Download or read book Miles and Miles of Texas written by Carol Dawson and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2016-09-23 with total page 421 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On the eve of its centennial, Carol Dawson and Roger Allen Polson present almost 100 years of history and never-before-seen photographs that track the development of the Texas Highway Department. An agency originally created “to get the farmer out of the mud,” it has gone on to build the vast network of roads that now connects every corner of the state. When the Texas Highway Department (now called the Texas Department of Transportation or TxDOT) was created in 1917, there were only about 200,000 cars in Texas traveling on fewer than a thousand miles of paved roads. Today, after 100 years of the Texas Highway Department, the state boasts over 80,000 miles of paved, state-maintained roads that accommodate more than 25 million vehicles. Sure to interest history enthusiasts and casual readers alike, decades of progress and turmoil, development and disaster, and politics and corruption come together once more in these pages, which tell the remarkable story of an infrastructure 100 years in the making.
Download or read book On the Road with Texas Highways written by J. Griffis Smith and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2014-08-21 with total page 629 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a short line of Texas Highways distinguished photo editors, J. Griffis Smith has been described by a fellow photographer as a “galactic force,” reveling in taking pictures of everything Texas wherever the magazine’s assignments took him, all with the goal of inspiring “folks to travel.” Celebrating the roaming life of a professional magazine photographer, Texas Highways has joined with Smith to assemble a collection of signature images from three decades of work, including memorable pictures of Texas icons, landscapes, people, and historical and cultural destinations. An essay by E. Dan Klepper conveys a sense of how photo editors have worked at Texas Highways and how Griff Smith’s quirky, creative nature has helped to shape the magazine's style and message.
Download or read book Willie Nelson s Letters to America written by Willie Nelson and published by Harper Horizon. This book was released on 2021-06-29 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following his bestselling memoir, It’s a Long Story, Willie Nelson now delivers his most intimate thoughts and stories in Willie Nelson's Letters to America. A New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestseller! From his opening letter “Dear America” to his “Dear Willie” epilogue, Willie digs deep into his heart and soul--and his music catalog--to lift us up in difficult times, and to remind us of the endless promise and continuous obligations of all Americans--to themselves, to one another, and to their nation. In a series of letters straight from the heart, Willie sends his thanks and his thoughts to: Americans past, present, and future, his closest family members, andhis parents, sister, and children, his other family members his guitar “Trigger”, his hero Gene Autry, the US founding fathers, his personal heroes, from our founding fathers to the leaders of future generations and to young songwriters as well as leaders of our future generations. Willie’s letters are rounded out with the moving lyrics to some of his most famous and insightful songs, including “Let Me Be a Man,” “Family Bible,” “Summer of Roses,” “Me and Paul,” “A Horse called Music,” “Healing Hands of Time,” and “Yesterday's Wine.”
Download or read book Western Skies written by Darden Smith and published by Dexterity. This book was released on 2022-03-05 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Part prose, part album, and part photographic essay, Western Skies is a stunning homage to the mythologies of Texas. Amid a series of road trips across West Texas, Austin-based singer-songwriter Darden Smith found himself writing songs at the wheel and taking Polaroid photographs of the stark and ghostly terrain. Inspired by the spirit of the landscape, Smith scribbled his observations in a notebook and found new life in old lyrics—and between the prose, the music, and the images he captured with his camera, Western Skies came vividly to life. This beautifully designed and collectible book features everything Smith captured and created during his travels. The perfect companion piece to his latest album, also titled Western Skies, the book collects the sights and sounds of West Texas in a truly immersive and transportive way.
Download or read book The Texanist written by David Courtney and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2017-04-25 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of Courtney's columns from the Texas Monthly, curing the curious, exorcizing bedevilment, and orienting the disoriented, advising "on such things as: Is it wrong to wear your football team's jersey to church? When out at a dancehall, do you need to stick with the one that brung ya? Is it real Tex-Mex if it's served with a side of black beans? Can one have too many Texas-themed tattoos?"--Amazon.com.
