Articles

Humanities Texas will host its eleventh annual Holiday Book Fair at the historic Byrne-Reed House in Austin on Saturday, December 7, 2019, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Twenty-four Texas authors will visit with the public and sign copies of their latest books, which Humanities Texas will offer for purchase at a discounted price. Available titles include works of fiction and nonfiction, with selections for both adult and young readers.

This year's authors include:
S. C. Gwynne • Oscar Cásares • Karen Olsson • H. W. Brands • Norma Elia Cantú • Joe Nick Patoski • Sarah Bird • Steven L. Davis • Ron Tyler • Bethany Hegedus • Sally Wittliff • Don Tate • Asher Price • W. K. Stratton • Vanessa Roeder • Chandler Baker • Kevin Robbins • Mark Pryor • Brian T. Atkinson • Carmen Oliver • Michael Parker • David B. Gracy II • Edward Carey • E. Lee Walker.

All proceeds benefit Texas libraries.

Park for free in the St. Martin's Evangelical Lutheran Church lot on the northwest corner of 15th and Rio Grande Streets, and enjoy coffee and a bake sale of donated and homemade treats. Invite your friends!

Friends of Humanities Texas receive an additional 25% percent discount on Holiday Book Fair purchases!

Hymns of the Republic: The Story of the Final Year of the American Civil War

S. C. Gwynne

The fourth and final year of the Civil War offers one of that era's most compelling narratives, defining the nation and one of history's great turning points. Now, S. C. Gwynne's Hymns of the Republic: The Story of the Final Years of the American Civil War addresses the time Ulysses S. Grant arrives to take command of all Union armies in March 1864 to the surrender of Robert E. Lee at Appomattox a year later.

Gwynne offers angles and insights on the war that will surprise many readers. Robert E. Lee, known as a great general and southern hero, is presented here as a man dealing with frustration, failure, and loss. Ulysses S. Grant is known for his prowess as a field commander, but in the final year of the war he largely fails at that; his most amazing accomplishments actually began the moment he stopped fighting. William Tecumseh Sherman, Gwynne argues, was a lousy general, but probably the single most brilliant man in the war. We also meet a different Clara Barton, who redefined the idea of medical care in wartime. And proper attention is paid to the role played by large numbers of black Union soldiers—most of them former slaves. Popular history at its best, Hymns of the Republic reveals the creation that arose from destruction in this thrilling read.

S. C. Gwynne. Hymns of the Republic: The Story of the Final Year of the American Civil War. (Scribner, 2019).

Where We Come From

Oscar Cásares

The towns along the U.S.-Mexican border have dangerous reputations—on one side, drug cartels; on the other, zealous border patrol agents—and Brownsville is no different. But to twelve-year-old Orly, it's simply where his godmother Nina lives and where he is being forced to stay the summer after his mother's sudden death.

For Nina, Brownsville is where she grew up, where she lost her first and only love, and where she stayed as her relatives moved away and her neighborhood deteriorated. It's the place where she has buried all her secrets, and now she has another: she's providing refuge for a young immigrant boy named Daniel, for whom traveling to America has meant trading one set of dangers for another.

Tackling the crisis of U.S. immigration policy from a deeply human angle, Where We Come From explores through an intimate lens the ways that family history shapes us, how secrets can burden us, and how finding compassion and understanding for others can ultimately set us free.

Oscar Cásares. Where We Come From. (Penguin Random House, 2019).

The Weil Conjectures: On Math and the Pursuit of the Unknown

Karen Olsson

Karen Olsson’s stirring and unusual third book, The Weil Conjectures, tells the story of the brilliant Weil siblings―Simone, a philosopher, mystic, and social activist and André, an influential mathematician―while also recalling the years Olsson spent studying math. As she delves into the lives of these two singular French thinkers, she grapples with their intellectual obsessions and rekindles one of her own. For Olsson, as a math major in college and a writer now, it’s the odd detours that lead to discovery, to moments of insight. Thus The Weil Conjectures―an elegant blend of biography and memoir and a meditation on the creative life.

Personal, revealing, and approachable, The Weil Conjectures eloquently explores math as it relates to intellectual history and shows how sometimes the most inexplicable pursuits turn out to be the most rewarding.

Karen Olsson. The Weil Conjectures: On Math and the Pursuit of the Unknown. (Macmillan: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2019).

