LONE STARS RISING compiled by the Editors of Texas Monthly is all about “The Fifty
People Who Turned Texas into the Fastest-Growing, Most Exciting, and,
Sometimes, Most Exasperating State in the Country.” Since it is the golden
anniversary of Texas Monthly’s publication, they decided to compile some
profiles of “fascinating personalities we've been blessed to write about over
the past half century.” The debates about whom to include would have been quite
interesting, right? This text itself is very engaging, too. Sections correspond
to decades and lists statistics like state population, the Democrat/Republican split in the Texas House, Austin’s rank amongst US
cities, and even the cumulative
number of Willie Nelson albums! The end of each decade has a list of books,
films/TV, music, and sports related to Texas. And in between are four to five
page summaries (with an accompanying picture) of influential Texans; here are
just a few of the names: Barbara Jordan, Tom Landry, Larry McMurtry, Bill
Hobby, Charles Butt, Molly Ivins, Karl Rove, Selena, Beyoncé, Hugo Ortega, and
Brené Brown. Filled with factoids (did you know that Texas’ economy would rank “9th
in the world, just behind that of Brazil and ahead of South Korea”?), LONE STARS
RISING is a remarkable text to browse, and patterns
emerge looking chronologically. Of course, the essays included here are rather
short and it could have been fun (and informative!) to include additional references
and resources about each of these individuals. For example, there is a new podcast about Lady Bird Johnson’s life as well
as the In Plain Sight podcast which was
told in her own words. Yes, the LONE STARS RISING collection succeeded in making me more curious about Texas and its
inhabitants. I am looking forward to learning more through Stephen Harrigan’s Big Wonderful Thing and Lawrence Wright's God Save Texas.
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