Download or read book I See You Big German written by Zac Crain and published by Deep Vellum Publishing. This book was released on 2021-06-01 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the 1990's, Dallas was a basketball wasteland. Luckily for the city, along came Dirk Nowitzki, a towering Würzburg, Germany native with a cool efficiency and the ability to basket shots from seemingly impossible angles. Nowitzki spent his entire 21-season NBA career with the Dallas Mavericks, the longest tenure of any one player with one team in the league's history, and led them to their first and only NBA championship, while being named a 14-time All-Star, a 12-time All-NBA Team member, and the first European player to receive the NBA's Most Valuable Player Award. Zac Crain, award-winning journalist for D Magazine who moved to Dallas the same year that Nowitzki began his career in the city, memorializes Nowitzki’s career through a lyric essay reminiscent of Hanif Abdurraqib's Go Ahead in the Rain that mixes with author's story with the basketball legend's, charting the highs and lows (and mostly highs) of the Mavs' all-time statistical leader’s career and what they mean to the city of Dallas and its now basketball-obsessed citizens.
Download or read book Dallas Fort Worth Freeways written by Erik Slotboom and published by . This book was released on 2014-04-01 with total page 540 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: History of Dallas-Fort Worth freeways and associated landmarks and events
Download or read book A Journey Round My Room written by Xavier de Maistre and published by . This book was released on 1871 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1790, Xavier de Maistre was 27 years old, and a soldier in the army of the Sardinian Kingdom, which covered swathes of modern-day Northern Italy and Southern France. He was placed under house-arrest in Turin for fighting an illegal duel. It was during the 42 days of his confinement here that he wrote the manuscript that would become Voyage autour de ma chambre. Inspired by the works of Laurence Sterne, with their digressive and colloquial style, de Maistre decided to make the most of his sentence by recording an exploration of the room as a travel journal. de Maistre’s book imbues the tour of his chamber with great mythology and grand scale. As he wanders the few steps that it takes to circumnavigate the space, his mind spins off into the ether. It parodies the travel journals of the eighteenth-century (such as A Voyage Around the World by Louis de Bougainville, 1771), and could be read today as an early take on the modern vogue for “psychogeography” — each tiny thing that he encounters sends de Maistre into rhapsodies, and mundane journeys become magnificent voyages.
Download or read book Texas Highways written by and published by . This book was released on 1988 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Miles and Miles of Texas written by Carol Dawson and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2016-09-02 with total page 650 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On the eve of its centennial, Carol Dawson and Roger Allen Polson present almost 100 years of history and never-before-seen photographs that track the development of the Texas Highway Department. An agency originally created “to get the farmer out of the mud,” it has gone on to build the vast network of roads that now connects every corner of the state. When the Texas Highway Department (now called the Texas Department of Transportation or TxDOT) was created in 1917, there were only about 200,000 cars in Texas traveling on fewer than a thousand miles of paved roads. Today, after 100 years of the Texas Highway Department, the state boasts over 80,000 miles of paved, state-maintained roads that accommodate more than 25 million vehicles. Sure to interest history enthusiasts and casual readers alike, decades of progress and turmoil, development and disaster, and politics and corruption come together once more in these pages, which tell the remarkable story of an infrastructure 100 years in the making.
