Bøger udgivet af Texas A&M University Press

"In this revised and re-titled edition of Attracting Birds in the Texas Hill Country: A Guide to Land Stewardship, biologist Rufus Stephens and educator Jan Wrede provide a comprehensive update to their popular and practical handbook that focuses on habitat improvement to benefit birds on properties of all sizes in Central Texas. Nearly 50 years of research shows that over time, the North American bird population has declined by 2.9 billion. Breeding birds have declined by nearly 30 percent in virtually all habitats, and Central Texas is no exception. Just as human impact on the environment has contributed to habitat loss, so can our actions restore the habitats that once sustained a thriving birdlife population. Central Texas resident, migrant, and wintering birds have specific habitat needs for cover, food, and water. Breeding birds also need specific habitat for raising their young. Thus, Land Stewardship for Birds: A Guide for Central Texas is organized by the types of habitats present: woodlands and savannahs; grasslands; rivers and streams; canyons, springs, and seeps; constructed tanks, ponds, and lakes; plus residential backyards. Three chapters on management of predators, deer, and cedar and other brush offer in-depth recommendations for addressing these important factors that impact bird habitat. New material in this edition includes a section on wildfire, improved bird census guidelines, updated plant lists, the latest standards for managing bird boxes, a more robust guide to managing brush species, and helpful apps and online resources, making Land Stewardship for Birds a valuable addition to the land steward's reference library"--

"On October 8, 1918, seventeen soldiers from the 82nd Division, American Expeditionary Force, led by acting Sgt. Bernard Early, flanked a German machine gun nest that had inundated their unit with withering fire. In this sneak attack, they successfully surprised and captured more than 80 German soldiers before an unseen machine gun suddenly opened fire and killed six men. Acting Cpl. Alvin York, a member of the patrol, received the credit for taking control of the squad and single-handedly killing 20 Germans, capturing 132 prisoners, and eliminating 35 machine guns, all before leading the men back to Allied lines. For this act of bravery, York not only received the Medal of Honor and was promoted to sergeant, but he also rose to fame and glory. The 1941 movie Sergeant York, starring Gary Cooper, solidified York as a legend and one of the most well-known military figures in American history. In Unraveling the Myth of Sgt. Alvin York, historian James P. Gregory Jr. tells the story of the other sixteen soldiers who took part in the battle, capture, and return before fading into relative obscurity in the shadow of Sergeant York. As the tale reached mythological proportions, the other survivors began to speak out, seeking recognition for their parts in the engagement, only to be stymied by improper investigations, cover-ups, and media misrepresentations. Here, Gregory recovers the story of these other men and the part they played alongside York while revealing the process of mythmaking in twentieth-century America"--

"Gaylord Jackson Perry was born in 1938 as the younger son of a tobacco sharecropper in Martin County, North Carolina. He and his older brother Jim grew up against a background of backbreaking work six days a week in a community that boasted not a single paved road until the 1950s. Their only relaxation was playing baseball, first with their father and later at school. While both brothers would go on to succeed as pitchers in major league baseball, for Gaylord, success would require a lot of perseverance and an almost equal amount of subterfuge. After a couple of lackluster seasons with the San Francisco Giants, he learned from bullpen-mate Bob Shaw how to throw the illegal spitball. More importantly, he learned to control the tricky pitch and to conceal it from suspicious umpires, opposing managers, and baffled batters. When he finally broke out the spitter in a victory by attrition in a marathon, 32-inning, nine-hour doubleheader against the Mets in May 1964, his destiny was set. The Hall of Famer would go on to a 314-265 win-loss record, with a 3.11 earned-run average and 3,534 career strikeouts, becoming the first pitcher in major league history to win the Cy Young Award in both leagues"--

