Bøger udgivet af University of North Texas Press,U.S.

Mel Lewis (1929-1990) first picked up his father's drumsticks at the age of two. At 17 he was a full-time professional musician. The View from the Back of the Band is the first biography of this legendary jazz drummer. For over 50 years, Lewis provided the blueprint for how a drummer could subtly support any musical situation.

"Tombstone, Arizona, is forever associated with Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Doc Holliday, and the legendary OK Corral gunfight that made it a cultural symbol of the Old West. The town's most iconic and storied original building is the Bird Cage Theater-a stunning example of late nineteenth-century variety theaters that were a staple in entertainment around the globe. The modest interior that was once filled with orchestra music, cigar smoke, laughter and whistles, and cheers and jeers is now an empty canvas for the echoes of the past. Every year tens of thousands of tourists are welcomed through its doors to experience an atmosphere that begs wonder and imagination. Private and public tours of its interior have inspired questions, evolving lore, and conflicting stories. In recent decades its history has been fabricated from modern myth, romantic fiction, and pure fantasy. Now, for the first time, historical researcher and author Michael Paul Mihaljevich has pieced together the real story of the Bird Cage. It began in the months leading up to the OK Corral gunfight in 1881, when property owner William J. Hutchinson engaged in a violent three-way property war between lot-owning citizens, a corrupt townsite company, and greedy mine owner Ed Field just to erect the building. After its construction was completed, Hutchinson kicked off a ten-year performance run that saw more than 250 world-traveling entertainers bring their array of acts to the people of Tombstone in scenes of classic western romance. When mines faltered and the local economy edged toward death, it was the Bird Cage that became the key player in the twentieth-century revival that established Tombstone as a tourist mecca and rescued it from near desertion"--

"Artie Shaw took his clarinet to war, abandoning civilian celebrity to lead World War II's most colorful navy band on an island-hopping odyssey that raised military morale but brought him into dark waters. Nightmare in the Pacific: The World War II Saga of Artie Shaw and His Navy Band recounts the offbeat wartime adventures of the bandleader and the musicians he recruited for the hard-swinging outfit popularly dubbed Shaw's Rangers. This team of all-stars, seasoned pros, and promising up-and-comers were unmatched musically though never exactly squared away. The group's eleven-month overseas deployment started with an extended stay as a house band at a Pearl Harbor club for enlisted men. The cushy gig turned serious when Shaw's Rangers shipped out on a battleship for the far reaches of New Caledonia, the New Hebrides, and, most fatefully, Guadalcanal. It was there that the musicians would come under fire and Shaw's own indomitable will would crack. But then, in an unexpected and poignant coda, the band that Artie Shaw conjured into existence would reach its musical peak once he was out of the picture. Tapping a trove of navy personnel files, medical records, court documents and archival materials, as well as contemporary accounts, Nightmare in the Pacific combines musical and military history into one unique saga"--

"On a cold, windy December night in 1926, hell was unleashed on a tenant farm near Farwell, the last Texas town before the New Mexico border. Prone to the bottle and fits of rage, the burly man with the smiling blue eyes was in no mood to quarrel with his third wife over his bootleg whisky and sexual abuse of his stepdaughter. He went from room to room in the house, killing his wife and each child with primitive cutting tools and his bare hands. By the time he concluded his bloody work, he had taken the lives of nine family members ranging in age from 2 to 41, committing what one local reporter called "the blackest crime" in the history of the West Texas Panhandle. Husband, father, uncle, embezzler, serial mass murderer, philanderer, child molester, convict, and military deserter, George Jefferson Hassell was many things to many people, most of them bad. His pattern of familicide crime had begun in 1917, when he slaughtered his common-law wife and her three kids in Whittier, California. Later, in Texas, he married his brother's wife and became stepfather to her eight children. Using Hassell's confessions and his many interviews with reporters as well as the trial transcripts and reminiscences of those who crossed paths with him in Texas, Oklahoma, and California, Mitchel P. Roth presents the first comprehensive account of the life and crimes of one of the least known multiple murderers in Texas, let alone American, history. Roth situates Hassell's saga within the 1920s Texas criminal justice system, including the death penalty, which Hassell ultimately received from Old Sparky, the electric chair at Huntsville"--

