Full Description
Winner, Southwest Book Award, Border Regional Library Association, 2015
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.
Contents
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
Index
