folks know how the organization, once a clandestine club of elite businessmen who got things done, evolved from an "oligarchy" of white businessmen to a diverse cabal of nearly 200 chieftains.

In his new book – Dallas Citizens Council: An Obligation of Leadership – Darwin Payne ushers us behind the curtains, letting readers see how the gears have been turning for 70 years and counting.

Let's be clear. This isn't a titillating, tell-all tale of an organization long given credit and blame for transforming Dallas into the city it is today, for better or worse. (Make that for better and worse.)"

Ragland, the reviewer also one of Payne's several other books, Big D: Triumphs and Troubles of an American Supercity in the 20th Century.

 READ MORE HERE

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/localnews/columnists/jragland/stories/073008dnmetragland.3cd620d.html

Midian, Marshall, and Me - Jerome Davis

Book review excerpt from News Messenger:

Marshall native to speak about book during two events
Click-2-Listen

By JAY NEAL, News Messenger

Monday, July 28, 2008

"Former broadcaster, public relations official and media relations director turned author, Jerome Davis, will return to Marshall Thursday for two appearances.

He will first address the Marshall Rotary Club at its noon luncheon while capping off the day as a guest of Friends of a Library where he will appear at a book signing while also visiting with the public. The event is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Gold Room of the Marshall Public Library.

"Midian, Marshall & Me," a historical novel released in March, is the title of Davis' first work that is described on the Trafford.com Web site, the book's publisher, as "a book (that) relates the history of Marshall, Texas, its role in the nation's civil rights movement, and the survival of a friendship between a white boy and a black boy during the turbulent years after Brown vs. Board of Education."

"I grew up not understanding why people thought the way they thought," Davis said ...."

READ MORE AT http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/featr/content/features/stories/2008/072908_WEB_author.html

Seattle Disapproves of "Greater Tuna"

'Greater Tuna' needs fewer snide asides, more love

A Seattle Post - Intelligencer reveiws begins thusly:

By GIANNI TRUZZI  SPECIAL TO THE P-I

"When Joe Sears and Jaston Williams first brought the pan-fried residents of fictional Tuna to the stage, it was considered an amusing portrayal of a picaresque small Texas town. In hindsight, it was a warning.

 

Coming from Austin, an island of political blue in the state, they knew quite well the people they originated in gender-bending, quick-change style. In Tuna, the Lions Club is too liberal, and a school essay titled "Human Rights: Why Bother?" wins first prize. This is a town where the BBB ("Better Baptists Bureau") fills a committee to "snatch books off the shelves of high school libraries to protect the minds of the children," and believes youth violence is caused by "working parents who put their kids into day care." "

It runs at the  secondstoryrep.org

READ MORE snooty criticism at http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/theater/372514_tuna29q.html 

PLAYWRIGHTS: Joe Sears, wJaston Williams and Ed Howard may survive.