"Although in 2000 he became the first sideman inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, "King Curtis" Ousley never lived to accept his award. Tragically, he was murdered outside his New York City home in 1971. At that moment, thirty-seven-year-old King Curtis was widely regarded as the greatest R & B saxophone player of all time. He also may have been the most prolific, having recorded with well over two hundred artists during an eighteen-year span. Soul Serenade is the definitive biography of one of the most influential musicians of the 50s, 60s, and early 70s. Timothy R. Hoover chronicles King Curtis's meteoric rise from a humble Texas farm to the recording studios of Memphis, Muscle Shoals, and New York City as well as to some of the world's greatest music stages, including the Apollo Theatre, Fillmore West, and Montreux Jazz Festival. Curtis's "chicken-scratch" solos on the Coasters' Yakety Yak changed the role of the saxophone in rock & roll forever. His band opened for the Beatles at their famous Shea Stadium concert in 1965. He also backed his "little sister" and close friend Aretha Franklin on nearly all of her tours and Atlantic Records productions from 1967 until his death. Soul Serenade is the result of more than twenty years of interviews and research. It is the most comprehensive exploration of Curtis's complex personality: his contagious sense of humor and endearing southern elegance as well as his love for gambling and his sometimes aggressive temperament. Hoover explores Curtis's vibrant relationships and music-making with the likes of Buddy Holly, Sam Cooke, Isaac Hayes, Jimi Hendrix, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Sam Moore, Donny Hathaway, and Duane Allman, among many others"--

"The eight stories of speculative fiction in There Is Only Us explore themes of loneliness, connectedness, and selfhood. Each one is an act of intimacy -- an altered world shown through the lens of a close relationship. Brothers, sisters, lovers, mothers, and daughters come together in myriad constellations, often so that one character can make a body-altering choice of extreme proportions. In a variety of forms -- from a satirical retelling of Noah's Ark to a sister drama revolving around naked mole rats -- There Is Only Us presents a series of escalating scenarios, intimate and yet absurd, that ask, how much can you change and still be you? Ballering's stories bring to speculative fiction a new lightness and absurdity and a commitment to contemporary experiences of loneliness, especially among Millennials: loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic, ecological loneliness (the sense that, by the end of this century, the earth will be barren), and the unsolvable loneliness that so many experience despite carrying around a tiny device that claims it can connect them to any human anywhere on earth"--

"In the annals of American frontier history, few people left behind such a lasting and far-reaching fame as Billy the Kid. Almost everyone knows his most famous alias. Even if they don't know the detailed or minimal particulars of his existence, they have heard the name somewhere. Henry McCarty alias William H. Bonney ceased to exist in the public eye during his own lifetime and was eclipsed by a legendary persona that still endures today. When and how did such a seemingly imperishable legend begin to take form? Some have suggested the legend of Billy the Kid began with his death at the end of Pat Garrett's revolver on the night of July 14, 1881, in Fort Sumner. Others believe the legend began with his unforgettable jailbreak in Lincoln, New Mexico, several months prior on April 28, 1881. Others still suggest his legend began with the publication of Walter Noble Burns's The Saga of Billy the Kid in 1926. As the reader will find, the legend of Billy the Kid began in the winter of 1880, and still stands as a testament to the lasting influence of a hyperbolic nineteenth century press. James B. Mills has left no stone unturned in his twenty-year quest to tell the complete story of Billy the Kid. He explores the Kid's still disputable origins, his family's movements from New York into the Southwest, his becoming orphaned on the frontier, the Lincoln County War, his dealings with Governor Lew Wallace, his many friends, his enemies, his outlaw exploits, his loves, his character, his death, and his legacy. Most important, Mills is the first historian to fully detail the Kid's relations with New Mexicans of Spanish descent. So, the question remains, who really was the person the world knows as Billy the Kid? Was he the young reprobate committed to a life of crime, who relished becoming a famous outlaw and cold-blooded, self-absorbed "sociopath" or "thug" that some still prefer him-need him-to be? Or was he in fact, the generally good-hearted, generous, courteous, young vigilante that so many remembered with considerable fondness, who ultimately preferred the company of the more peaceable descendants of Spanish settlers than his own Anglo race? ÅQuiâen Es? Who is it? Can the same question that was on Billy's lips during his final moments be answered in relation to his own nature? In this groundbreaking study, Mills cuts through the many layers of mythos and misconceptions and takes the reader closer to the flesh and blood human being named Henry McCarty alias William H. Bonney than ever before"--