" In 1966, when the still-young Dallas Cowboys franchise ended six years of agony with their first winning season, the team's owner and founder, Clint Murchison Jr., son of a billionaire oilman, was feeling ambitious. He believed his team would be good, even special, for years to come. With such dreams dancing in his head, Murchison found that the aging Cotton Bowl in Dallas's Fair Park was no longer a suitable home for what would soon be dubbed "America's Team." Hole in the Roof: The Dallas Cowboys, Clint Murchison Jr., and the Stadium That Changed American Sports Forever tells the story of Texas Stadium, with its trademark hole in the roof, which served the Cowboys for 38 seasons without ever requiring a penny of public dollars. In 1966, though the Cotton Bowl was one of the newer stadiums in the National Football League, Murchison saw it as an outdated venue. What he envisioned was a shiny new stadium near downtown Dallas, but to realize his vision for what a professional sports venue could be-and the many benefits that the resulting revenue could generate-he needed buy-in from Dallas city leaders. Opening with a foreword by Drew Pearson, all-time Cowboy great and NFL Hall-of-Famer, and based on extensive research in both public and media archives and Murchison family records, Hole in the Roof chronicles Murchison's founding of an extraordinary sports franchise and the battles he fought to build the stadium he wanted-where the Cowboys went on to play each of their five Super Bowl-winning seasons and where Murchison proved that stadiums could be a source of revenue surpassing even television. "--

" In January 1944, a US Army Air Corps transport, en route to its home base in India, crashed into a snowfield in Tibet, killing all crew members. Because of the remote location and fierce winter weather, the aircraft was covered by heavy snowfall. The snowfield glaciated, completely hiding the aircraft until its accidental discovery by a Tibetan hunter in 1993. A nearby Chinese army garrison launched an immediate reconnaissance into the crash site and brought out remnants of the airplane and remains of the crew. They then notified the American Embassy in Beijing. Then-Colonel William H. Jordan, commander of the US Army Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii, was assigned to investigate the crash site and to recover, identify, and repatriate the remains of the fallen US servicemen. Cold Sun: The Search for World War II Airmen Lost in a Tibetan Glacier is Jordan's recounting of the events surrounding the recovery, including the final, solemn duty of officially informing the lost crewmen's family members-by this time in middle age or older-of the fate of their loved ones. He weaves the mission of the aircraft and crew's fate through the prism of America's history of identifying and recovering their fallen warriors, the efforts over the years, and technological leaps needed to finally accomplish this grim, necessary mission. Inspiring and informative, based in the personal reflections of Jordan and the others involved, Cold Sun tells the gripping story of a tragic loss, a harrowing recovery effort, and the human efforts involved. "--

"In fall 2016, lifelong birdwatcher, naturalist, and esteemed Texas artist Margie Crisp decided to take up a shotgun and start hunting ducks. Few nature enthusiasts understand the role that the hunting industry plays in the conservation of wildlands and wildlife-protecting far more critical habitat than birdwatchers. With many bird species in a precipitous decline, duck and geese populations continue to rise steadily year after year. Why? Because of the money waterfowl hunters spend on licenses, firearms, and ammunition, or donate to nonprofit conservation organizations. Here, Crisp goes beyond birdwatching to challenge her notions about hunting. Could duck hunters be considered conservationists? Could she overcome a life-long aversion to guns and learn to shoot birds? And could doing so help conservation of habitats for ducks and other migratory bird species? In writing her experiences, Crisp explores these questions and illustrates to both communities -- hunters and naturalists --that one woman can be a birdwatcher, a bird hunter, and above all, a conservationist devoted to preserving habitat for birds and other wildlife. Readers journey with the author as she learns to hunt -- to experience the emotional impacts of killing, cleaning, cooking and eating birds. First-hand accounts are seamlessly integrated with information about conservation history as well as interviews with hunters, biologists, and birdwatchers. Along the Central Flyway from the Texas coast to Canada, this revealing personal narrative traces hunting and birdwatching trips, and even a solo road trip following the birds' migration, all through the eye of an artist whose words and drawings bring her journey to life"--