Dreams of El Dorado: A History of the American West

H. W. Brands

In Dreams of El Dorado: A History of the American West, H. W. Brands tells the thrilling, panoramic story of the settling of the American West. He takes us from John Jacob Astor's fur trading outpost in Oregon to the Texas Revolution, from the California gold rush to the Oklahoma land rush. He shows how migrants' dreams drove them to feats of courage and perseverance that put their stay-at-home cousins to shame—and how those same dreams also drove them to outrageous acts of violence against indigenous peoples and one another. The West was where riches would reward the miner's persistence, the cattleman's courage, and the railroad man's enterprise, but El Dorado was at least as elusive in the West as it ever was in the East.

Balanced, authoritative, and masterfully told, Dreams of El Dorado: A History of the American West sets a new standard for histories of the American West.

H. W. Brands. Dreams of El Dorado: A History of the American West. (Basic Books, 2019).

Whisper Network

Chandler Baker

Sloane, Ardie, Grace, and Rosalita have worked at Truviv, Inc. for years. The sudden death of Truviv's CEO means their boss, Ames, will likely take over the entire company. Each of the women has a different relationship with Ames, who has always been surrounded by whispers about how he treats women. Those whispers have been ignored, swept under the rug, hidden away by those in charge. But the world has changed, and the women are watching this promotion differently. This time, when they find out Ames is making an inappropriate move on a colleague, they aren't willing to let it go. This time, they've decided enough is enough.

Sloane and her colleagues' decision to take a stand sets in motion a catastrophic shift in the office. Lies will be uncovered. Secrets will be exposed. And not everyone will survive. All of their lives―as women, colleagues, mothers, wives, friends, even adversaries―will change dramatically as a result.

Chandler Baker. Whisper Network. (Flatiron Books, 2019).

Cabañuelas

Norma Elia Cantú

Nena leaves Laredo, Texas, and moves to Madrid, Spain, to research the historical roots of traditional fiestas in Laredo. Immersing herself in post-Franco Spain and its rich history, its food, music, and fiestas, Nena finds herself falling for Paco, a Spaniard who works in publishing. Nena's research and experiences teach her about who she is, where she comes from, and what is important to her, but, as her work comes to a close, Nena must decide where she can best be true to her entire self: in Spain with Paco or in Laredo, her home, where her job and family await her return.

Norma Elia Cantú. Cabañuelas. (University of New Mexico Press, 2019).

Meditación Fronteriza: Poems of Love, Life, and Labor

Norma Elia Cantú

This collection is a beautifully crafted exploration of life in the Texas-Mexico borderlands. Written by Norma Elia Cantú, the award-winning author of Canícula, this collection carries the perspective of a powerful force in Chicana literature and literature worldwide.

The poems are a celebration of culture, tradition, and creativity that navigates themes of love, solidarity, and political transformation. Deeply personal yet warmly relatable, these poems flow from Spanish to English gracefully. With Gloria Anzaldúa’s foundational work as an inspiration, Meditación Fronteriza unveils unique images that provide nuance and depth to the narrative of the borderlands.

Norma Elia Cantú. Meditación Fronteriza: Poems of Love, Life, and Labor. (University of Arizona Press, 2019).

Austin to ATX: The Hippies, Pickers, Slackers, and Geeks Who Transformed the Capital of Texas

Joe Nick Patoski

In this gonzo history of the "City of the Violet Crown," author and journalist Joe Nick Patoski chronicles the modern evolution of Austin, Texas. Patoski describes the series of cosmic accidents that tossed together a mashup of outsiders, free spirits, thinkers, educators, writers, musicians, entrepreneurs, artists, and politicians who would foster the atmosphere, the vibe, the slightly off-kilter zeitgeist that allowed Austin to become the home of both Armadillo World Headquarters and Dell Technologies.

Patoski's raucous, rollicking romp through Austin’s recent past and hipster present connects the dots that lead from places like Scholz Garten—Texas' oldest continuously operating business—to places like the Armadillo, where Willie Nelson and Darrell Royal brought hippies and rednecks together around music. He describes the journey—beginning with the search for an old girlfriend—that eventually brought Louis Black, Nick Barbaro, and Roland Swenson to the founding of the South by Southwest music, film, and technology festival.

Joe Nick Patoski. Austin to ATX: The Hippies, Pickers, Slackers & Geeks Who Transformed the Capital of Texas. (Texas A&M University Press, 2019).