"They Kept Running is a collection of works of flash fiction by Michelle Ross. It takes its title from a story about three women running in a national park in the Arizona desert, where, although they are warned about mountain lions and the heat, the real threat they encounter is men in a Jeep. This collection of fifty-seven small stories illuminates the lives of women and girls as they grapple with the hazards of navigating society and the world"--

Utilizing many sources new to publication, James L. Haley delivers a most readable and enjoyable narrative history of Texas, told through stories--the words and recollections of Texans who actually lived the state's spectacular history. From Jim Bowie's and Davy Crockett's myth-enshrouded stand at the Alamo, to the Mexican-American War, and to Sam Houston's heroic failed effort to keep Texas in the Union during the Civil War, the transitions in Texas history have often been as painful and tense as the "normal" periods in between. Here, in all of its epic grandeur, is the story of Texas as its own passionate nation. "Texas native Haley does an outstanding job of narrating the outsized and dramatic history of the Lone Star State. John Steinbeck observed, 'Like most passionate nations, Texas has its own private history based on, but not limited by, facts.' Cognizant of this, Haley takes pains to separate folklore from fact. He's a good storyteller, but then it's hard to go wrong with the colorful characters he has to work with: pioneer nationalists Sam Houston and Davy Crockett, Quaker abolitionist Benjamin Lundy, a wagonload of liquored-up turn-of-the-century oilmen and such latter-day heroes as Lyndon Johnson, John Connally and Janis Joplin."--Publishers Weekly Starred Review "A hugely entertaining read . . . humanizes the eras and events of Texas' past with a keen eye for the poignant, often humorous, always colorful moment."--Dallas Morning News "Haley steps boldly and without apology into Texas' past. His self-assurance is supported by a highly readable, almost breezy prose that guides the reader through a story as dense as the Big Thicket; but, thanks to economical chapters and clear organization, it is much more comfortable to traverse. It's also aided by a writing ethos that is well informed, erudite, free of sentimentality or defensive bluster, and amazingly comprehensive in its scope."-- Texas Books in Review

To tell their story, Whitlow mined thousands of letters and papers saved by the Pease family and housed in the Austin History Center of the Austin Public Library, as well as in the Governor's Papers at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission"--

"Thoroughly documented, with an engaging narrative and perceptive analysis, A Military History of Texas is designed to be accessible and interesting to a broad range of readers. It will find a welcome place in the collections of amateur or professional military historians, devoted fans of all things Texan, and newcomers to military history"--

America's Wild West created an untold number of notorious characters, and in southwestern Texas, John King Fisher (1855-1884) was foremost among them. To friends and foes alike, he insisted he be called "King." He found a home in the tough sun-beaten Nueces Strip, a lawless land between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande. There he gathered a gang of rustlers around him at his ranch on Pendencia Creek. For a decade King and his gang raided both sides of the Rio Grande, shooting down any who opposed them. Newspapers claimed King killed potential witnesse--he was never convicted of cattle or horse stealing, or murder. King's reign ended when he was arrested by Texas Ranger Captain Leander McNelly. In no uncertain terms he advised Fisher to change his ways, so King became deputy sheriff of Uvalde County. But his hard-won respectability would not last. On a spring night in 1884, King made the mistake of accompanying the truly notorious gambler and gunfighter Ben Thompson on a tour of San Antonio, where several years prior Thompson shot down Jack Harris at the latter's saloon and theater, the Vaudeville. Recklessly, King Fisher accompanied Thompson back to the theater, where assassins were waiting. When the smoke cleared, Fisher was stretched out beside Thompson, dead from thirteen gunshot wounds"--