"After his release from the Green Bay Packers, realizing that his football career was abruptly over, Delvin Williams asked himself some hard questions: What happened to the game he fell in love with as a kid? What is a retired football player supposed to do? Where did he fit in? Nothing had prepared him for life after football. From his childhood in inner-city Houston and school days at all-Black Kashmere High School, Williams tells the story of a young boy who realized that football filled some of the empty places in his spirit left by an absent father, a poverty-stricken childhood, and the ongoing sting of racism. His determination carried him through a four-year degree at the University of Kansas and, ultimately, an All-Pro career with the San Francisco 49ers and Miami Dolphins. Football afforded him an education and a good living. But it also had an impact on his body and soul beyond anything he could have imagined ... Delvin Williams brings readers on the long journey from Houston's Fifth Ward to the packed stadiums of the NFL, continuing with his decades-long fight for the compensation due an athlete who sustained injuries on the job. Here, Williams recounts the circumstances that motivated him to meet challenges at every level, exceeding his own expectations, telling the story of a career that produced a head-on collision between a starry-eyed kid from the tough streets of Houston and the industry of football"--

"In 2023, the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife marks the 100th anniversary of the state park system. From its inception in 1923, the Texas park system has grown to 95 sites, covering more than 627,000 acres and comprising 74 state parks, 13 historic sites, and 8 natural areas. This vast collection of natural lands and public places now accommodates almost 9 million visitors each year. "The Art of Texas State Parks" celebrates this rich tradition, offering an engaging visual arts survey of Texas state parks as seen through the eyes of leading artists from across the state. Editors Andrew Sansom and Linda J. Reaves have collected original works from thirty of the state's most influential artists. These stunning visual works are accompanied by a thoughtful essay by William E. Reaves on the time-honored legacy of landscape painting in Texas and by Sansom's reflections on the vital place of landscape art in Texas conservation. Rounding out the collection, assistant state park director Kevin Good offers an informative profile of Texas state parks, and the work concludes with profiles of the artists whose pieces appear in this special centennial collection. The centennial of the state parks system offers the perfect occasion to create a lasting visual record of Texas parks in art while memorializing the past and ongoing development of the distinctive collection of Lone Star parks and natural areas. The Art of Texas State Parks offers readers increased awareness of Texas parklands and heightens their popular appeal through the elegant and inspired works of some of Texas' finest contemporary artists"--

"Birdsall P. Briscoe (1876-1971) practiced architecture from 1912 to 1956, the span of years during which Houston was transformed from an ambitious town on Buffalo Bayou into an international city, its economy powered by cotton, trade, and oil. The country houses Briscoe designed for three generations of affluent clients, sited in such Houston neighborhoods as Courtlandt Place, Shadyside, Broadacres, and River Oaks, display his exceptional skill in formulating stylistic and social identities for his wealthy clients and their families. In The Architecture of Birdsall P. Briscoe, architectural historian Stephen Fox examines the country houses designed by Briscoe, offering a glimpse into the architect's methods as well as analyzing how Briscoe constructed a "social architecture" to frame his clientele during periods of economic expansion and contraction. Fox demonstrates how Briscoe cultivated and managed elements of taste, style, and fashion to embody assertions of class identity and solidarity in the context of Houston's capitalist economy. Additionally, Fox shows how Briscoe and his peers interpreted and reflected early twentieth-century Progressive Era design ideals in giving shape to the vision of local civic leaders. Illustrated throughout with masterful color photography by Paul Hester, this original study of one of Texas' most distinguished residential architects will enthrall readers with both its detail and its contextual clarity. As he did in his book on the architecture of John F. Staub, Fox delivers a treasure trove of insight into a vital period of Houston's social history and the architect who helped design it"--

