Authentic Texas
People of the Big Bend
Published on 20. October 2013
Book
Hardback
268 pages
978-0-292-74915-3 (ISBN)
Description
The Texas of vast open spaces inhabited by independent, self-reliant men and women may be more of a dream than a reality for the state's largely urban population, but it still exists in the Big Bend. One of the most sparsely settled areas of the United States, the Big Bend attracts people who are willing to forego many modern conveniences for a lifestyle that proclaims "don't fence me in." Marcia Hatfield Daudistel and Bill Wright believe that the character traits exemplified by folks in the Big Bend-including self-sufficiency, friendliness, and neighborliness-go back to the founding of the state. In this book, they introduce us to several dozen Big Bend residents-old and young, long-settled and recently arrived, racially diverse-who show us what it means to be an authentic Texan. Interviewing people in Marathon, Big Bend National Park, Terlingua, Redford, Presidio, Alpine, Marfa, Valentine, Balmorhea, Limpia Crossing, and Fort Davis, Daudistel and Wright discover the reasons why residents of the Big Bend make this remote area of Texas their permanent home.
In talking to ranchers and writers, entrepreneurs and artists, people living off the grid and urban refugees, they find a common willingness to overcome difficulties through individual skill and initiative. As one interviewee remarks, you have to have a lot of "try" in you to make a life in the Big Bend. Bill Wright's photographs of the people and landscapes are a perfect complement to the stories of these authentic Texans. Together, these voices and images offer the most complete, contemporary portrait of the Texas Big Bend.
In talking to ranchers and writers, entrepreneurs and artists, people living off the grid and urban refugees, they find a common willingness to overcome difficulties through individual skill and initiative. As one interviewee remarks, you have to have a lot of "try" in you to make a life in the Big Bend. Bill Wright's photographs of the people and landscapes are a perfect complement to the stories of these authentic Texans. Together, these voices and images offer the most complete, contemporary portrait of the Texas Big Bend.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Austin, TX
United States
Illustrations
1 map, 80 B&W, 16 color photos
Dimensions
Height: 243 mm
Width: 216 mm
Thickness: 24 mm
Weight
1134 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-292-74915-3 (9780292749153)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Marcia Hatfield Daudistel is the editor, most recently, of Grace and Gumption: The Women of El Paso and the award-winning Literary El Paso. She is the West Texas/Trans Pecos Regional Editor of Texas Books in Review. As the former Associate Director of Texas Western Press of the University of Texas at El Paso, she established the bilingual imprint, Frontera Books. She was inducted into the El Paso Commission for Women Hall of Fame in 2013. Nationally known author and photographer Bill Wright has published five previous books, including Portraits from the Desert: Bill Wright's Big Bend, People's Lives: A Celebration of the Human Spirit, and the award-winning The Tiguas: Pueblo Indians of Texas. He has exhibited his award-winning photographs internationally and in the United States in hundreds of solo and group exhibitions. He is a member and former president of the Philosophical Society of Texas.
Content
Foreword J. P. Bryan Introduction Marcia Hatfield Daudistel and Bill Wright Marathon The Utopians: Clyde Curry and Kate Thayer The Book Man of Marathon: Adam Muhlig The Cowboy and the Au Pair: Ike and Sue Roberts Big Bend National Park The Long Trail to the Park: Mike Boren Terlingua and Study Butte Living in Simplicity: Dick and Bonnie Cain Dreams Come True: India and William Wilson Directing the Mental Health Clinic on the Porch: "Dr. Doug" Blackmon A Life in the Cretaceous: Ken Barnes The Healing Place: Robert and Elizabeth Hill Redford The Fervent Philosopher: Enrique Madrid The Missionary Poet: Melvin Walker La Follette Presidio A Proud Legacy: Delfina Franco Anderson The Family Store: Edmundo and Mario Nieto Alpine The Scotsman: Jim Glendinning The Defender: Elizabeth Rogers The Dean and the Dream: Jim Case A Native Heritage: Manuel Payne The Work Ethic: Talgar McCarty An Adventure in Letters: Jean Hardy Pittman The Visionary: George Covington Back to the Future: Victor and Cristina Noriega The Javelina Chronicles Marfa Home to Stay: Johnny Calderon Benefit for Fort Davis: Johnny and the Cadillacs The Big Apple in the Rearview Mirror: Tom Rapp and Toshi Sakihara Publishing Marfa: Robert Halpern The Chinati Intern Who Stayed: Tim Johnson The Swiss Alps to the Texas Alps: Verena Zbinden Valentine Rock-and-Roll Artist: Boyd Elder The Land Stewards: Clay and Jody Miller Mayor for Life: Chuy Calderon Balmorhea The Grassroots Historian: Alberto Alvarez The Memory Keeper: Eduardo Alvarez Turkish Dreams: Denise Dobyns Limpia Crossing The Great Escape: Residents of Limpia Crossing The Survivor: Ruth Abel The Reluctant Goodbye: Thomas Hobby Fort Davis Fleeing the Fire of April 9, 2011: Lucinda Tweedy The Entrepreneurs: Joe and Lanna Duncan The Rambling Boy: Lonn and Dedie Taylor The Snake Man: Buzz Ross One Step from Heaven: Greg and Myra Meads Acknowledgments About the Authors Photo Captions