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Texas Ingenuity: Lone Star Inventions, Inventors & Innovators
by Alan C. ElliottImagination is bigger in Texas, too. This collection of inspiring and often quirky stories highlights dozens of examples of innovation from Lone Star history. The Hamill brothers devised a better oil well to reach gushers at Spindletop. The first Neiman-Marcus store opened in Dallas in 1907, revolutionizing the retail fashion world. Astroturf emerged at the Astrodome in 1966. Fritos and corn dogs are just two ubiquitous snack foods claimed as Texan originals. Houston native, and civil rights activist, Congresswoman Barbara Jordan rose to national prominence as a voice of unity during the Watergate scandal. Author Alan C. Elliott details these and many more lessons in success in Texas Ingenuity.
Texas Jailhouse Music: A Prison Band History
by Caroline GnagyInside the Texas State Prison is a surprising story of ingenuity, optimism and musical creativity. During the mid-twentieth century, inmates at the Huntsville unit and neighboring Goree State Farm for Women captured hearts all over Texas during weekly radio broadcasts and live stage performances. WBAP's Thirty Minutes Behind the Walls took listeners inside the penitentiary to hear not only the prisoners? songs but also the stories of those who sang them. Captivating and charismatic, banjo player Reable Childs received thousands of fan letters with the Goree All-Girl String Band during World War II. Hattie Ellis, a young black inmate with a voice that rivaled Billie Holiday's, was immortalized by notable folklorist John Avery Lomax. Cowboys, songsters and champion fiddlers all played a part in one of the most unique prison histories in the nation. Caroline Gnagy presents the decades-long story of the Texas convict bands, informed by prison records, radio show transcripts and the words and music of the inmates themselves.
Texas Pistoleers: The True Story of Ben Thompson and King Fisher (True Crime)
by G. R. WilliamsonThe Vaudeville Theater Ambush of 1884 went down in history as one of the most famous gunfights in San Antonio, but the killing that night of Ben Thompson and John King Fisher, two of the most notorious pistoleers of the day, became something of a mystery. The two men entered the theatre just before midnight on March 11, and less than an hour later, both lay dead, shot down in what for all accounts was a true massacre. The responsible gunmen never were prosecuted for their crimes, and Thompson and Fisher--a mere mention of either man's name was enough to put the fear of death in any opponent--have been widely ignored since. Now, historian G.R. Williamson brings to light the mystery and the myths surrounding these men and their infamous deaths in Texas Pistoleers.
Texas Ranch Women: Three Centuries of Mettle and Moxie (American Heritage Ser.)
by Carmen GoldthwaiteThe author of Texas Dames shares a new collection of profiles featuring the incredible women who helped build the Lone Star State. Texas would not be Texas without the formidable women of its past. Beneath the sunbonnets and Stetsons, the women of the Lone Star State carved out ranches and breathed new life into arid spreads of land. When husbands, sons and fathers fell, bold Texas women were there to take the reins. Throughout the centuries, the women of Texas's ranches defended home and hearth with cannon and shot. They rescued hostages. They nurtured livestock through hard winters and long droughts and drove them up the cattle trails. They built communities and saw to it that faith and education prevailed for their children and their communities. Join author Carmen Goldthwaite in an inspiring survey of fierce Lone Star ladies.
Texas Singularities: Prairie Dog Lawyers, Peg Leg Stage Robberies and Mysterious Malakoff Men
by Clay CoppedgeTexas, that most singular of states, conceals an entire parade of peculiar events and exceptional people in the back pages of its history books. A Lone Star man once (and only once) tried to bulldog a steer from an airplane. One small Texas town was attacked by the Japanese, while another was "liberated" from America during the Cold War. Texan career choices include goat gland doctor, rubbing doctor, striking cowboy and singing cowboy, not to mention swatter, tangler and dunker. From gunslinger Sally Skull to would-be rainmaker R.G. Dyrenforth, Clay Coppedge collects the distinctive odds and ends of Texan lore.
