Bøger udgivet af Texas Christian University Press

The Hispanic Roots of Hollywood Westerns explores how the Spanish history of the American Southwest influenced a movie genre that became a worldwide phenomenon: the Western. Numerous aspects of the Hispanic heritage of the Old West appear in Westerns, including Spanish-language place names, Spanish architecture, and Hispanic characters. This book explores these elements through the lens of two archetypal Western protagonists: the Cisco Kid and Zorro. These two characters starred in books, radio shows, and movies throughout the twentieth century, eventually becoming a natural part of American popular culture. They sometimes acted as heroes, sometimes as antiheroes, but in both cases, they helped to create a joyful and positive image in the American collective unconscious of what it meant to be Hispanic in the Wild West. These representations are part of the American cinematographic legacy; to forget them would be to lose a part of our collective identity.Exploring the Hispanic origins of early Westerns is also key to understanding Westerns that came later, such as Sergio Leone's films and Clint Eastwood in his poncho. The role played by Spain itself continued to be significant, as multiple locations (including Madrid, Barcelona, and Almería) were converted into shooting locations for Westerns throughout the 1950s-1970s. Some of these films were internationally recognized as universal masterpieces of cinematography, like the Dollars Trilogy. This book is essential not only for anyone interested in the origins and development of Westerns but also for those who are interested in what meant to be Hispanic in the western United States in past centuries and what it means to be American today.

Reading Tough Streets, Rough Skies, and Sunday Sidelines, readers may need to be reminded that it is a true story. From Larry Wansley's days as a young police detective, dodging bullets while attempting to calm the Compton (California) race riots to his leadership of a staff that identified the 9/11 hijackers, this globally respected security figure has written an action-packed recollection of his foot-to-the-pedal career. As one of the FBI's first long-term undercover agents, Wansley aided with the search for kidnapped Patty Hearst and once organized a sting operation that resulted in the recovery of $42 million in stolen property. He used so many aliases that at times he had trouble remembering who he was supposed to be. While serving as Global Security Director for American Airlines, he coordinated the numbing turmoil that came in the wake of the 9/11 tragedy and walked among those searching Ground Zero. He dealt with drug cartels, arms smugglers, a shoe bomb, and more than a few Mafia wiseguys.During his tenure as Director of Security and Counseling Services for the Dallas Cowboys, he shielded legendary Cowboys coach Tom Landry from a potential sniper hidden in the Monday Night Football crowd and spent a summer serving as pop singer Whitney Houston's bodyguard during her European tour.Written with two-time Edgar Award winner Carlton Stowers, Wansley's autobiography runs the emotional gamut from terrifying to heartbreaking to laugh-out-loud funny with the dangerous and high drama situations that are often only found in fiction.

"The Nurses of Ellis Island: Life and Work inside the Golden Door tells the story of the nurses who offered hope and healing to some of America's most vulnerable patients. In the once-modern hospital complex on the southwest side of Ellis Island, a small group of nurses from the U.S. Public Health Service expertly cared for more than 150,000 patients of all ages and backgrounds, suffering from every imaginable illness and injury. These nurses, who lived and worked in the hospital built between the Main Immigration Building and the Statue of Liberty, learned to embrace their roles as both compassionate caregivers and agents of the state, all while navigating the impact of major sociopolitical events that included two world wars, a global pandemic, and increasingly restrictive immigration legislation. Drawing from government records, archival sources, and newly uncovered memoirs from the nurses themselves, award-winning authors and accomplished nurse historians Michelle Hehman and Arlene Keeling reconstruct the lived experience of nursing on Ellis Island during the first half of the twentieth century. This tale of nursing at its finest is a stunning narrative of triumph and tragedy that brings to life the largely invisible yet indispensable work of nursing at the intersection of immigration and public health policy"--

"Set in Texas during the 1870s and in the 1930s at the height of the Dust Bowl, Dust Covered Lies tells the story of Frances Abbott, or Frannie, an orphaned immigrant who faces a terrible choice that will haunt her the rest of her life. Frannie is a teenage champion markswoman when she and her autistic and artistically gifted brother, Juan Esteban, set off on a scientific hunting expedition on the Colorado River led by a dangerous con man who claims to be a French zoologist. When a murder is committed and Juan Esteban's life is in danger, Frannie lies to protect him. Determined to take her secret to the grave, Frannie and her brother flee to the dust-covered Texas panhandle to escape the one person who could reveal the truth about their past"--