Collects the ten winners of the 2014 Best American Newspaper Narrative Writing Contest, run by the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference. The event is hostedby the Frank W. Mayborn Graduate Institute of Journalism at the University of North Texas. The contest honours exemplary narrative work and encourages narrative nonfiction storytelling at newspapers across the United States.

Johnson's former students hold positions in universities, orchestras, and military ensembles in over a dozen countries. In The Art of Trumpet Teaching, his students describe Johnson's teaching approach and tireless work to help each person succeed. Along with Johnson's biography and studio stories, Leigh Anne Hunsaker presents an extensive collection of pedagogical concepts from Johnson's six decades of teaching. Also included are some of his later expositions on the value of music in education, motivation, and the idea of "music as metaphor." Johnson's hallmark pedagogical tenets, along with much practical advice given to his UNT students, provide a teaching and reference handbook for a new generation of teachers and players"--

Lift s the fog around the US Marshal's complex modern period. From the inside, David S. Turk allows a look within the storied organisation. The research and writing of this singular account took over a decade, drawn from fresh primary source material with interviews from active or retired management, deputy US Marshals who witnessed major events, and the administrative personnel who supported them.

Examines 43 great concerti and discusses, in detail, the technical, aural, rehearsal, and intra-personal skills that are required for "effortless excellence". Maestro Itkin wrote this book for conductors first encountering the concerto repertoire and for those wishing to improve their skills on this important, and often understudied, literature.

Americo Paredes (1915-1999) was a folklorist, scholar, and professor at the University of Texas at Austin who is widely acknowledged as one of the founding scholars of Chicano Studies. He was a brilliant teacher and prolific writer who championed the preservation of border culture and history.

William L. Wright (1868-1942) was born to be a Texas Ranger, and hard work made him a great one. Wright tried working as a cowboy and farmer, but it did not suit him. Instead, he became a deputy sheriff and then a Ranger, battling a mob in the Laredo Smallpox Riot, policing both sides in the Reese-Townsend Feud, and winning a gunfight at Cotulla.

Tells the story of Victor Rodriguez, star track athlete and San Antonio educator. From his earliest days in South Texas he broke many barriers. As a football player and track star he set records and won trophies. At each stage of his education, he often found himself the only Mexican American in his group.

Established in Waco in 1968, the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum honours the iconic Texas Rangers, a service that has existed, in one form or another, since 1823. In The Ranger Ideal Volume 3, Darren Ivey presents capsule biographies of the twelve inductees who served Texas in the twentieth century.

Provides an intimate fly-on-the-wall peek into legendary pianist Bill Evans's life, critical recording sessions, and behind-the-scenes anecdotes of life on the road. Joe La Barbera tells this story with love and respect, free of judgment, showing Evans's humanity and uncanny ability to transcend physical weakness.

Drawing on Leonidas Warren Payne's own writing, interviews with former colleagues and students, and private letters lain undisclosed since his death, Rare Integrity reveals a portrait of a man whose great gift of creative generosity and warmth of heart enabled him to see a person as the person wished to be seen.

Makes the case that the wartime experiences of combat units such as the Tank Battalions and the Tuskegee Airmen ultimately convinced President Truman to desegregate the military, without which the progress of the Civil Rights Movement might also have been delayed.

Denton County and the City of Denton are named for preacher, lawyer, and Indian fighter John B. Denton, but little has been known about him. This biography separates the truth from the myth, which also contains a detailed discussion of the controversy surrounding his burial and offers some alternative scenarios for what happened to his body.