"Located just west of the Fort Worth/Dallas Metroplex, the community of Glen Rose, on the banks of the spring-fed Paluxy River, has attracted people for a century and a half, not only for the shaded quiet of its streets and its historic structures, but also because of the fossilized dinosaur tracks plainly visible on the stone bottom of the nearby river. Here, veteran Texas historian T. Lindsay Baker and photographer Paul V. Chaplo provide an illustrated tour of this picturesque town, transporting readers straight into its shaded streets and highlighting the many historic buildings. A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Glen Rose, Texas: Bypassed, Forgotten, and Preserved is based heavily on research conducted by Baker and a team of Tarleton State University graduate students during their historic site survey of the town in spring 2010. Subsequently, they prepared a nomination to the National Register of Historic Places for the Glen Rose downtown district. Opening with an introduction illustrated by historical photographs sketching the history of the town and placing the architecture of the community into context, the guide also includes a map showing the relative locations of each of the structures. A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Glen Rose, Texas, will offer heritage tourists, local history buffs, and general readers interested in Texas regional history and architecture an informative and visually engaging resource that is both authoritative and entertaining"--

"Black Dragon is the unique account of a single Marine Rifle company-2-F-23, or "Fox" Company-and its drive through the central Pacific in World War II. Author Steven D. McCloud, through painstaking research in battlefield reports and extensive interviews with surviving members of Fox Company, has reanimated the grueling, day-by-day slog through the Pacific theater through the eyes of the US Marines who endured it. This is the story of American teenagers who left home, many for the first time, trained together, and formed a team that held strong until, at last, those who survived tried to leave it all behind as they dispersed, returned home, and sought to build their lives. Decades later they reformed through correspondence and reunions. Fox Company also welcomed McCloud into their midst and began telling their stories. McCloud took notes, chased down company reports and other documents to fill in the gaps, and reconstructed their journey. As one member of Fox Company recalled after returning to Iwo Jima half a century later, "I think the pilgrimage to Iwo has helped me conquer my black dragons-those bloody and stinking nightmares that made nightly uninvited visits for fifty-six years. My dreams were in color, predominantly bloody red. Those remaining are in black and white and shades of gray, not so violent and stinking. These I can live with.""--

"The 1922 Dixie Classic, a post-season football matchup between the Aggies of the Texas Agricultural and Mechanical College and the Praying Colonels of Kentucky's Centre College, was remarkable in several respects. For the Aggie faithful, it is well known as the game where the revered Twelfth Man tradition originated, as E. King Gill was summoned from the stands to don the uniform of an injured team member and to serve as the Aggies' sole substitute player, ensuring that the game could continue. What may be less well remembered, however, is that the game also featured a contest between two championship coaches with strong ties to Texas A&M: D. X. Bible, who mentored the Aggies from 1916 to 1928, and whose 1917 and 1919 teams were not only undefeated but did not surrender a single point to opponents -- a feat unduplicated to this day in college football -- and Centre College's 'Uncle Charlie' Moran, who coached at A&M from 1909 to 1914, compiling a 38-8-4 record. At Centre, Moran had built a team of national reputation, cemented by the Colonels' 6-0 upset of powerhouse Harvard in 1921 en route to the squad's second consecutive undefeated season. Historian John A. Adams Jr. '73 has mined the archives at both Texas A&M and Centre College and has also obtained interviews with key participants, including athletes, coaches, and game promoters. For the first time, he presents enthralling details of the runup to and progress of the historic game: the Texas recruiting connection that enabled Moran to obtain dominant athletes for his Centre College program, the pregame conversation between Bible and E. King Gill that helped place Gill in uniform on the sidelines, the wedding celebration involving the Centre College team at the historic Adolphus Hotel the night before the game, the diagram of the play the Aggies used to score the game-winning touchdown, and so much more. Sports fans and historians, especially those interested in the early days of American football, will savor the rich, previously unknown anecdotes surrounding this storied contest between two iconic coaches and their resolute squads"--

