Choice Magazine Names Two Texas A&M Press Books Outstanding Academic Titles for 2014

COLLEGE STATION—Choice Magazine has named Late Pleistocene Archaeology and Ecology in the Far Northeast, edited by Claude Chapdelaine and Texas Labor History, edited by Bruce A. Glasrud and James C. Maroney Outstanding Academic Titles for 2014.

Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries is a magazine that annually reviews more than 7,000 academic books, electronic media and Internet resources of interest to those in higher education. The books reviewed in Choice are given recommendation levels to indicate to readers which books are essential to their collections of academic books.

            Each January Choice also releases a list of Outstanding Academic Titles that were reviewed in the previous calendar year; only about 10 percent of the thousands of books reviewed annually are selected to be a part of this list. Choice editors look at several criteria when identifying the best titles: overall excellence in presentation and scholarship, relative importance to other literature of the field, originality or uniqueness, value to undergraduate students and importance in building undergraduate libraries.

            An Outstanding Academic Title, Late Pleistocene Archaeology and Ecology in the Far Northeast focuses on the Clovis pioneers and their eastward migration into the Far Northeast, a peninsula incorporating the six New England states, New York east of the Hudson, Quebec south of the St. Lawrence River and Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Maritime Provinces, inhospitable before 13,500 years ago, especially in its northern latitudes.

            In Texas Labor History, the editors and contributors tackle a number of presumptions—that a viable labor movement never existed in the Lone Star State; that black, brown and white laborers, both male and female, were unable to achieve even short-term solidarity; that labor unions in Texas were ineffective because of laborers’ inability to confront employers— and lay the foundation for establishing the importance of labor to a fuller understanding of Texas history.

Texas Co-op Power Magazine Reflects on Life of Conservationist Ed Harte

            In this month’s issue, Texas Co-op Power contributor Melissa Gaskill celebrates the life and work of renowned conservationist, philanthropist, journalist and newspaper executive Ed Harte.

            Harte, who served as vice chairman of the newspaper conglomerate Harte-Hanks and publisher of The Corpus Christi Caller-Times from 1962 to his retirement in 1987, had a passion for the national seashore, especially that of Texas. He often worked behind the scenes in supporting the preservation and research of Texas’s coastline, particularly in Corpus Christi.

            In 1962, Harte successfully campaigned to designate 67 miles of Padre Island as national seashore, and in the early 1970s he was able to allocate nearly4,000 acres of Mustang Island as a state park. According to the article, Harte donated a 66,000-acre family ranch to the Nature Conservancy, which led to the land becoming part of  Big Bend National Park in 1985.

            Harte, a World War II veteran and Dartmouth alumni, also donated more than $70 million to various research labs, universities and environmental groups in the Corpus Christi area during his lifetime.

            Harte was “effective at bringing people around to see the value of nature and [motivating] them to do something about it,” according to Texas Co-op Power Magazine.

You can read Gaskill’s full Texas Co-op Power article on Harte here.

In 2000, with a $46 million endowment, Harte established the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. The TAMU Press also has published various books in partnership with the institute. Each title explores an aspect of the Gulf of Mexico, such as seashells and marine plants, ecology, geography and economic factors. The most recent book in the series Beaches of the Gulf Coast by Richard A. Davis, Jr., which is due out in March, explores the dynamics of beach formation, compares natural and man-made beach environments and profiles common marine wildlife along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico.

More information on Davis’s book, as well as the other books of the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies Series, can be found here.

Houston's Glenwood Cemetery is Lasting Reminder of City's Rich History

The following video features a look at historic Glenwood Cemetery, founded in 1871 in Houston, Texas. Glenwood’s collection of statuary and monuments are reminders of Houston’s rich history and the men and women who shaped it.

Included among them are the last President of the Republic of Texas, four Governors, and more than twenty Houston Mayors, along with founders of major oil companies, religious and professional leaders, and others who have made significant contributions to Houston.

Read more about Glenwood Cemetery in Houston's Silent Garden: Glenwood Cemetery, 1871-2009, published by Texas A&M University Press in 2010. In it, Suzanne Turner and Joanne Seale Wilson reveal the story of this beautifully wooded and landscaped preserve's development -- a story that is also very much entwined with the history of Houston.

Accompanied by the breathtaking photography of Paul Hester, the book chronicles the cemetery's origins from its inception in 1871 to the present day.

What do J.D. Salinger and Tom Lea have in common?

    What do J.D. Salinger and Tom Lea have in common? For starters, they both went to war.

    Tonight's (21 January) PBS American Masters program featuring Shane Salerno's documentary on J.D. Salinger used Tom's "The Two Thousand Stare" and "The Price" to illustrate what landing on Utah Beach on D-Day with the 4th Infantry Division and the subsequent Normandy Campaign cost Salinger. And then they used "The Two Thousand Yard Stare" again as the campaign moved through the three-month meat-grinder of a battle in the Hurtgen Forest . . . and then they used it a third time as the Division came upon the terrible extermination camps surrounding Dachau.

