Joe Nick Patoski

For about four decades Joe Nick Patoski has been writing and radioing about Texas.  Consequently, his blog "Notes and Musings" is replete with Texana worth reading.  It's strong on music, and Joe Nick has an abiding interest in the land. Sample entries of February are TCU Texas Book Award Texas Land Trust Conference Willie's Place at Carl's Corner Listen to Jalapeno Radio Live Saving Radio Jalapeno KEDA Burns The Ballad of El Molino Bill Mack on WIllie's Place NPR Does Marfa (and so does JNP) He introduces himself with "Y'all come in and take a look around. Have your enjoys. If you have any specific questions, or want to know more about why it's so dang hot in Texas, where the best spring water swimming is, hidden hidey holes of Mexico, the origins of alt country, why radio is the way it is, or other semi-arcane subjects, send an e-mail. I'll write back. --Joe Nick "

Judy Alter on Will Howard in Dallas Morning News

Last Sunday Judy Alter wrote in one of her occasional Dallas Morning News "Texas Letters" column about Will Howard, publisher of Will's Texana Monthy and host of the Texas Parlor etc.  Her kindness and generosity are exposed.  Thanks to Judy.  Hmm, she surely knows how to put the carrot out in front of this bibliographer.  Read more at   http://www.guidelive.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/books/stories/DN-bk_alterhoward_0222gd.ART.State.Edition1.4c00ec8.html   Keep up with Judy at http://judys-stew.blogspot.com/

Buffalo Soldier Mutiny - documentary

D.L. Groover in the Houston Press writes an article on the documentary film.  It first aired on TV last year and is now making the rounds for special events.   Buffalo Soldier Mutiny: Houston, 1917 Memorial Park wasn't always a park — it was once an army camp, and horrible things happened there By D.L. Groover  It begins:  "  Riots, racism, police beatings, mob vengeance, political corruption, murder! No, we're not talking about Watts in the 1960s, but the most inglorious event in Houston history — the 1917 Riot. Five policemen, four soldiers and at least 11 private citizens were killed during the violence. Sparked by the unfair treatment of blacks, enlisted and civilian, black soldiers stationed at Houston's Camp Logan mutinied and marched on the city, where an angry mob of locals was waiting for them. (Camp Logan was situated on land that's currently Memorial Park.) The incident led to the eventual court-martial and execution of 19 black U.S. Army soldiers."   Filmmakers are Alan Berg, Larry Dickman, Eric Hanken and Mike Kaliski.  They used Robert Haynes's book A Night of Violence: The Houston Riot of 1917 and Celeste Bedford Walker's play Camp Logan. Read more at http://www.houstonpress.com/2009-02-19/calendar/buffalo-soldier-mutiny-houston-1917/ This was going on while Ferguson was being impeached.

Blacks in East Texas History - McDonald

News from Marshall, Texas, my hometown   Book signing tonight raises funds for the historical commission, library's Friends Click-2-Listen By ROBIN Y. RICHARDSON, News Messenger Monday, February 23, 2009 The article begins "Take a journey of the "black experience" in 19th century East Texas as Archie P. McDonald, co-editor of "Blacks in East Texas History," discusses the book during a book signing 6 p.m. today in the Gold Room at Marshall Public Library. "It really is a book for everybody," said local historian Gail Beil, whose article, "Melvin B. Tolson: Texas Radical," is featured in the book. The book consists of 12 articles about African-Americans in East Texas that were previously published in the East Texas Historical Journal. The Journal was founded in 1962 and began accepting articles on African-American history at a time when most scholarly journals refused to accept, publish or encourage the study of black history."   Read more at http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/featr/content/features/stories/2008/08/022409_web_book_signing.html

Peyote Milkshake Review etc

The Shepherdess at the Literary Lion Bookstore in downtown Stephenville ( http://www.belovedbookstore.com/ )  has a blog on her other MySpace spot.   She mentions in the blog a nest of poets under the title The Peyote Milkshake Review, a local poetry zine published by uber-lionhead Mike Snyder   Click her Yakshepherdess MySpace, then click on "View all blog entries," go to July 7, 2008 for further info on the Review http://www.myspace.com/yakshepherdess   The photo there should be enough to bring the lot in for treading on Darth Vader's bad reputation.   On a separate note, upstairs from the Lion is the Lone Star Library operated by Bob Dunn who self-describes his venture as "Combine one of the last of the full-service, family-owned bookstores with a huge, privately-owned collection of Texana, and something great is bound to happen. The Literary Lion, located in beautiful downtown Stephenville, Texas, has graciously provided space on the second floor of its century-old building to house the Lone Star Library. The Lone Star Library is open to the public, free of charge, during regular business hours. The collection covers all aspects of materials used to tell the story of the people and places that make up The Great State of Texas." Open his door at http://www.lonestarlibrary.com/

Texas Calendar

Cartoonist Roger Todd Moore, up out of Merkel, publishes a "Bona Fide Original Real" Texas Calendar. It starts with March the 2nd, Independence Day, but spills into 2010 for January and February, so it's twelve months. $8.00. On tan, 8 1/2 x 11 paper. Pre-punched hole at the top.