"Dennis Franchione, known as Coach Fran, is one of the winningest coaches in college football history. He successfully turned around football programs at every stop during his head coaching career. From his first job as a head coach of a high school near his hometown to a Sun Bowl victory at TCU and stints at Alabama and Texas A&M, this book will take you behind the scenes of what it was like to be running the show as well as the tragedies he faced throughout his life and how he overcame them. You will feel like you are on the sidelines as former players and coaches relive some of the greatest games in college football in that era and get to hear some of the greatest football stories never told. Coach Fran shares the good, the bad, and the ugly of the most beloved game in the country. From his own personal tragedies to the bright lights of college football, Coach Fran's story is one of hope and how you can do anything in life if you have the determination and drive to make it happen"--

"The Anne Burnett School of Medicine at Texas Christian University opened its doors in July 2019, becoming the first new medical school in Fort Worth in 50 years. The inaugural class of 60 students hailed from across the country, drawn by the promise of a new standard of medical education that emphasizes the whole person. From day one, TCU's MD students learned both the art and science of medicine as Empathetic Scholars. To better understand the medical school and its innovative vision for patient care, TCU Magazine followed six of the inaugural students through their four-year journeys. Writer Lisa Martin spent hundreds of hours conducting interviews and observing all six both in the classroom and in clinical settings as they not only faced the typical challenges of medical school, but also unique ones born out of the Covid-19 pandemic that struck during the students' first year. As they worked toward their medical degrees, Ive Mota Avila, Edmundo Esparza, Charna Kinard, Jonas Kruse, Quinn Losefsky and Dilan Sunil Shah grew as people and in their profession. A hospital shift might bring doubt, delight and death in the span of an hour, but the students became adept at navigating it all, including their own fears and emotions"--

"In this standalone sequel to The Big Drift-winner of five awards including the Spur Award of Western Writers of America-Patrick Dearen explores race relations against the backdrop of the Big Dry, a devastating drought in the 1880s in Texas. Zeke Boles, a Black cowhand, awaits hanging in North Texas for a murder he didn't commit. His white friend Will Brite, with whom he rode in the Big Drift blizzard, has exhausted virtually all avenues to get Zeke exonerated. Will's only hope is to set out for the faraway Devils River to find the actual culprit, a man with a missing finger. But Will has his own legal issues. He has married Jessie, a young woman of mixed race who often passes for white, and a grand jury is sure to return an indictment of miscegenation that could land Will in prison. Ride along with Will and his friend Arch Brannon as they join a cattle drive through a searing land between the Devils and Pecos rivers. This trail through a corner of hell is destined to be marked with carcasses and a lonely grave, but at its end lies the only hope for tomorrow"--

Jackrabbit Jewel and Conejo Grande find themselves immersed in a new adventure along the Butterfield Overland Mail route. This mail route covered a distance of 2,800 miles, beginning in St. Louis, Missouri, and ending in San Francisco, California. As in the previous adventure of Jackrabbit Jewel in Jackrabbit Jewel and the Longhorn Cattle Drive, this story blends the history of the southwestern United States with Texas Tall Tale. The president of the Overland Mail Company, John Butterfield, sends Jackrabbit Jewel an urgent message. Due to a lack of stagecoach drivers, he needs Jewel to drive the stagecoach from Fort Smith, Arkansas, to San Francisco. In addition, he needs Conejo Grande to pull the stagecoach. In addition to the bundles of U.S. mail, they are transporting three passengers to California. The trip is fraught with danger during every stage of their journey, but Jewel has keen frontier knowledge and the help of Conejo Grande and her passengers.

"Set throughout the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, the stories in On a NASA Flight to Heaven explore the various ways in which the border fractures traditional narratives. Standing between North American and Latin American literary traditions, these stories are highly speculative in their approach. In "The Gospel According to Gabriel," a man and the incarnation of his God together confront their own limitations on the streets of Tijuana. A fake historical document about a nonexistent, nineteenth-century religious text centers "Gertrudis Guzmâan's The Great, Great Book of the Republic of Beautiful Deserts." And in "On a NASA Flight to Heaven," the daughter of a cartel boss escapes her fate on the back of what might or might not be a hallucinated fantasy. By consistently blurring together the genres of fiction and nonfiction, and by furthermore resisting all gestures towards completeness and finality, this collection of stories offers a completely novel interpretation of the borderlands"--