       When Dan Longwell at LIFE first saw Tom's completed Peleliu paintings early in 1945 in New York, all he said was: "Print every damn one of them in color, and I never want to see them again."  His reaction is understandable, but it is no accident that two major media outlets--one television, one print (see below)--reached back (within a week of each other) to Tom's iconic paintings for their stories.

    Semper Fidelis, Mac

Columnist Dave McNeely Reflects on Credentials of Leticia Van De Putte, Candidate for Lieutenant Governor

In his December 5^th column, Dave McNeely highlighted the accomplishments of Senator Leticia Van De Putte, who is running to be the first female lieutenant governor in the state of Texas in the upcoming 2014 elections.

Van De Putte, McNeely stated, has had many years of experience in Texas politics. She served eight years in the House as well as 14 years as a senator. The mother of six has also played pivotal roles in the Senate Democratic Caucus, the Democratic National Convention and the National Conference of State Legislatures, according to McNeely.

As stated in the article, Van De Putte gained more fame in June when, following Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst’s shutting down of Sen. Wendy Davis’s 11-hour filibuster against a bill to increase the difficulty of obtaining an abortion, she exasperatedly asked, “At what point must a female senator raise her hand or her voice to be recognized over the male colleagues in the room?”

Despite her credentials, being elected as the first female lieutenant governor is “an uphill climb [for Van De Putte, especially] in a state that hasn’t elected a Democrat to statewide office” in nearly two decades, McNeely said.

You can read McNeely’s full article here.

Van De Putte was also the central case study of Sharon A. Navarro’s book Latina Legislator, which explores the possibilities of Latina and female legislators. The book describes the 2003 “Texas Eleven” protest led by Van De Putte as well the strides she made for Texas welfare, the Juvenile Code and child healthcare and assessed the effectiveness of her legislation.

More information on Navarro’s book can be found here.

TPWD Artist Clemente Guzman Inspires Conservation with his Wildlife Paintings

With a goal of inspiring people to protect the gifts of the natural world, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Artist Clemente Guzman has worked as a long-time painter and illustrator of animals and landscapes for the magazine.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine editor Louie Bond interviews Guzman in the magazine's latest issue.

From the story:

"Clemente’s path to becoming one of the state’s premier wildlife artists had an unlikely beginning. His dad was a jack-of-all-trades cowboy who left the Korzick Ranch in Doss to raise his children in San Antonio. But work was hard to find, so each summer they left Texas to labor as pickers in various crop fields in Minnesota. The third-oldest of nine children, Clemente started picking in fifth grade. He remembers that they were lured by the promise of housing, but found none when they arrived, so the family slept out in the open in a city park near downtown. It was cold in the mornings, and three of the kids were still too young to work. Little roofed shelters were their only protection from the rain. The work shifted from sugar beets to kidney beans to peas to cucumbers, depending on the crop production cycle.

'Mom got up at 5 to cook us breakfast, and the smaller kids would bring us lunch, mostly bean tacos,' he recalls. 'Working in the field, you’re always together. My dad had a certain pace. We worked even faster so we could break off from family and go way ahead. Tall bean plants would shade us, and when no one could see us, we’d drop down and rest in the coolness, but keep watch for Dad.'

Clemente realized from an early age that his life was different from the lives of the other kids at school. He and his siblings were pulled out of school early and returned late. There was a lot of discrimination against them, but most of his brothers and sisters went to college, and all have good careers.

'I give credit to my mom and dad,' he says. 'We were poor and we didn’t have luxuries, but those things don’t matter. I had my mom and dad and my health. A lot of other people don’t have that.'

Clemente discovered his love of art at an early age; his love of wildlife began to develop during his teens. Summers in Minnesota exposed him to that state’s love of the outdoors and the reflection of that love in its renowned wildlife art. He also took notice of his father’s deep respect for the natural world.

        

Clemente Guzman at work.

Guzman has also illustrated books for Texas A&M University Press. Find more of his work in Hummingbirds of Texas by Clifford E. Shackelford, Madge M. Lindsay, and C. Mark Klym and Scout, the Christmas Dog by Andrew Sansom.

Texas A&M Press Leader in Texas History Titles Since 1974

This week, University Press Week, Texas A&M University Press and 36 other presses unite for the AAUP’s second annual blog tour. The tour highlights the value of university presses and the contributions they make to scholarship and our society. Schedule your week's reading with the complete blog tour schedule here: http://bit.ly/HjQX7n.

Texas A&M Press Leader in Texas History Titles Since 1974

Since Texas A&M University Press opened its doors in 1974, it has maintained a reputation for bringing scholars and the reading public groundbreaking works in Texas history.