Texas Tornado: The Times and Music of Doug Sahm (Brad and Michele Moore Roots Music Series)
by Jan Reid Shawn SahmA biography of the Sir Douglas Quintet and Texas Tornados founder, a rock and roll innovator whose Grammy Award–winning career spans half the twentieth century.Doug Sahm was a singer, songwriter, and guitarist of legendary range and reputation. The first American musician to capitalize on the 1960s British invasion, Sahm vaulted to international fame leading a faux-British band called the Sir Douglas Quintet, whose hits included &“She&’s About a Mover,&” &“The Rains Came,&” and &“Mendocino.&” He made the cover of Rolling Stone magazine in 1968 and 1971 and performed with the Grateful Dead, Dr. John, Willie Nelson, Boz Scaggs, and Bob Dylan.Texas Tornado is the first biography of this national music legend. Jan Reid traces the whole arc of Sahm&’s incredibly versatile musical career, as well as the manic energy that drove his sometimes-turbulent personal life and loves. Reid follows Sahm from his youth in San Antonio as a prodigy steel guitar player through his breakout success with the Sir Douglas Quintet and his move to California, where, with an inventive take on blues, rock, country, and jazz, he became a star in San Francisco and invented the &“cosmic cowboy&” vogue. Reid also chronicles Sahm&’s later return to Texas and to chart success with the Grammy Award–winning Texas Tornados, a rowdy &“conjunto rock and roll band&” that he modeled on the Beatles and which included Sir Douglas alum Augie Meyers and Tejano icons Freddy Fender and Flaco Jimenez.With his exceptional talent and a career that bridged five decades, Doug Sahm was a rock and roll innovator whose influence can only be matched among his fellow Texas musicians by Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, Janis Joplin, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Texas Tornado vividly captures the energy and intensity of this musician whose life burned out too soon, but whose music continues to rock.&“Doug was like me, maybe the only figure from that period of time that I connected with. His was a big soul. He had a hit record, &“She&’s About a Mover,&” and I had a hit record [&“Like a Rolling Stone&”] at the same time. So we became buddies back then, and we played the same kind of music. We never really broke apart. We always hooked up at certain intervals in our lives. . . . I&’d never met anyone who&’d played on stage with Hank Williams before, let alone someone my own age. Doug had a heavy frequency, and it was in his nerves. . . . I miss Doug. He got caught in the grind. He should still be here.&” —Bob Dylan&“I once made the analogy that Doug was like St. Sebastian—pierced by 1,000 arrows—but instead of blood, talent coming out of every wound. I really regard him as the best musician I ever knew, because of his versatility, and the range of his information and taste.&” —Jerry Wexler, Atlantic Records producer
Texas Tornado: The Times and Music of Doug Sahm (Brad and Michele Moore Roots Music Series)
by Jan Reid Shawn SahmA biography of the Sir Douglas Quintet and Texas Tornados founder, a rock and roll innovator whose Grammy Award–winning career spans half the twentieth century.Doug Sahm was a singer, songwriter, and guitarist of legendary range and reputation. The first American musician to capitalize on the 1960s British invasion, Sahm vaulted to international fame leading a faux-British band called the Sir Douglas Quintet, whose hits included &“She&’s About a Mover,&” &“The Rains Came,&” and &“Mendocino.&” He made the cover of Rolling Stone magazine in 1968 and 1971 and performed with the Grateful Dead, Dr. John, Willie Nelson, Boz Scaggs, and Bob Dylan.Texas Tornado is the first biography of this national music legend. Jan Reid traces the whole arc of Sahm&’s incredibly versatile musical career, as well as the manic energy that drove his sometimes-turbulent personal life and loves. Reid follows Sahm from his youth in San Antonio as a prodigy steel guitar player through his breakout success with the Sir Douglas Quintet and his move to California, where, with an inventive take on blues, rock, country, and jazz, he became a star in San Francisco and invented the &“cosmic cowboy&” vogue. Reid also chronicles Sahm&’s later return to Texas and to chart success with the Grammy Award–winning Texas Tornados, a rowdy &“conjunto rock and roll band&” that he modeled on the Beatles and which included Sir Douglas alum Augie Meyers and Tejano icons Freddy Fender and Flaco Jimenez.With his exceptional talent and a career that bridged five decades, Doug Sahm was a rock and roll innovator whose influence can only be matched among his fellow Texas musicians by Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, Janis Joplin, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Texas Tornado vividly captures the energy and intensity of this musician whose life burned out too soon, but whose music continues to rock.