"Imagine what it's like to make hundreds of decisions in just two hours on "live" network television with your work seen by millions of people. That's what a sports television producer does each time they sit in "the big chair." In 3...2...1... We're on the Air, Emmy Award-Winning Producer Robert Steinfeld takes readers inside the world of sports television through his career producing some of the biggest sporting events, such as the Summer Olympics, the NBA and WNBA, the MLB, and the FIFA World Cup. Along the way he crossed paths with athletic stars like Cal Ripken, Alex Rodriguez, Nolan Ryan, Nancy Lieberman, Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Bill Walton and announcers Bob Costas, Jim Nantz, and Robin Roberts. Join Robert Steinfeld on his path from eager, ambitious teenage journalist to ultimately realizing his dream producing major sporting events. So, "3...2...1...We're On the Air!""--

In contemporary American politics, where absurdity often overshadows reality, Worse Than You Think emerges as a refreshingly candid and witty account of what happens when ordinary individuals, fueled by a blend of idealism and frustration, leap into the political arena. This narrative dives into the real-life journey of a high school teacher, Edward "Todd" Allen, who took the bold step of running for Congress in 2018. Along for the ride was his best friend and fellow educator, Heath Hamrick, who had a simple job: make everything work out in the end. Todd and Heath embark on a quest to fix the "crazy circus" of our partisan divide, only to find themselves in a series of comical and eye-opening situations, encountering bizarre characters that could only arise deep in the heart of American politics. Worse Than You Think offers laughter, surprises, and perhaps a spark of inspiration to those contemplating their role in democracy. Whether you're seeking validation for your political cynicism, a guide on what not to do in a political campaign, or just a good laugh, this book promises to be an engaging read.

Wards of the League is a long-lost tale from pro football's buried past. Very few people even know that the 1952 Dallas Texans ever existed and played in the National Football League. Before the Dallas Cowboys became America's Team, these Texans were nobody's team. The NFL's first venture into the football-crazed hotbed known as the Lone Star State began with enthusiasm but ended in a doomed collapse before the season was even over. The Texans' rapid rise and fall are chronicled in this book for the first time. The story of the failed team in a place that now boasts of having the most valuable sports franchise in the world today is truly a tale of being in the right place but at the wrong time.

Empire Marine examines the role that Littleton W. T. Waller played in the development and growth of the Marine Corps within the emerging empire of turn-of-the-century America. The grandson of the governor of Virginia, Littleton W.T. Waller grew up during the post-Civil War years when his widowed mother struggled to provide for her sons. Unable to attend university or a professional military school, Waller secured a commission in the Marine Corps in 1880 and began a long and successful military career. Waller's service corresponded with the growth of the Marine Corps and the exportation of American imperialism in the 1890s and beyond. Particularly significant were the episodes of U.S. political and military expansion in South America, the Philippines, China, Panama, Cuba, and Haiti. Waller's experiences reflected the new emerging role that marines would play in the execution of American policy across the globe.

While the Spanish are often remembered for bringing smallpox and other diseases to the New World, little attention is paid to their efforts to eradicate one of the greatest killers in human history. In the middle of the Napoleonic Wars, King Charles IV funded and dispatched a humanitarian mission aimed at inoculating all of the imperial colonies in Latin America and Asia. Known as the Balmis Expedition, it was launched in 1803 and utilized Edward Jenner's new method by which to vaccinate people against smallpox. Using a human daisy chain of two dozen orphans, Dr. Francisco Balmis was able to bring the live virus across the Atlantic Ocean and later the Pacific. Yet, despite saving hundreds of thousands of lives, the history of the expedition was largely forgotten for the next two hundred years. Many at the time resented the Scientific Absolutism that the mission represented, doing away with old methods and cures, as well as its economic implications. Finally, the onset of revolutions in the region only a few years later resulted in a rewriting of history which necessarily eliminated any positive accomplishments of the Bourbons. The Expedition became yet another victim of the Black Legend in Latin American historiography. A voyage which Jenner himself once called "an example of philanthropy so noble, so extensive," and which served as the precursor for future world efforts at disease management, became forgotten. Yet despite this, its effects on the population and on public health efforts in the region were profound. The Balmis Expedition represented a perfect confluence of the tenets of the Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment, and Absolutism, and bridged the divided between medieval and modern public health management.