Among the press’s first published books was With Santa Anna in Texas: A Personal Narrative of the Revolution by José Enrique de la Peña and translated by Carmen Perry. The journal of the officer on Santa Anna's staff unleashed a fury of emotion and an enduring chasm between some scholars and Texans, reporting the capture and execution of Davy Crockett and several others.

The book sparked heated dialogue on a much-debated topic in Texas history, sparking international controversy. In the years that followed, Texas A&M Press books and authors have delved into the state’s ethnic history, with titles such as preeminent historian Bruce Glasrud’s African Americans in South Texas History and University of Texas historian Emilio Zamora’s Claiming Rights and Righting Wrongs in Texas.

Texas A&M also has acquired books that reflect the state’s natural and cultural heritage, such as Texas Blues: The Rise of a Contemporary Sound by Dallas documentary producer Alan Govenar and A Hundred Years of Texas Waterfowl Hunting: The Decoys, Guides, Clubs, and Places, 1870s to 1970s by petroleum geologist Robert Sawyer.

Here, Charles Porter, a Texas historian, water rights expert and author of the forthcoming book Sharing the Common Pool: Water Rights in the Everyday Lives of Texans, reflects on the press’s long-standing commitment to publishing leading titles in Texas history.

The past and continued success of Texas A&M University Press is a product of its people, their dedication to developing the truth, and their diligence in steadfast and fair assessment of the work of all writers.

The continuing contribution of the Press to the exploration of Texas history and so many other topics represents the most complete fulfillment of the duties of truth, accuracy, and fairness an academic press owes the public.

I was fortunate to join the Press as an author in 2009 with my first book Spanish Water/Anglo Water: Early Development in San Antonio. My book was a culmination of years of field research on the formation of the historic water rights of Spanish Colonial Texas and how these rights were recognized, modified over history, and how the basic legal concepts remain alive in Texas law today.

The Press rigorously reviewed the book before publication. Their reviewers’ commentary and suggestions improved and made my work much more significant. From their rigorous process and support, my book earned two major awards.

I am proud to say my newest book, Sharing the Common Pool: Water Rights in the Everyday Lives of Texans, will be published by the Press in 2014. The same thoughtful and professional approach by the Press and their reviewers took a work of four long years to a level which will make an important contribution to Texans as we struggle to face and overcome our drought-related problems. Texas A&M University Press offers a portfolio of readable yet rigorously peer-reviewed academic books that make a most significant contribution to the understanding of life in Texas today and in the past.

Through their fifteen active funded series on the history and culture of Texas, “the Press” as it is affectionately known, provides an inquiring public the opportunity to learn an interdisciplinary working knowledge of the people of Texas today and how historically they formed their community.

Readers around the world find the Press their go-to-source for sound research and no-holds-barred expert commentary on life in Texas. For both native-born Texans and others either considering a move to the state or undertaking some business or personal dealings with Texans from afar, the Press’s series on history and culture gives the in-depth insight people need to make educated judgments about their future relationship with Texas and Texans.

Just one example of the depth of the Press’ studies are the books they publish about the City of Houston. The Press offers more than fifty books about the United States’ fourth largest city, the energy capital of the world. The books offer the reader an all-encompassing analysis of this most important world city through the lens of its art and architecture, its horticulture and environment, its urban planning and engineering, including its historical human and political interface. The books answer the questions of how Houston and Houstonians came to be and who they are now.

Books such as Marquerite Johnston’s Houston the Unknown City 1836-1946, Suzanne Turner’s and Joanne Seale Wilson’s Houston’s Silent Garden: Glenwood Cemetery 1871-2009, Frederick C. Elliott’s The Birth of the Texas Medical Center, Robert D. Bullard’s Invisible Houston: The Black Experience in Boom and Bust, and Dwight D. Watson’s Race and the Houston Police Department, 1930-1990: A Change Did Come, are examples of the Press’ invaluable educational resources that illuminate not only the core of the city’s successes and problems, but Houston’s heart and soul as well.

The discerning reader learns that the Press never shies away from a discussion about the disappointments in Houston’s past or the city’s current challenges. The reader gains enrichment from these books because they accurately portray the reality of Houston from all perspectives. From this credible evidence, the reader can make fully informed decisions about any subject pertinent to their interest in Houston.

The Press’s efforts to seek and publish expert interdisciplinary views of issues in the African American community, in the Hispanic community, and about women in Texas form a laudable tribute to the courage their editors and directors show in confronting society’s trials and tribulations openly, accurately, and compassionately, not only in Texas but also across America.

The state, local, national, and international awards won by the Press’ publications are numerous. Here are just three recent examples of the hundreds of awards Press authors have won over the year. Steven Fenberg’s Unprecedented Power: Jesse Jones, Capitalism, and the Common Good won the 2012 Carr P. Collins Award presented by the Texas Institute of Letters. Ken King and Alfred Richardson’s Plants of Deep South Texas: A Field Guide to the Woody and Flowering Species won the 2012 Donovan Stewart Correll Memorial Award presented by The Native Plant Society of Texas.