In March 2017, Bob Lee--freelance writer, community organizer, social worker, social justice warrior, child of Houston's Fifth Ward and its advocate, former Chicago Black Panther--died at the age of 74. Alongside his larger legacy, he left behind this collection of fourteen stories published in the Houston Chronicle's Sunday Texas Magazine between 1989 and 2000.Framed by journalist and scholar Michael Berryhill, these youthful recollections and tales of his East Texas relatives reveal Lee's shock at learning that his elderly aunt and uncle, who lived in Jasper, Texas, were lifelong Republicans; recount his discovery at the age of 19 that white people, too, could be poor; recall integrating a small-town restaurant with the help of the white rancher who hired him; explore the world of Black longshoremen and offer meditations on the mysteries of death. As he lay suffering from cancer, Lee told Berryhill that he wasn't thinking about dying, but focusing on love. Berryhill, who was Lee's first editor at the Houston Chronicle, has lovingly collected and edited Lee's stories, which are complemented by an introduction and biographical essay. Treasured storyteller Bob Lee's essays offer to readers the experience of Black history in both urban and rural settings by invoking the simple details and events of everyday life.

""Transcendence came with a price," Brian T. Atkinson writes in his introduction to this collection of reflections by and about pioneer psychedelic rocker Roky Erickson (1947-2019). The singer and songwriter who fronted the 13th Floor Elevators burst onto the Texas music scene in 1966 with the release of "You're Gonna Miss Me," the band's only charting single, which featured Erickson's primal vocal stylings. The band attracted considerable regional attention, including interest from a young Janis Joplin, who considered joining the group before opting to go to San Francisco instead. Through his interviews with those who were there and presentation of Erickson's own words, Atkinson chronicles how Erickson was haunted for most of his life by mental illness, likely compounded by his liberal usage of hallucinogenic and other drugs. Despite that, however, his influence on Texas musicians of various genres is vast. As Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top attests in his foreword, "He stands alone to this day and is revered as an artist because he had the gift of a wonderful voice." As with his previous books on Townes Van Zandt, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and Mickey Newbury, Atkinson has recorded hours of interviews with veteran and upcoming musicians who were impacted by Roky Erickson. Along with the insights of long-time music journalists like Joe Nick Patoski and the bittersweet recollections of friends and family members like Mikel Erickson, brother of the singer, this work includes poetry and lyrics written by Erickson during his confinement at Rusk State Hospital in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The picture that emerges is that of a brilliant, troubled mind and an artist whose influence extended far beyond the period of his greatest notoriety, continuing even beyond his death"--

"Offering a fresh perspective on the influence of the American southwest-and particularly West Texas-on the New York art world of the 1950s, Three Women Artists: Expanding Abstract Expressionism in the American West aims to establish the significance of itinerant teaching and western travel as a strategic choice for women artists associated with traditional centers of artistic authority and population in the eastern United States. The book is focused on three artists: Elaine de Kooning, Jeanne Reynal, and Louise Nevelson. In their travels to and work in the High Plains, they were inspired to innovate their abstract styles and introduce new critical dialogues through their work. These women traveled west for the same reason artists often travel to new places: they found paid work, markets, patrons, and friends. This Middle American context offers us a "decentered" modernism-demanding that we look beyond our received truths about Abstract Expressionism. Authors Amy Von Lintel and Bonnie Roos demonstrate that these women's New York avant-garde, abstract styles were attractive to Panhandle-area ranchers, bankers, and aspiring art students. Perhaps as importantly, they show that these artists' aesthetics evolved in light of their regional experiences. Offering their work as a supplement and corrective to the frameworks of patriarchal, East Coast ethnocentrism, Von Lintel and Roos make the case for Texas as influential in the national art scene of the latter half of the twentieth century"--

