Karánkaway Country
Karánkaway Country

Author: Roy Bedichek

Publisher: University of Texas Press

Published: 2010-06-28

Total Pages: 326

ISBN-13: 0292791984

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Roy Bedichek spent most of his life working in the educational field in Texas, but his main interest was always the great outdoors. His first book, Adventures with a Texas Naturalist, was published when he was almost seventy, and his second, Karánkaway Country, appeared three years later. Both were the result of a lifetime of exploring a beloved land, of searching observation, of discussion, debate, wide reading, and reflection. Long out of print, Karánkaway Country is now available in a handsome second edition with a new Foreword by W. W. Newcomb, Jr. Karánkaway Country focuses on the natural history of a strip of coastal prairie lying roughly between Corpus Christi and Galveston and once inhabited by the poorly known and much maligned Karankawa Indians. It serves as home base for an exposition of Bedichek's philosophy, providing a convenient local setting for richly tailored essays on wildlife, soil, human skin, and a variety of other topics suggested by a wide-ranging intellect. Bedichek's philosophy, if it can be reduced to a few words, is essentially that humans must learn to live on peaceful and conciliatory terms with our natural environment.

Fifty Years of the Texas Observer
Fifty Years of the Texas Observer

Author: Char Miller

Publisher: Trinity University Press

Published: 2012-08-31

Total Pages: 446

ISBN-13: 1595340874

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

For the past five decades the Texas Observer has been an essential voice in Texas culture and politics, championing honest government, civil rights, labor, and the environment, while providing a platform for many of the state’s most passionate and progressive voices. Included are ninety-one selections from Roy Bedichek, Lou Dubose, Ronnie Dugger, Dagoberto Gilb, Jim Hightower, Molly Ivins, Larry McMurtry, Maury Maverick Jr., Willie Morris, Debbie Nathan, and others. To mark the Observer’s fiftieth anniversary, Char Miller has selected a cross section of the best work to appear in its pages. Not only does the collection pay homage to an important alternative voice in Texas journalism, it also serves as a progressive chronicle of a half-century of life in the Lone Star State—a state that has spawned three presidents in the last forty years. If Texas is, as some say, a crucible for national politics, then Fifty Years of the Texas Observer can be read as a casebook for issues that concern citizens in all fifty states. Molly Ivins's foreword gives historical background for the Observer and sets the stage for the book.

On the Wings of Cranes
On the Wings of Cranes

Author: Lowell M. Schake

Publisher: iUniverse

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 374

ISBN-13: 0595484972

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

To love whooping cranes, sandhill cranes, and Kirtland's warblers was easy for Larry Walkinshaw. Saving them from extinction engulfed his life. Journey into Walkinshaw's incredible life drama to discover how his adventures led him onto the pinnacle of ornithological attainment-into that world of birding he so loved and mastered. Join him in the global wilderness of marshlands, deserts, and tundra seeking nature's truths as birds literally hatched, fluttered, and died in his hands. On the Wings of Cranes reveals how cranes and Walkinshaw became synonymous. Recognized as "The Father of International Studies of Gruiformes," he led in the salvation of endangered whooping cranes, greater sandhill cranes, and Kirtland's warblers. At times, heartbreak entered his life, but his perseverance held as he took calculated risks, sacrificed, and struggled to save endangered birds. Beneath the mask of his deliberate and reserved personality resided a uniquely complicated genius who desired to serve both nature and humankind. On the Wings of Cranes extends an invitation to respond to the powers of inspiration, motivation, and self-discipline. The theme of Walkinshaw's life is birding-inspiration its message. Soar with Walkinshaw, from take-off to landing, on the wings of cranes.

The History of Texas
The History of Texas

Author: Robert A. Calvert

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2020-03-10

Total Pages: 565

ISBN-13: 1119581435

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The most comprehensive, best-illustrated survey of the Lone Star State—the new, updated edition of the classic text The History of Texas offers a sweeping exploration of the Lone Star State, covering its history from the pre-Columbian period, to the era of Spanish control, to nineteenth century watershed events, through the 1900s and into the new millennium. This engaging, student-friendly textbook looks at how people of diverse politics, identity, class, ethnicity, and race shaped the state’s past and continue to influence its present. Recent knowledge on the political, social, and cultural history of Texas provides insights on the celebrated figures, unsung heroes, and ordinary people of the state’s past. The sixth edition of this classic text has been revised and updated to reflect the latest scholarship in all fields of Texas history, among them New Indian History and cultural and gender studies. The text offers fresh perspectives on Texas history, including discussions of the Progressive Era, the Great Depression, the Second World War and post-war modernization, and the state’s transition during the 1960s and into the 1980s. Revised chapters provide wide-ranging coverage of Texas in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, including recent statewide and national elections and political debates. This textbook: Connects events in post-World War II Texas to the larger U.S. historical narrative Offers substantial coverage of events occurring from 1900 to 2018 Uses a chronological approach to divide chapters into easily identifiable eras Includes engaging illustrations, maps, and tables, an appendix, and inclusive lists of recommended readings Features online resources for students and instructors, including a test bank, maps, presentation slides, and more Effectively organized to better meet the needs of instructors, The History of Texas is the ideal resource for undergraduate and graduate courses in Texas history at colleges and universities across both the state and the nation.