"Early women artists in Texas made meaningful contributions to early Texas art, from the nineteenth century through the latter part of the twentieth century. This book is the result of research from leading scholars throughout Texas, concentrating on the Civil War era to the early 1960s. Surveying the contributions women made to visual arts in the Lone Star state, "Making the Unknown Known" analyzes women's artistic work with respect to geographic and historical connections. Additional chapters focus on individual women and their specific contributions. It offers a groundbreaking assessment of the role women artists have played in interpreting the meaning, history, heritage, and unique character of Texas. Beautifully illustrated throughout with rich, full-color reproductions of the works created by the artists, this volume provides an enriched understanding of the important but underappreciated role women artists have played in the development of the fine arts in Texas. "Making the Unknown Known" further provides a solid foundation for future scholarship concerning this important and under-studied topic"--

"In 2017, the centennial of our nation's military entry into World War I provided the perfect opportunity to bring the war's historical lessons to a wider American and Texan audience. Working in tandem with national and grassroots organizations such as the United States World War One Centennial Commission and Texas World War I Centennial Commemoration Association, the Texas Historical Commission was tasked by the governor with coordinating the state's response to the centennial. This placed the agency in the unique position of being able to document fresh perspectives on the state's role in the conflict and its memorialization. In the United States, public memory of World War I remains weak, especially compared to other conflicts. A YouGov poll from 2014 revealed that while three quarters of Americans believed the history of World War I to be relevant today, only half could correctly name the year hostilities began and only a little more than a third knew when the United States entered the war. This lack of cultural memory is in stark contrast to the war's historical significance: empires fell and new nations were born, instability brought about yet another world war and ongoing conflict in the Middle East, and accelerated social reforms saw traditional conventions rejected and minority violence increase. The First World War is easily one of the most transformative and important events of world history. A Centennial Perspective on Texas in the Great War provides a record of the memorialization of World War I in Texas in 2017 as well as offering critical background on the importance of the conflict in the United States and Texas today"--

"Michael Corcoran culminates forty years of writing about Austin music with a history of the scene, going back to the German singing societies of the late 1800s and ending with the ascent of South by Southwest, whose registration line would become the Ellis Island of new Austin. Over fifty legendary Austin live music venues, starting with the Skyline and Victory Grill in the wake of WWII, are profiled in a rolling "Clubland Paradise" subsection. Told are the stories of Willie Nelson and the Armadillo, nascent Black radio DJs Lavada Durst and Tony Von, the making of Stevie Ray Vaughan, the significance of Sixth and Red River Streets, and how Aquafest went from Austin's biggest annual event to belly-up in five years. As a daily newspaper journalist for over twenty years, Corcoran is first about the facts in this dig for interesting stories and context from the Live Music Capital of the World"--

"Running in Borrowed Shoes journeys with the United States Track and Field Team from the tryouts in Los Angeles to the 1952 Olympics and afterwards, as the Olympians traveled and competed in local competitions throughout a Europe still recovering from World War II. Running in Borrowed Shoes focuses on pivotal days in the life of Thane Baker, who won silver in 1952 and gold in the 1956 games. Running in Borrowed Shoes relates his first triumph, when the young Kansan overcame physical, educational, and financial obstacles to compete in the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki. When an accident at work left the fourteen-year-old with a piece of metal lodged under a kneecap, Thane's doctors told him he would never run again. But when a legendary coach at Kansas University admitted Thane to the team, Thane understood that his tenacity and hard work in the intervening years had paid off. Thane Baker's daughter Catherine Nicholson worked with her father to record his story. Seen through twenty-year-old Thane Baker's eyes, Running in Borrowed Shoes plunges the reader into the world of the young American athletes who competed in the first Olympics to reach a wide US audience through television. Primitive by today's standards, Helsinki's 1952 Olympic Village is brought into sharp focus, as are the characters who represented a USA fearful of Communism and still under the grip of Jim Crow. The Olympic competitions themselves, and Thane's sometimes risky travels throughout war-torn Europe, are rendered in acute detail by a young athlete relating his most unforgettable experience"--

"Javier Espinoza manages a hungry young rock band without quite enough money to record their debut album. When the slog of playing their hearts out for tiny crowds in Texas border towns gets to be too much, a dangerous idea takes hold of Javier: smuggling migrants across the border for cash. He knows a thing or two about it, after all. He made his own perilous journey from a farm in Coahuila to the US at age eleven, surviving brutal coyotes and dodging authorities. So he and the band find a ramshackle tour bus and an alibi, and are soon plunged into the heart of Juâarez, where the harsh realities of human trafficking, corrupt border agents, and ruthless cartels are waiting. "Travis Burkett knows these roads, these horizons, these fencelines, and, most importantly, the pulse and grit of the border he takes us back and forth across."--Stephen Graham Jones"--