Earl Campbell: Yards after Contact

Asher Price

Earl Campbell was a force in American football, winning a state championship in high school, rushing his way to a Heisman trophy for The University of Texas, and earning MVP as he took the Houston Oilers to the brink of the Super Bowl. An exhilarating blend of biography and history, Earl Campbell chronicles the challenges and sacrifices one supremely gifted athlete faced in his journey to the Hall of Fame. The story begins in Tyler, Texas, and features his indomitable mother, a crusading judge, and a newly integrated high school, then moves to Austin, home of The University of Texas (infamously, the last all-white national champion in college football), where legendary coach Darrell Royal stakes his legacy on recruiting Campbell. Later, in booming Luv-Ya-Blue Houston, Campbell reaches his peak with beloved coach Bum Phillips, who celebrates his star runner’s bruising style even as it takes its toll on Campbell's body.

Drawing on new interviews and research, Asher Price reveals how a naturally reticent kid from the country who never sought the spotlight struggled with complex issues of race and health. In an age when concussion revelations and player protest against racial injustice rock the NFL, Campbell's life is a timely story of hard-earned success and heart-wrenching sacrifice.

Asher Price. Earl Campbell: Yards After Contact. (University of Texas Press, 2019).

Recent Studies Indicate: The Best of Sarah Bird

Sarah Bird

When Sarah Bird arrived in Austin in 1973 in pursuit of a boyfriend who was “hotter than lava,” she found an abundance of inspiration for storytelling (her sweetheart left her for Scientology, but she got to taste a morsel of Lynda Bird Johnson’s poorly preserved wedding cake as a temp worker at the LBJ Library). Sarah Bird went on to write ten acclaimed novels and contribute hundreds of articles to publications coast to coast.

Now collecting forty of Bird’s best nonfiction pieces, Recent Studies Indicate presents some of Bird’s earliest work, including a prescient 1976 profile of a transgender woman, along with recent calls to action, such as her 2017 speech at a benefit for Annie’s List. Whether Bird is hanging out with socialites and sanitation workers or paying homage to her army-nurse mom, her collection brings a poignant perspective to the experience of being a woman, a feminist, a mother, and a Texan—and a writer with countless, spectacular true tales to tell us.

Sarah Bird, Recent Studies Indicate: The Best of Sarah Bird (University of Texas Press, 2019).

A Love Letter to Texas Women

Sarah Bird

What is it that distinguishes Texas women—the famous Yellow Rose and her descendants? Is it that combination of graciousness and grit that we revere in First Ladies Laura Bush and Lady Bird Johnson? The rapier-sharp wit that Ann Richards and Molly Ivins used to skewer the good ole boy establishment? The moral righteousness with which Barbara Jordan defended the U.S. Constitution? An unnatural fondness for Dr Pepper and queso?

In her inimitable style, Sarah Bird pays tribute to the Texas Woman in all her glory and all her contradictions. She humorously recalls her own early bewildered attempts to understand Lone Star gals, from the big-haired, perfectly made-up ladies at the Hyde Park Beauty Salon to her intellectual, quinoa-eating roommates at Seneca House Co-op for Graduate Women. After decades of observing Texas women, Bird knows the species as few others do. A Love Letter to Texas Women is a must-have guide for newcomers to the state and the ideal gift to tell any Yellow Rose how special she is.

Sarah Bird, A Love Letter to Texas Women (University of Texas Press, 2016).

The Art of Texas: 250 Years

Ron Tyler

Critic Michael Ennis stated twenty-five years ago that there has never been more than a cursory overview of Texas art from the nineteenth century to the present. The Art of Texas: 250 Years now tells a deeper story, beginning with Spanish colonial paintings and moving through two and a half centuries of art in Texas. By the twentieth century, most Texas artists had received formal training and produced work in styles similar to European and other American artists. Written by noted scholars, art historians, and curators, this survey is the first attempt to analyze and characterize Texas art on a grand scale.

Ron Tyler. The Art of Texas: 250 Years. (Texas Christian University Press, 2019).

Rise!: From Caged Bird to Poet of the People, Maya Angelou

Bethany Hegedus

Writer, activist, trolley car conductor, dancer, mother, and humanitarian, Maya Angelou's life was marked by transformation and perseverance. In this comprehensive picture-book biography geared towards older readers, Bethany Hegedus lyrically traces Angelou's life from her early days in Stamps, Arkansas, through her work as a freedom fighter to her triumphant rise as a poet of the people.

A foreword by Angelou's grandson, Colin A. Johnson, describes how a love of literature and poetry helped young Maya overcome childhood trauma and turn adversity into triumph. Coupled with Tonya Engel's metaphorical and emotive illustrations, this biography beautifully conveys the heartaches and successes of this truly phenomenal woman, and is a powerful tribute to the written word.