"In 1977, Michael J. Bean introduced the concept of "wildlife law" as a distinct new component of environmental law. Known fittingly thereafter as the "dean of wildlife law" Bean has since written scores of articles shaping the policies that impact the natural world. Survival and Recovery: Essays in Defense of the Natural World is built around a collection of those writings, both previously published and unpublished, with a principal focus on the Endangered Species Act-the legislative cornerstone of conservation and recovery efforts for imperiled wild plants and animals in the United States. The background to that pioneering law, many of the conflicts and controversies associated with it-some widely familiar and others not-and the challenge of fashioning effective approaches to rare species conservation are all addressed here. So too are related topics, including administration of National Wildlife Refuges, plastic pollution, and climate change. The collection also highlights individuals who have made significant contributions to wildlife conservation. This collection not only chronicles the evolving history of wildlife law - and of Bean's views about it - but also helps those new to the field to understand the issues and their resolutions. As Carl Safina notes in the foreword, "Michael Bean is a student of what has worked and what has not, someone willing to explore new approaches to solving conservation challenges. That stance has something fundamental to teach anyone aspiring to be a great and influential practitioner, or professor, or both.""--

"While sometimes mischaracterized as the last respite of alcoholism, despair, and questionable motives, Texas dive bars are a reminder that life is not limited to the pressures and profits of the 9-to-5 world. A true dive earns its status through age and patron loyalty, so while dives are outposts from much of society, they're typically stable businesses and often active in their neighborhoods. Dives are also gathering places, where the members, lubricated by affordable beer and long pours of whisky, solve the world's problems on a regular basis. In Texas Dives: Enduring Neighborhood Bars of the Lone Star State, veteran writer Anthony Head and internationally recognized photographer Kirk Weddle visit twelve bars in twelve Texas cities. With pithy text and revealing images, they tell the stories of some of these off-the-radar hangouts of Americana, shining light on the bars and their owners, staffs, and regulars. Head and Weddle are quick to point out that this book is not about drinking, per se: it's a book about Texas culture intimately observed, plus just enough participation to claim with confidence that dives also serve as community anchor points, social clubs, and even, on occasion, places where enduring friendships are made. This witty and sympathetic portrayal is sure to become a bucket-list book for general readers, fans of Texana, and almost anyone who has ever ducked around to the corner pub for a quick drink"--

"In Wild Focus, Earl Nottingham, chief photographer for the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department and its magazine, provides a unique perspective on Texas featuring images of the woods, waters, and wildlife of the Lone Star landscape. Nottingham's engaging photography-landscape, nature, and wildlife; environmental portraiture of people; photojournalistic coverage of events, including natural disasters-provides a cohesive overview of biodiversity and the state of conservation in Texas. The nearly 200 stunning photographs collected here encompass the expansive mission of TPWD, presenting traditional landscape images from state and national parks as well as from vast private lands. Cultural and historic sites are included along with environmental portraits of the people associated with those sites. From the state's wildlife, both great and small, to nature shown in not only its beauty but also its fury-wildfires, hurricanes, and floods-Earl Nottingham offers a visual compendium of events, people, places, and things that have shaped the face of natural Texas. The author logged untold miles and wore through many sets of tires to offer timely stories that would "inform, educate, entertain, and empower" readers about the outdoors. These images that capture the richness and diversity of wild Texas inspire a greater appreciation for the state's beauty and promote a sense of stewardship for its natural treasures"--

This important new study examines the intricately linked phenomena of interwoven population growth, economic power, quality education, business leadership, and fiscal significance as exemplified in the "Texas Triangle," a network of metropolitan complexes that are reshaping the destiny of Texas and adding a strong pinnacle in the global system of economic mega-centers. The Texas Triangle consists of three metropolitan complexes: Dallas-Fort Worth at the northern tip, Houston-Galveston at the southeastern point, and Austin-San Antonio at the southwestern edge. It consists of four US Census-designated metropolitan statistical areas and includes 35 urban counties that comprise those areas. The Texas Triangle soon will include four of the ten most populous cities in the United States. Together these metro areas represent the fifteenth largest economy in the world. The authors describe the trajectories of each of the Texas Triangle metros in which they live and work and integrate them into a larger dynamic of functioning cohesion and effective collaboration. The Texas Triangle offers community leaders, elected officials, policy makers, and others a more nuanced understanding of an important moment in America's continuing urban development. With broader perspectives for how community-building advances the public interest, this book lays important foundations for matching the path of economic prosperity to an informed sense of what is possible.