Pastures of the Empty Page
Pastures of the Empty Page

Author: George Getschow

Publisher: University of Texas Press

Published: 2023

Total Pages: 286

ISBN-13: 1477327878

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"Larry McMurtry is the author of dozens of novels (Lonesome Dove, The Last Picture Show), screenplays (Brokeback Mountain, Terms of Endearment), and essays ("Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen"), among other writings. He won the Pulitzer Prize, Oscars, and Emmys, among other honors. When he died in March 2021, he was possibly Texas's best-known and best-loved writer, an honor he famously dismissed with a t-shirt that read "minor regional novelist." George Getschow worked with McMurtry through the Archer City Writer's Workshop, an annual three-day event in McMurtry's hometown that pairs emerging and established writers. He's leveraged that network to build this collection of essays paying homage to McMurtry, only a handful of which have been previously published. The pieces in the volume pay tribute to McMurtry in a variety of ways. Stephen Graham Jones captures the thrill of seeing the legendary author prowling the stacks in his used-book store, wondering if his own books might one day be on those same shelves. Sarah Bird talks about McMurtry's "messy but mythic west" that made Texas appealing to her. Elizabeth Crook talks about how difficult it is to let go of McMurtry's characters, particularly those from Lonesome Dove, a book Geoff Dyer also found himself surprisingly unable to ignore despite everything he knew about it (it's long, slow to develop, etc.). Greg Curtis recalls McMurtry as a fellow student at Rice, and Charlie McMurtry, Larry's brother, writes about growing up with him in excerpts from his dissertation. Stephanie Elizondo Griest is enamored and perplexed by a shelf of books in McMurtry's private collection that he called his "runaways," travel accounts by 19th-century women. Diana Ossana, McMurtry's longtime screenwriting partner and one of his dearest friends, writes movingly about their friendship and many collaborations. Getschow has written an introduction that sketches the contours of McMurtry's life"--

Rivers of Texas
Rivers of Texas

Author: Verne Huser

Publisher: Texas A&M University Press

Published: 2004-03-31

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 9781585443697

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Explores the landscape, history, geology, and recreational opportunities afforded by the rivers of Texas, presenting information about each river's size, location, tributaries, discharge, and special sites.

Pride of Place
Pride of Place

Author: David Taylor

Publisher: University of North Texas Press

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 1574412086

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Since Roy Bedichek's influential Adventures with a Texas Naturalist, no book has attempted to explore the uniqueness of Texas nature, or reflected the changes in the human landscape that have accelerated since Bedichek's time. Pride of Place updates Bedichek's discussion by acknowledging the increased urbanization and the loss of wildspace in today's state. It joins other recent collections of regional nature writing while demonstrating what makes Texas uniquely diverse. These fourteen essays are held together by the story of Texas pride, the sense that from West Texas to the Coastal Plains, we and the landscape are important and worthy of pride, if not downright bravado. This book addresses all the major regions of Texas. Beginning with Roy Bedichek's essay "Still Water," it includes Carol Cullar and Barbara "Barney" Nelson on the Rio Grande region of West Texas, John Graves's evocative "Kindred Spirits" on Central Texas, Joe Nick Patoski's celebration of Hill Country springs, Pete Gunter on the Piney Woods, David Taylor on North Texas, Gary Clark and Gerald Thurmond on the Coastal Plains, Ray Gonzales and Marian Haddad on El Paso, Stephen Harrigan and Wyman Meinzer on West Texas, and Naomi Shihab Nye on urban San Antonio. This anthology will appeal not only to those interested in regional history, natural history, and the environmental issues Texans face, but also to all who say gladly, "I'm from Texas."

Adventures with a Texas Humanist
Adventures with a Texas Humanist

Author: James Ward Lee

Publisher: TCU Press

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 9780875652887

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The author discusses the writers and trends in Texas literature beginning with early twentieth-century writer J. Frank Dobie and Larry McMurtry during the 1960s and places writers, politicians, and cultural leaders in the context of each age.

Legendary Texas Storytellers
Legendary Texas Storytellers

Author: Jim Gramon

Publisher: Taylor Trade Publishing

Published: 2002-10-29

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 1461662052

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Storytelling is alive and well in Texas! Let storyteller and biographer Jim Gramon give you a personal introduction to some of his legendary storytelling friends.