&“Doug was like me, maybe the only figure from that period of time that I connected with. His was a big soul. He had a hit record, &“She&’s About a Mover,&” and I had a hit record [&“Like a Rolling Stone&”] at the same time. So we became buddies back then, and we played the same kind of music. We never really broke apart. We always hooked up at certain intervals in our lives. . . . I&’d never met anyone who&’d played on stage with Hank Williams before, let alone someone my own age. Doug had a heavy frequency, and it was in his nerves. . . . I miss Doug. He got caught in the grind. He should still be here.&” —Bob Dylan&“I once made the analogy that Doug was like St. Sebastian—pierced by 1,000 arrows—but instead of blood, talent coming out of every wound. I really regard him as the best musician I ever knew, because of his versatility, and the range of his information and taste.&” —Jerry Wexler, Atlantic Records producer
Texas Women First: Leading Ladies of Lone Star History
by Sherrie S. McLeRoyAmerican history is teeming with unconventional, trailblazing Lone Star women with big, unprecedented achievements--outstanding, outrageous, outré women who know all about being "Texas Big" and being first. Texas's own Bessie Coleman was the first black person in the world to earn a pilot's license. Students and typists the world over breathed a sigh of relief when San Antonio-born Bette Nesmith Graham released Mistake Out, now known as Liquid Paper®. Way ahead of the curve, University of Texas graduate Aida Nydia Barrera saw the need for bilingual educational programming and in 1970 started Carrascolendas, the first television show of its kind in the country. In 1981, El Paso's Sandra Day O'Connor became the first female justice of the United States Supreme Court. Join author Sherrie McLeRoy for an introduction to the exceptional women of Lone Star history.
Texas Women: Frontier To Future
by Ann Fears Crawford Crystal Sasse RagsdaleShort biographies of many of Texas's most famous women of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Texas and Christmas: A Collection of Traditions, Memories and Folklore
by Judy Alter Joyce Gibson RoachThroughout the world, Christmas is special. And everywhere, from Maine to California and beyond the ocean, it is celebrated differently in each community, each home. Yet those who like to think Texas is special believe that Christmas in that state is bigger, better, and more treasured than anywhere else. This collection grew out of that conviction. Most of these pieces bring the past into the present, reviving traditions and memories of Christmases long gone. Others reflect the diversity of Texas people, and still others describe customs that are even today setting new traditions for the future. Want to make syllabub? The recipe is here. Curious about the way the Germans in South Central Texas once celebrated the holiday? Minetta Goyne captures those special customs. Elmer Kelton and Joyce Gibson Roach recall the joy and sadness of Christmases during World War II
Text Me When You Get Home: The Evolution and Triumph of Modern Female Friendship
by Kayleen SchaeferA personal and sociological examination--and ultimately a celebration--of the evolution of female friendship in pop culture and modern society"Text me when you get home." After joyful nights out together, female friends say this to one another as a way of cementing their love. It's about safety; but more than that, it's about solidarity. From Broad City to Big Little Lies to what women say about their own best friends, the stories we're telling about female friendship have changed. What used to be written off as infighting between mean girls or disposable relationships that would be tossed as soon as a guy came along are no longer described like that. Now, we're lifting up our female friendships to the same level as our other important relationships, saying they matter just as much as the bonds we have with our romantic partners, children, parents, or siblings. Journalist Kayleen Schaefer relays her journey of modern female friendship: from being a competitive teenager to trying to be one of the guys in the workplace to ultimately awakening to the power of female friendship and the soulmates, girl squads, and chosen families that come with it. Schaefer has put together a completely new sociological perspective on the way we see our friends today, one that includes interviews with dozens of other women across the country: historians, creators of the most iconic films and television shows about female friendship (and Galentine's Day!), celebrities, authors, and other experts. The end result is a validation of female friendship that's never existed before.
Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal
by Amy Krouse RosenthalThe bestselling author of Encyclopedia an Ordinary Life returns with a literary experience that is unprecedented, unforgettable, and explosively human. In the ten years since the publication of her beloved, groundbreaking Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life, #1 New York Times bestselling author Amy Krouse Rosenthal has been quietly tinkering away. Using her distinct blend of nonlinear narrative, wistful reflections, and insightful wit, she has created a modest but mighty new work. Why the title T extbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal? * Because the book is organized into chapters with classic subject headings such as Social Studies, Music, Language Arts, Math, etc. * Because textbook is an expression meaning "quintessential," as in, Oh, that wordplay and unconventional format is so typical of her, so textbook Amy. * Because for the first time ever, readers can further engage with a book via text messaging. * Because if an author's previous book has E ncyclopedia i n the title, following it up with a Textbook would be rather nice.Not exactly a memoir, not just a collection of observations, Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal is an exploration into the many ways we are connected on this planet and speaks to the awe, bewilderment, and poignancy of being alive.From the Hardcover edition.
Thabo Mbeki (Modern World Leaders)
by Dennis AbramsThabo Mbeki has devoted his life to the people of South Africa, first as a courageous fighter against apartheid and currently as president of his beloved nation, helping to heal the wounds caused by decades of oppression. His success is even more astounding considering the seemingly insurmountable obstacles he encountered early in life: His activist father spent many years in prison because of his political beliefs. Close relatives disappeared, never to be seen or heard from again. And Mbeki himself was forced to live in exile for nearly 30 years. What gave him the strength and determination to continue his struggle? How did the little boy from a small village go on to become South Africa's president? This revealing new biography answers these questions and more, exploring the life and accomplishments of this remarkable world leader.
Thach Weave
by Steve EwingThis biography completes a trilogy on the three Navy fighter pilots-Jimmie Thach, Butch O'Hare, and Jimmy Flatley-who developed sweeping changes in aerial combat tactics during World War II. While O'Hare and Flatley were instrumental in making the "weave" a success, Thach was its theoretical innovator, and his use of the tactic in combat at Midway documented its practical application. This portrait of the famous pilot provides a memorable account of how Thach, convinced that his Wildcat was no match for Japan's formidable Zero, found a way to give his squadron a fighting chance. Using matchsticks on his kitchen table, he devised a solution that came to be called the Thach Weave. But as Steve Ewing is quick to point out, this was not Thach's sole contribution to the Navy. Throughout his forty-year career, Thach provided answers to multiple challenges facing the Navy, and his ideas were implemented service wide. A highly decorated ace, Thach was an early test pilot, a creative task force operations officer in the last year of the World War II, and an outstanding carrier commander in the Korean War. During the Cold War, he contributed to advances in antisubmarine warfare. This biography shows him to be a charismatic leader interested in everyone around him, regardless of rank or status. His dry sense of humor and constant smile attracted people from all walks of life, and he was a popular figure in Hollywood. Thach remains a hero among naval aviators today, his most famous combat tactic still in use by modern jets.
Thackeray
by Anthony TrollopeIn the foregoing volumes of this series of English Men of Letters, and in other works of a similar nature which have appeared lately as to the Ancient Classics and Foreign Classics, biography has naturally been, if not the leading, at any rate a considerable element. The desire is common to all readers to know not only what a great writer has written, but also of what nature has been the man who has produced such great work. As to all the authors taken in hand before, there has been extant some written record of the man's life. Biographical details have been more or less known to the world, so that, whether of a Cicero, or of a Goethe, or of our own Johnson, there has been a story to tell. Of Thackeray no life has been written; and though they who knew him, -and possibly many who did not, -are conversant with anecdotes of the man, who was one so well known in society as to have created many anecdotes, yet there has been no memoir of his life sufficient to supply the wants of even so small a work as this purports to be. For this the reason may simply be told. Thackeray, not long before his death, had had his taste offended by some fulsome biography. Paragraphs, of which the eulogy seemed to have been the produce rather of personal love than of inquiry or judgment, disgusted him, and he begged of his girls that when he should have gone there should nothing of the sort be done with his name.