Bethany Hegedus. Rise!: From Caged Bird to Poet of the People, Maya Angelou. (Lee & Low Books, 2019).

The Last Stand of Payne Stewart: The Year Golf Changed Forever

Kevin Robbins

The Last Stand of Payne Stewart is the story of legendary golfer Payne Stewart, focusing on his last year on the PGA Tour in 1999, which tragically culminated in a fatal air disaster that transpired publically on televisions across the country. Remembered as one of the most dramatic storylines in the history of golf, Payne Stewart's legendary career was bookended by a dramatic comeback and a shocking, tragic end.

Stewart emerged from a long slump in the unforgettable season of 1999 to capture the U.S. Open and play on the victorious U.S. Ryder Cup team. He appeared to be a new man that summer: wiser, deeper, and on the verge of a new level of greatness. His journey to redemption ended in October, when his chartered Learjet flew aimlessly for more than a thousand miles, ran out of fuel, and fell to earth in a prairie in South Dakota. His death marked the end of an era and changed the PGA Tour forever.

Kevin Robbins. The Last Stand of Payne Stewart: The Year Golf Changed Forever. (Hachette Books, 2019).

SunriseSunset: Solargraphs from Plum Creek

Bill Wittliff, represented by Sally Wittliff

For the past several years, photographer, screenwriter, and author Bill Wittliff placed photographic paper inside beer cans, tubes made of PVC, and other cylindrical containers and affixed them to posts, trees, and other vertical supports on his Plum Creek Ranch near Luling, Texas. Wittliff poked pinholes in the containers and allowed the sun to "paint" on the paper over periods that lasted anywhere from a few days to a year. The resulting solargraphs are, as art photographer Kate Breakey suggests, a record of "the slow turning of the earth, without the details: the gradual passing of time at Plum Creek."

In SunriseSunset: Solargraphs from Plum Creek, this relentlessly inventive writer and artist gathered some of his favorite creations, offering them as a visual tribute to the interaction of a particular place within the great arc of the cosmos. He confessed an infectious enthusiasm for harvesting such unpredictable products of light and time as he roamed with his canine companion Louie across a locale he described as "a continuous miracle."

Bill Wittliff. SunriseSunset: Solographs from Plum Creek. (Texas A&M University Press, 2019).

Carter Reads the Newspaper

Don Tate

Carter G. Woodson was born to two formerly enslaved people ten years after the end of the Civil War. Though his father could not read, he believed in being an informed citizen. So Carter read the newspaper to him every day. When he was still a teenager, Carter went to work in the coal mines. There he met a man named Oliver Jones, and Oliver asked Carter not only to read to him and the other miners but also research and find more information on the subjects that interested them. "My interest in penetrating the past of my people was deepened," Carter wrote. His journey would take him many more years, traveling around the world and transforming the way people thought about history.

From an award-winning team of author Deborah Hopkinson and illustrator Don Tate, this first-ever picture book biography of Carter G. Woodson emphasizes the importance of pursuing curiosity and encouraging a hunger for knowledge of stories and histories that have not been told.

Deborah Hopkinson and Don Tate. Carter Reads the Newspaper. (Peachtree Publishing Company, 2019).

The Essential J. Frank Dobie

Steven L. Davis

The Essential J. Frank Dobie introduces new readers to Dobie and reminds older ones that Dobie captured priceless social history while producing some of the most fascinating, best-informed writing about Texas. Dobie bore eloquent witness to the passing of ancient pastoral lifeways and was decades ahead of his time in championing civil rights and protecting the environment. Davis, a Dobie biographer, has found the stories only the master himself could tell—those enriched by his matchless personal adventures, from Mexico to wartime Europe to the remote outback, where he joined wandering seekers on their quests for lost treasures.

The Essential J. Frank Dobie will intrigue, inform, and delight readers: both those who know Dobie's work as an old acquaintance and those who are meeting him for the first time in these pages. As Davis concludes, "the spirit of Dobie is as alive as ever. May you be nourished by it."

Steven L. Davis. The Essential J. Frank Dobie. (Texas A&M University Press, 2019).