"Reflections on Wright is a collection of essays on Jim Wright from his early years through his retirement from the House of Representatives. Wright was one of the most influential members of Congress in the latter part of the twentieth century and had a major role in policies such as the interstate highway system and American policy in Central America. Foreclosed from moving to the Senate, Wright eventually sought to become Majority Leader and won in a hotly contested race against California's Phil Burton. Both as Majority Leader and as Speaker, Wright proved himself an exceptionally strong leader. Indeed, Wright pushed his agenda so strongly that it led to grumbling among members of his caucus. With attacks on his ethics by Georgia Republican Newt Gingrich, attacks that heralded a new level of viciousness between the two parties in the House, Wright resigned and returned to Fort Worth. For most of the remainder of his life, he taught at Texas Christian University"--

"Hank O'Sullivan, a 65-year-old widower, lives a routine life, nursing his loneliness with cocktails at his favorite local bar in Austin, Texas. A brawl lands him in jail, and he's sentenced to community service, picking up trash beside the highway. Luis Delgado lives with his single father in a small apartment. The 16-year-old troublemaker has remarkable artistic abilities, but his penchant for sneaking out and trespassing onto rooftops late at night also lands him in community service. These loners form an unlikely friendship, and when Hank tells Luis about his desire to drive to Houston to reconnect with an old flame, Luis asks to tag along. Luis's estranged mother lives in Houston, and he has been saving money for a trip, dreaming of reconnecting with her. Hank agrees, setting in motion a raucous road trip in a hot pink 1970 Plymouth Barracuda. The Codger and the Sparrow is a rambunctious story about an unusual friendship stretching across the generations"--

Hewey Calloway has a problem. In his West Texas home of 1906, the land and the way of life that he loves are changing too quickly for his taste.Hewey dreams of freedom - he wants only to be a footloose horseback cowboy, endlessly wandering the open range. But the open range of his childhood is slowly disappearing: land is being parceled out, and barbed-wire fences are springing up all over. As if that weren't enough, cars and other machines are invading Hewey's simple cowboy life, stinking up the area and threatening to replace horse travel. As Hewey struggles against the relentless stream of progress, he comes to realize that the simple life of his childhood is gone, that a man can't live a life whose time has passed, and that every choice he makes - even those that lead to happiness - requires a sacrifice.

Life is an amazing adventure. Every moment contains remarkable beauty. Yet we are often hypnotized by popular notions that everyday experience will somehow leave us unfulfilled. So we climb mountains and visit holy cities. We search for beauty and yearn for opulence, all the while overlooking the simple truth that "the kingdom of heaven is at hand." If we could just manage to get one eye open to glimpse that heaven, all the things that previously appeared unfulfilling would transform into magnificent opportunities for learning, growing and knowing new and wonderful aspects of reality that previously passed by unnoticed. This book is about opening that inner eye. It is one author's personal exercise in seeing beyond the simple forms of everyday life. It is a study of the invisible dynamics that give life meaning and make transformation possible in all situations, all activities, and all relationships.

Tucked in a bend of the Trinity River a few minutes from downtown Fort Worth, the Garden of Eden neighborhood has endured for well over a century as a homeplace for freed African American slaves and their descendants. Among the earliest inhabitants in the Garden, Major and Malinda Cheney assembled over 200 acres of productive farmland on which they raised crops and cattle, built a substantial home for their children, and weathered a series of family crises that ranged from a false accusation of rape and attempted lynching to the murder of their eldest son. Major and Malinda Cheney's great-great-grandson, Drew Sanders, recounts engaging tales of the family's life against the backdrop of Fort Worth and Tarrant County history--among them stories about the famous family Sunday dinners (recipes included). Though some family members, including writer Bob Ray Sanders and transplant specialist Dollie Gentry, no longer live in this special place, life in the Garden of Eden still shapes the family's character and binds them to the homeplace.

In this novel, first published by Doubleday in 1985, Texas novelist Ehner Kelton returns to the Civil War period, once again examining, as he first did in Texas Rifles, the effect of the war on Texans at home. Even while the conflict raged to the east, several groups of Texan Union loyalists hid out across the state, trying to avoid the anger and violence of the confederate sympathizing home guard. Kelton bases this story on a group who lived in a then-huge thicket on the Colorado River near present day Columbus, although the characters, incidents and town of the book are of Kelton's invention. As he always says, fiction writers are liars and thieves. Owen Danforth, a wounded Confederate soldier, comes home to Texas to recover, intending to return to his regiment. His family is torn apart by the war -- two brothers dead, one uncle, a Union sympathizer, shot in the back by the home guard. His father -- also a Unionist -- hides out in the thicket with his remaining family because the home guard, led by Captain Phineas Shattuck, has sworn revenge on the Danforth clan. Torn between duty and family loyalty, Owen Danforth faces difficult decisions until a violent encounter leaves him only one choice.