One or two cartoons emblazon the top of each month's page, and 4 to 6 days each month contain historical notes from the Revolution to modern times. Wimmen are often the target in the yeehaw jokes.

http://www.texascalendars.com/

Hiding Man - Daugherty

Tracy Daugherty's new book, Hiding Man: A Biography of Donald Barthelme,     KERA radio carries a review by Jerome Weeks of the Donald Barthelme biography.  Weeks begins straightforwardly.   "Donald Barthelme was one of the most influential, if not most important, writers to come out of Texas. A handful of modern American writers can be said to have shaped the art of the short story: Ernest Hemingway, Katherine Anne Porter, J. D. Salinger, Raymond Carver — and Donald Barthelme, the most startlingly unconventional of the lot. And the funniest. The man who made surrealism and dadaism mainstream in American fiction."   Read more at http://www.kera.org/blogs/culture/2009/02/23/donald-barthelme-come-back-dr-caligari/   If you think wrestling with Mickey Rourke could be an awkward but rewarding experience, just try reading Barthelme.  Some call him post-modernist,  some call him experimental.  But some of his writings, some based on his life's experience like the death of the father, and some based on his modest relation of how to properly develop Galveston real estate are easily Texana.  Sometimes you could think yourself back in 1st grade being careful while cuttinig out construction paper figures and eating the paste.   Other reviews http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/books/reviews/6266779.html   http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/05/AR2009020503220.html   http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123517681406837661.html   http://www.guidelive.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/books/stories/DN-bk_barthelme_0208gd.ART.State.Edition1.4c04c81.html   Or you could blithely go on your way, dismissing one of our greatest writers.

Where the Ox Does Not Plow - Peña

A Bimusical Mind Review by Sarah Wimer | February 20, 2009 | Books & the Culture The review begins:  "Like many Mexican-Americans from South Texas, Manuel Peña's family survived hard times working as migrant agricultural laborers. What makes Peña's story singular is that after becoming the first member of his immediate family to continue school past eighth grade, he went on to earn a doctorate in anthropology from the University of Texas at Austin and join the humanities faculty at California State University at Fresno."   Read more of Wimer's review at The Texas Observer http://www.texasobserver.org/article.php?aid=2967

Inside the Loop - Kinghorn

Jeffrey Kinghorn starts off a new mystery series.  Private investigator Ted Michell gets involved in murder and divorce inside loop 610 in Houston.  Where could he get such ideas?  To be followed by The Cutter.   http://store.hilliardandharris.com/index.html http://www.jeffreykinghorn.com/