Thackeray: The Life of a Literary Man
by D. J. TaylorA rich and evocative portrait of one of the greatest authors of Victorian England Who was William Makepeace Thackeray? Was he the wealthy dilettante who came to London in the 1830s and squandered his fortune on newspapers? Was he the impoverished freelance author of the 1840s who scrapped for every penny he could get? Or was he the great writer who published Vanity Fair in 1847, skewering Victorian society and ensuring his literary legacy? Throughout the many phases of his life, Thackeray remained an enigma. He was friendly but standoffish, generous yet miserly, confident and utterly terrified of failure. A century and a half after Thackeray's death, D. J. Taylor has produced a biography that tackles the complexities of these contradictions and restores Thackeray to his place in the literary pantheon. His fortune lost by the time he was thirty, his personal life in constant torment, Thackeray's story is as dramatic as that of any of his characters. In Thackeray, the man can finally be seen in full.
Thaddeus Kosciuszko: A Hero of Two Worlds [Beyond Level, Grade 5]
by Becky ChestonNIMAC-sourced textbook
Thaddeus Kosciuszko: A Hero of Two Worlds [On Level, Grade 5]
by Becky ChestonNIMAC-sourced textbook
Thaddeus Stevens
by Hans L. TrefousseOne of the most controversial figures in nineteenth-century American history, Thaddeus Stevens is best remembered for his role as congressional leader of the radical Republicans and as a chief architect of Reconstruction. Long painted by historians as a vindictive 'dictator of Congress,' out to punish the South at the behest of big business and his own ego, Stevens receives a more balanced treatment in Hans L. Trefousse's biography, which portrays him as an impassioned orator and a leader in the struggle against slavery. Trefousse traces Stevens's career through its major phases: from his days in the Pennsylvania state legislature, when he antagonized Freemasons, slaveholders, and Jacksonian Democrats, to his political involvement during Reconstruction, when he helped author the Fourteenth Amendment and spurred on the passage of the Reconstruction Acts and the impeachment of Andrew Johnson. Throughout, Trefousse explores the motivations for Stevens's lifelong commitment to racial equality, thus furnishing a fuller portrait of the man whose fervent opposition to slavery helped move his more moderate congressional colleagues toward the implementation of egalitarian policies.
Thaddeus Stevens: Civil War Revolutionary, Fighter for Racial Justice
by Bruce LevineThe definitive biography of one of the 19th century&’s greatest statesmen, encompassing his decades-long fight against slavery, his key role in the Union war effort, and his postwar struggle to bring racial justice to America. Thaddeus Stevens was among the first to see the Civil War as an opportunity for a second American revolution—a chance to remake the country as a true multiracial democracy. One of the foremost abolitionists in Congress in the years leading up to the war, he was a leader of the young Republican Party&’s radical wing, fighting for anti-slavery and anti-racist policies long before party colleagues like Abraham Lincoln endorsed them. It was he, for instance, who urged Lincoln early on to free those enslaved throughout the US and to welcome black men into the Union&’s armies. During the Reconstruction era following the Civil War, Stevens demanded equal civil and political rights for black Americans, rights eventually embodied in the 14th and 15th amendments. But while Stevens in many ways pushed his party—and America—towards equality, he also championed ideas too radical for his fellow Congressmen ever to support, such as confiscating large slaveholders&’ estates and dividing the land among those who had been enslaved. In Thaddeus Stevens: Civil War Revolutionary, acclaimed historian Bruce Levine has written the definitive biography of one of the most visionary statesmen of the 19th century and a forgotten champion for racial justice in America.
Thai Stick: Surfers, Scammers, and the Untold Story of the Marijuana Trade
by Peter MaguireLocated on the left bank of the Chao Phya River, Thailand's capital, Krungthep, known as Bangkok to Westerners and "the City of Angels" to Thais, has been home to smugglers and adventurers since the late eighteenth century. During the 1970s, it became a modern Casablanca to a new generation of treasure seekers, from surfers looking to finance their endless summers to wide-eyed hippie true believers and lethal marauders left over from the Vietnam War. Moving a shipment of Thai sticks from northeast Thailand farms to American consumers meant navigating one of the most complex smuggling channels in the history of the drug trade. Many forget that until the mid-1970s, the vast majority of marijuana consumed in the United States was imported, and there was little to no domestic production.Peter Maguire and Mike Ritter are the first historians to document this underground industry, the only record of its existence rooted in the fading memories of its elusive participants. Drawing on hundreds of interviews with smugglers and law enforcement agents, the authors recount the buy, delivery, voyage home, and product offload. They capture the eccentric personalities of the men and women who transformed the Thai marijuana trade from a GI cottage industry into a professionalized business moving the world's most lucrative commodities, unraveling a rare history from the smugglers' perspective.