Little

Edward Carey

In 1761, a tiny, odd-looking girl named Marie is born in a village in Switzerland. After the death of her parents, she is apprenticed to an eccentric wax sculptor and whisked off to the seamy streets of Paris, where they meet a domineering widow and her quiet, pale son. Together, they convert an abandoned monkey house into an exhibition hall for wax heads, and the spectacle becomes a sensation. As word of her artistic talent spreads, Marie is called to Versailles, where she tutors a princess and saves Marie Antoinette in childbirth. But outside the palace walls, Paris is roiling: The revolutionary mob is demanding heads, and . . . at the wax museum, heads are what they do.

In the tradition of Gregory Maguire's Wicked and Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus, Edward Carey's Little is a darkly endearing cavalcade of a novel—a story of art, class, determination, and how we hold on to what we love.

Edward Carey. Little. (Penguin Random House, 2018).

The Wild Bunch: Sam Peckinpah, a Revolution in Hollywood, and the Making of a Legendary Film

W. K. Stratton

Sam Peckinpah's film The Wild Bunch is the story of a gang of outlaws who are one big steal from retirement. When their attempted train robbery goes awry, the gang flees to Mexico and falls in with a brutal general of the Mexican Revolution, who offers them the job of a lifetime. Conceived by a stuntman, directed by a blacklisted director, and shot in the sand and heat of the Mexican desert, the movie seemed doomed. Instead, it became an instant classic with a dark, violent take on the Western movie tradition.

In The Wild Bunch, W. K. Stratton tells the fascinating history of the making of the movie and documents, for the first time, the extraordinary contribution of Mexican and Mexican American actors and crew members to the movie's success. The movie was the product of an industry and a nation in transition. By 1968, when the movie was filmed, the studio system that had perpetuated the myth of the valiant cowboy in movies like The Searchers had collapsed, and America was riled by Vietnam, race riots, and assassinations. The Wild Bunch spoke to America in its moment, when war and senseless violence seemed to define both domestic and international life.

W. K. Stratton. The Wild Bunch: Sam Peckinpah, a Revolution in Hollywood, and the Making of a Legendary Film. (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019).

Lucy and the String

Vanessa Roeder

When Lucy spots a string, she can't help but give it a yank, and, before she knows it, she meets Hank! But this bear isn't quite sure what to make of Lucy, especially because the string is attached to his pants and they're unraveling fast!

Now Lucy must dream up the perfect solution to Hank's missing pants and hopefully win this dubious bear's heart along the way. Vanessa Roeder's picture book debut is a heart-filled tale of curiosity, innovation, and finding friendship in unexpected places.

Vanessa Roeder. Lucy and the String. (Dial Books, 2018).

The Book Artist

Mark Pryor

Hugo Marston, head of security for the U.S. Embassy in Paris, puts his life in danger when he investigates the murder of a celebrated artist, all the while fending off an assassin looking to settle an old score against him. Hugo Marston accompanies his boss, U.S. Ambassador J. Bradford Taylor, to the first night of an art exhibition in Montmartre, Paris. Hugo is less than happy about going until he finds out that the sculptures on display are made from his favorite medium: books. Then the night takes a deadly turn when one of the guests is found murdered. Hugo offers his expertise to help solve the crime, but the detective in charge jumps to his own conclusions. He makes an arrest, but it's someone that Hugo is certain is innocent. Meanwhile, his best friend, Tom Green, has disappeared to Amsterdam, hunting an enemy from their past, an enemy who gets the upper hand on Tom and who then sets his sights on Hugo. With an innocent person behind bars, a murder to solve, and his own life in danger, Hugo knows he has no time to waste as one killer tries to slip away and another gets closer and closer.

Mark Pryor. The Book Artist. (Seventh Street Books, 2019).

The Messenger: The Songwriting Legacy of Ray Wylie Hubbard

Brian T. Atkinson

In The Messenger: The Songwriting Legacy of Ray Wylie Hubbard, author, journalist, and music producer Brian T. Atkinson takes readers into and beyond the seedy bar in Red River, New Mexico, where the incident occurred that inspired Hubbard's most famous song, "Redneck Mother." Hubbard tells the stories, and Atkinson enlists other musicians to expound on the nature of his abiding influence as songwriter, musician, and unflinching teller of uncomfortable truths.

Featuring interviews with well-known artists such as Eric Church, Steve Earle, Kinky Friedman, Chris Robinson, and Jerry Jeff Walker, The Messenger makes clear why so many musicians across a wide spectrum admire Ray Wylie Hubbard. Readers will also learn why "Redneck Mother," the song that put Hubbard on the map for most listeners, is also a curse, of sorts, in its diminution of both his spiritual depth as a lyricist and his multidimensional musical reach.