Bees Nest & Dallas Literary - Vick

Literary Dallas.  Edited by Fran Vick.  TCU Press, 2008. Er, uh, the volume, 3rd in TCU Press' series, has caused a little stir in Big D.  Or was it those outsiders again influencing the fine citizenry who are guardians of the State Fair and the Cowboys.  It's a nice book and all (I paged through one at B&N).  Jane Summer reveiwed it for the Dallas News as Literary Dallas: Much here to praise, but collection fails to capture depth: November 30, 2008  By JANE SUMNER / Special Contributor, Dallas Morning News Jane Sumner, a freelance writer in Austin, worked at The News from 1980 to 2004. The review began:  "Perhaps it should come as no surprise that Literary Dallas, third in Texas Christian University Press' "literary cities" series, is not as much fun as Literary Fort Worth, or as "literary" as Literary Austin. After all, Dallas is not as much fun as Fort Worth, and Austin is crawling with published, prizewinning authors. There is much to enjoy in Literary Dallas, and editor Frances Vick has made some appropriate choices. But the former director of the University of North Texas Press might have cast her net wider and deeper."   hmmm, "not as much fun"   Read more of the review at http://www.guidelive.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/books/stories/DN-bk_literarydallas_1130gd.ART.State.Edition1.4a2c438.html   Well, Fran decided the effort of the volume had not been fully appreciated by Jane, and as it turned out separately Mike Merschal of the News' "Texas Pages" blog contacted Fran for a Q&A session where Fran gave a good interview, " 'Literary Dallas' editor Fran Vick speaks," but wasn't quite able to express her opinion of Jane's review in that venue.  The email Q&A posting begins as: "What surprised you most in the compiling of this book? How much material there was out there. I was still finding things after I turned in the already large manuscript. There are some Dallas writers who are not in here and should be and I apologize for that. I ran out of time and also out of space." That  Q&A is at http://booksblog.guidelive.com/archives/2008/11/literary-dallas-editor-fran-vi.html following which Judy declares that the book was never intended to "be a doorstop," Jane said she liked it, and Brendan said he's gonna buy one.   Mike accomodated Fran with posting Fran's opinion statement at "Editor Responds to 'Literary Dallas' review" at http://booksblog.guidelive.com/archives/2008/12/editor-responds-to-literary-da.html The opinon begins: "I would like to bring a few things to readers' attention about Literary Dallas. The book was put together chronologically, to be the story or history of Dallas as told by the writers. Perhaps that was not seen or shown as well as it should have been. Also, the great hazard of publishing an anthology is that it cannot, except in multi-volumes, include every writer that the editor might like to excerpt. Therefore, anthologies are especially fair game for critics, who might tend to focus on what's not there, rather than what is."   Hmmm, "what's not there"   When you next see Jane, an Austin resident, ask her if Austin is more literary than Dallas.  Could the fine Austinians be more snobbish or effete than the El mercado grande del trinidad.   To see the publisher's own humble, objective opinion see TAMU's consortium blog  http://www.tamu.edu/upress/BOOKS/2008/vick.htm   The discussion seems to have abated or gone underground.  It never reached the spectactular nature of the revival of Mickey Rourke or gained any conversational utility by becoming a truly  tacky or the ultimate "tawdry affair."  All in all it's nice to see folks taking literature importantly.  I should get a copy and tell you what I think, but I live in Houston and unlike the Capitol City, the Home of Ewing Oil, and even Fort Worth, Houston doesn't have a volume entitled "Literary Houston."  Maybe we just can't write.

Blood Meridian - McCarthy

The complete list is interesting but I find for our readers, we notice Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian on the list. http://www.time.com/time/2005/100books/the_complete_list.html The original notes by Grossman on the Texan's volume that appeared in Time are at http://www.time.com/time/2005/100books/0,24459,blood_meridian,00.html

Texas Stadium - Engel

Book Review and Author Interview: Texas Stadium by Mac Engel By Todd E. Jones of College Football Top Ten The review begins: "It wasn't supposed to be this way. The Dallas Cowboys' last year at Texas Stadium was supposed to end in a "blaze of glory," or at least a playoff win. The Cowboys' most recent trips to the playoffs had not produced a playoff win, and, it seemed, Owner Jerry Jones went all out to put the pieces of the puzzle together to make a Super Bowl run which would give Texas Stadium one last "hurrah." However, like a football falling just short of the goal post on a long field goal attempt, the Cowboys fell just short of the playoffs. Now all that is left to remember Texas Stadium by is Mac Engel's collection of the most memorable moments in the beloved stadium's history."   Read more of the review by Jones, a Fort Worth Star Telegram Cowboys beat writer, at http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2009/jan/24/book-review-author-interview-texas-stadium-m-engel/

90 Minutes in Heaven - Piper

Don Piper was killed in a Texas auto crash and spent 90 minutes in heaven.  Tim Challies reviews the book.  The review begins "We know of three people, from Scripture, who were privileged to see heaven. All of these men, Stephen and the Apostles Paul and John, were alive when they were given a glimpse of the wonders of heaven. Don Piper, a Baptist pastor, claims to be a fourth, though unlike the other three, he first had to die."   http://www.challies.com/archives/book-reviews/book-review-90.php  http://www.90minutesinheaven.com/

Romance novels - Sandra Brown

"Sandra Brown's Books" shows at least three Texas romance novels following the Tyler family in series. Texas Lucky Texas Chase Texas Sage   http://rbown-sandra-books.blogspot.com/

Obedience Smith - Cook

Obedience Smith (1771-1847) Pioneer of Three American Frontiers: Her Ancestors and Descendants.

By Audrey Barrett Cook. Houston: Early Publishing Co. 1745 Marshall, Houston, Texas 77098-2801), 2008. Hardback with multi-colored illustrated jacket, maps, illus, genealogy charts, ports, endnotes, index, 520 pages. ISBN 978-9818196-3-1 $39.95. http://www.obediencesmith.com/

Audrey Cook provides this considerable volume on one of Houston’s earliest important women. Genealogical in nature but more broadly historical in content, Cook embarked on a years-long quest to put her subject in context. The physical volume is divided into four “books,” tracing the paternal Fort and maternal Sugg families and the subsequent Smith family (a Highlander crew) histories. The families’ trails begin in Virginia (some say most good things do), and continue to North Carolina, over the Cumberland Trail to Tennessee and Kentucky, and down the Natchez Trace into Mississippi, and finally to Texas at Point Pleasant (northwest of present Angleton , and finally Houston in 1836.