Thakur - Sri Ramakrishna: A Biography
by Rajiv MehrotraThe story of Sri Ramakrishna, one of the most beloved Hindu spiritual leaders. All religions are true. The important thing is to reach the roof. You can reach it by stone stairs or by wooden stairs or by bamboo steps or by a rope. One should not think, ‘My religion alone is the right path and other religions are false.’ I had to practice each religion for a time – Hinduism, Islam, Christianity. Infinite are the paths and infinite are opinions. - Sri Ramakrishna. In Thakur - Sri Ramakrishna: A Biography, Rajiv Mehrotra explores the ‘challenge and the riddle’ presented by the great mystic who, more than a century after his death, continues to dominate secular Hindu consciousness. Sri Ramakrishna brought a new vitality not only to the practices, rituals and symbols of the Hindu heritage but also the celebration of divinity in diverse forms, and reinforced the underlying possibility of a real harmony between all religions. It is this vision that makes him one of the great religious teachers of all time and so profoundly relevant today. This illuminating and intimate biography is most reader-friendly and comprehensive, revealing this boundless power and magnetism of Sri Ramakrishna, as well as the Order that was inspired by his spiritual quest. Mehrotra’s narrative gift is remarkably precise and richly evocative, integrating all details of an aspect into a visual and verbal complex of significance. This is a book for all those who want to know more about Sri Ramakrishna, as well as for anyone looking for a brilliant read.
Thalberg: Life and Legend
by Bob ThomasMore than eight-five years after his death, Irving Thalberg remains a legendary Hollywood figure. With his remarkable talent for developing stars and doctoring scripts, this architect of the American film created some of America's best-loved movies: Ben-Hur, Mutiny on the Bounty, Grand Hotel, Romeo and Juliet, The Good Earth, Camille, A Night at the Opera, and many more. His genius has made his name a legend in the land of legends.In this definitive biography, author Bob Thomas brings the legend to life— from Thalberg' s beginnings as the "Boy Wonder of Hollywood" to the creation with Louis B. Mayer of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer— from his ability to nurture talent like Greta Garbo and Joan Crawford to his tragic death at the age of thirty-seven.
Thalhimers Department Stores (Images of America)
by Emily Golightly Rusk Elizabeth Thalhimer SmarttThalhimers was founded in Richmond in 1842 by German Jewish immigrant William Thalhimer as a humble dry goods store. It expanded over the years to become a 26-store chain across the Southeast under the leadership of William's great-grandson, William B. Thalhimer Jr. It boasted the latest in clothing, shoes, and accessories for the entire family, the most modern of housewares, and gourmet foods and baked goods, including the iconic six-layer chocolate cake. Through decades of dramatic political and social change, Thalhimers stood strong, guided by the overarching philosophies of honesty, integrity, quality, and service. Loyal and devoted employees were the heart of Thalhimers, becoming part of the extended Thalhimer family. Sadly, in 1992, as a result of retail consolidation, the Thalhimer name was dropped and the flagship downtown Richmond store closed. A 150-year legacy ended, leaving behind cherished memories, stories, and images.
Thalian Hall
by D. Anthony RivenbarkThalian Hall is one of the oldest and most beautiful theaters in America. Forming the east wing of Wilmington's iconic city hall, this dual-purpose building has been at the center of the community's cultural and political life since it first opened in 1858. Thalian Hall is the only surviving theater designed by John Montague Trimble, one of America's foremost 19th-century theater architects. It was built at a time when Wilmington was the largest city in North Carolina. Thalian Hall is the embodiment of a tradition of performance that stretches back for over two centuries. It has hosted Shakespearean tragedies, musical concerts, and even boxing and wrestling events. For generations, Wilmington audiences have witnessed touring stars, local actors, musicians, dancers, and movies in a parade of performances and celebratory events. The story of Thalian Hall is an embroidered tapestry reflecting the history of the American theater and the community that built it.