Brian T. Atkinson. The Messenger: The Songwriting Legacy of Ray Wylie Hubbard. (Texas A&M University Press, 2019).

A Voice for the Spirit Bears: How One Boy Inspired Millions to Save a Rare Animal

Carmen Oliver

As a child, Simon Jackson found navigating the world of the school playground difficult. He felt most at home in the woodlands, learning about and photographing wildlife. As a teenager, he became fascinated with spirit bears, a rare subspecies of black bear with creamy white fur. These elusive creatures were losing their habitat to deforestation, and Simon knew he had to do something to protect them. He decided he would become the voice for the spirit bears. But, first, he would have to find his own.

Carmen Oliver's inspiring true story is based on the early life of Simon Jackson. On his remarkable journey to protect the spirit bears, he met Dr. Jane Goodall and eventually hiked the Great Bear Rainforest—the home of these elusive animals. Katy Dockrill's captivating art adds depth and beauty to the story. Photos and additional details about Simon Jackson's life and about spirit bears are included in the end matter.

Carmen Oliver. A Voice for the Spirit Bears: How One Boy Inspired Millions to Save a Rare Animal. (Kids Can Press, 2019).

Bears Make the Best Math Buddies

Carmen Oliver

Adelaide doesn’t have a math buddy, but she’s not worried. She can always count on her best friend, Bear, who is a math whiz. If only Adelaide can convince Mrs. Fitz-Pea that Bear is the perfect math buddy, everything will add up.

Carmen Oliver. Bears Make the Best Math Buddies. (Capstone Editions, 2019)

Prairie Fever

Michael Parker

Set in the hardscrabble landscape of early 1900s Oklahoma, but timeless in its sensibility, Prairie Fever traces the intense dynamic between the Stewart sisters: the pragmatic Lorena and the chimerical Elise. The two are bound together not only by their isolation on the prairie but also by their deep emotional reliance on each other. That connection supersedes all else until the arrival of Gus McQueen.

When Gus arrives in Lone Wolf, Oklahoma, as a first-time teacher, his inexperience is challenged by the wit and ingenuity of the Stewart sisters. Then one impulsive decision forever changes the balance between the sisters and with Gus McQueen. With honesty, poetic intensity, and deadpan humor, Parker reminds us of the consequences of our choices. Expansive and intimate, this novel tells the story of characters tested as much by life on the prairie as they are by their own churning hearts.

Michael Parker. Prairie Fever. (Alongonquin Books, 2019).

A Man Absolutely Sure of Himself: Texan George Washington Littlefield

David B. Gracy

This is the first full biography of George Washington Littlefield, the Texas and New Mexico rancher, Austin banker and businessman, University of Texas regent, and philanthropist. In just two decades, Littlefield's business acumen vaulted him from debt to inclusion on the first list of American millionaires in 1892. 

Littlefield's cattle operations during the open range and early ranching periods spanned a domain in New Mexico and Texas larger than the states of Delaware and Connecticut combined. In a unique contribution to ranching art, Littlefield commissioned murals and bronze doors depicting scenes from his ranches to decorate Austin's American National Bank. Proud of his Civil War service in Terry's Texas Rangers, Littlefield funded one of the nation's first centers for Southern history. He also underwrote The University of Texas's purchase of its first rare book library and its training programs preparing troops for World War I's new combat roles. Littlefield played a central role in advancing Austin from a cattleman's town into the business center it wanted to become.

David B. Gracy II. A Man Absolutely Sure of Himself: Texan George Washington Littlefield. (University of Oklahoma Press, 2019).

Imagination House: An Entrepreneurial Life

E. Lee Walker

As E. Lee Walker and Michael Dell created the foundation of what would become one of the most successful companies in the world, Walker was guided by the lessons of his past business ventures, by his belief in the power of imagination, and by his relationships with people who had provided encouragement when he most needed it. When he left Dell Computer Corporation to teach, Walker discovered that the stories he took with him—of his aspirations, of his failures and triumphs, and of his friends and mentors—were the key to engaging and inspiring his students.

In Imagination House, Walker records those stories in a memoir that spans five decades and reveals a man whose curiosity, resourcefulness, and luck led him out of South Texas and into corporate boardrooms, university lecture halls, and community activism. In fast-paced tales about life as a high-tech entrepreneur, adjunct professor, civic leader, and environmental advocate, Walker manages to convey the importance of creative thinking and communal effort in all his endeavors.

E. Lee Walker. Imagination House: An Entrepreneurial Life. (Texas A&M University Press, 2019).