Obedience Fort Smith was a remarkable pioneer in the truest vein. And Cook is congratulated for bringing her to life on these pages. After bearing 11 children in Tennessee and raising the youngest in Mississippi, her husband died in 1835, and she followed her son to Texas when she was aged 65-years-old. (Some family members preceded her in 1833.) She arrived early in 1836 before the Declaration of Independence, got caught up in the Runaway Scrape, returned to Point Pleasant, and moved to Houston later in the year where she cared for family and others for the next 11 years before dying in 1847, after annexation.

Although the family was landed, they were “land poor.” Cook cautions us that Obedience was not the “Land Queen” or richest woman in Houston, but rather preferred the background. But she was recognized and honored by her husband when he made her one of the executors of his estate. It’s also untrue that she shot a lawyer who was allegedly trying to steal her land. The family’s history includes some “less well behaved” members, but most hewed the line of propriety. Cook’s frankness is gracious but informative.

The volume, although with genealogical intent, is largely informative narrative and makes for a wonderful read as the reader transits the history with rich documentation and frequent splicing of document excerpts.

As Mrs. Smith migrated from frontier to frontier, little did she know that her life would be so thoroughly recorded so many years later. And this book is a really outstanding chronicle of that journey.

Death Lore - Sanders

TEXAS READS: Funeral tales make for good stories By Glenn Dromgoole, January, 12, 2009, Beaumont Enterprise, reviews Sanders' new Death Lore: Texas Rituals, Superstitions, and Legends of the Hereafter. The review begins:  "Everyone probably has a favorite family funeral story or some other tale related to death and burial. Few could rival the story told by Herbert H. Sanders in a new collection from the Texas Folklore Society on Death Lore: Texas Rituals, Superstitions, and Legends of the Hereafter."   Dromgoole also comments on "Ghost Stories: A related volume is Brian Righi's Ghosts of Fort Worth: Investigating Cowtown's Most Haunted Locations (Schiffer Publishing, $14.95 trade paperback)."

Bloody Texans - Conwell

Glen Dromgoole in "Book hard to put down with wild Texas action"  begins his review as: "One of the joys of writing this column on Texas books and authors over the past seven years is getting to know Texas writers who have achieved success, but not necessarily much notice. A good example is Kent Conwell of Port Neches. I just read his third paperback novel, "The Bloody Texans" (Leisure Books, $6.99). It's a historical novel set in the 1840s, when the U.S. went to war with Mexico over the annexation of Texas as a state."   And ends it with "You might check with your library to see if it has any of his books. Conwell's stories involve death and violence, but the language is clean, and sexual references are subtle."   Read more Dromgoole at http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2009/feb/13/book-hard-to-put-down-with-wild-texas-action/ or follow the British review in "Fantastic Fiction" at http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/kent-conwell/bloody-texans.htm

Virginia's War - London

BC Critics reviews Virginia's War.  Virginia's War - Tierra Texas 1944 (French Letters Trilogy, Volume One) by Jack Woodville London Review written by Carey A  It begins "By 1944 the small town of Tierra, Texas was used to the war. The young boys played war games, arguing over who would be on the side of the Allies and who would be the Nazis for the day. The nearby air base added some excitement with their frequent air training exercises. And above all, Tierra, like every small town around the world -- and as depicted in Jack Woodville London's absorbing Virginia's War — gossiped."   read more at http://blogcritics.org/archives/2009/02/07/031715.php or http://www.virepress.com/

Love Finds You - Higman Interview

Writer to Reader blog connects an interview with author of Love Find you in Humble, Texas   It begins:   "Author Anita Higman is interviewed by Jennifer AlLee on Musings on This, That and the Other Thing. Anita talks about her new book release Love Finds you in Humble, Texas. There's also a giveaway. Ends 2/19. Here's a bit from the interview: Q: "How did you dream up Love Finds You in Humble, Texas?" A: "Well, the creative process is a mystery to me. Characters like Wiley and Kat and Cyrus start showing up in my head and talking...."   read more at http://www.writer-to-reader.com/2009/02/billboards-and-author-tracks.html

Gingham Moutain - Connealy

Wendi's Book Corner Blog reviews and adds a first chapter of   Gingham Mountain (Lassoed in Texas Series, Book 3). by Mary Connealy (Barbour Books)   http://wendisbookcorner.blogspot.com/search?q=gingham   Mary's at http://www.maryconnealy.com/ where she writes "Don't be afraid to strive and sweat and pray and fail and strive and pray some more for the desires of your heart. Because my books and this site are proof that dreams can come true. That with God all things are possible."