Download or read book Big Woods written by May Cobb and published by Llewellyn Worldwide. This book was released on 2018-07-08 with total page 355 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Stephen King's Stand by Me collides with Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects in this exceptional thriller. Gutsy, gripping—and pitch-perfect in its resurrection of an era long gone."—A. J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window When her sister disappears, the only clue Leah has is a cryptic message: Underground. By the Woods. It's 1989 in the sleepy town of Longview, Texas, when ten-year-old Lucy disappears. Her parents, the police, and the community all brace for the worst, assuming her body will soon be found in Big Woods. Just like the other unsolved kidnappings. But then Lucy's fourteen-year-old sister, Leah, starts having dreams about Lucy—dreams that reveal startling clues as to what happened. Leah begins her own investigation, and soon she meets a reclusive widow who may hold the key to finding Lucy...if only she can find the courage to come forward. Delving into the paranoia surrounding satanic cults in the 1980s, Big Woods is an emotionally wrought, propulsive thriller about the enormity of grief, the magical bond between sisters, and a small town's dark secrets. Praise: "Big Woods is perfectly timed to take advantage of the 1980s horror revival. Its historic details are excellent, down to the songs on Leah's car stereo. Cobb paints in Day-Glo and brings terrors of the night to life."—Foreword Magazine "Readers will be grabbed by Big Woods and sucked into the mysterious story. Hold on tight—it's worth it."—Criminal Element "Cobb's intense, heart-wrenching debut introduces a courageous, determined teen who must find her lost sister amid a disturbing atmosphere of paranoia and fear, crafting a compelling, suspenseful story reminiscent of William Kent Krueger's Ordinary Grace."—Library Journal (starred review) "Big Woods is a nuanced family story and also a heart-stopping thriller with surprising twists. Cobb taps into the fabulous '80s sensibility of Stranger Things and also into our deepest fears about safety, evil, trust, and the power of faith in what we don't understand. I couldn't put it down."—Amanda Eyre Ward, author of The Nearness of You and The Same Sky "Compulsively readable."—Rosamund Lupton, New York Times bestselling author of Sister "Big Woods is brilliant! Cobb has crafted a haunting thriller that dives deep into grief, family connections, and the dreadful power of fear. The novel succeeds as a rich exploration of emotion and a not-so-distant time while also shining as a riveting page-turner."—Owen Egerton, author of Hollow and writer/director of horror-comedy Bloodfest "Big Woods is such a blast—a page-turning thriller with '80s hair, like a Texan Stranger Things."—Amy Gentry, author of Good as Gone "Literally the best thriller I've read in years. Intensely gripping, so evocative of the late '80s, and a brilliant, original storyline. It's blinding."—Clare Empson, author of Him
Download or read book Killer on the Road written by Ginger Strand and published by Univ of TX + ORM. This book was released on 2012-04-04 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: True crime meets cultural history in this story of how America’s interstate highway system opened a world of mobility and opportunity . . . for serial killers. Starting in the 1950s, Americans eagerly built the planet’s largest public work: the 42,795-mile National System of Interstate and Defense Highways. Before the concrete was dry on the new roads, however, a specter began haunting them: the highway killer. He went by many names: the “Hitcher,” the “Freeway Killer,” the “Killer on the Road,” the “I-5 Strangler,” and the “Beltway Sniper.” Some of these criminals were imagined, but many were real. The nation’s murder rate shot up as its expressways were built. America became more violent and more mobile at the same time. Killer on the Road tells the entwined stories of America’s highways and its highway killers. There’s the hot-rodding juvenile delinquent who led the National Guard on a multistate manhunt; the wannabe highway patrolman who murdered hitchhiking coeds; the record promoter who preyed on “ghetto kids” in a city reshaped by freeways; the nondescript married man who stalked the interstates seeking women with car trouble; and the trucker who delivered death with his cargo. Thudding away behind these grisly crime sprees is the story of the interstates—how they were sold, how they were built, how they reshaped the nation—and how we came to equate them with violence. Through the stories of highway killers, we see how the “killer on the road,” like the train robber, the gangster, and the mobster, entered the cast of American outlaws, and how the freeway—conceived as a road to utopia—came to be feared as a highway to hell. “Strand . . . Explores the connection between America’s sprawling highway system and the pathology of the murderers who have made them a killing ground. . . . The grim stories of murder on the highway may do for road trips what Jaws did for surfing. An interesting detour into a true-crime niche.” ―Kirkus Reviews “Strand’s cross-threaded tales of drifters, stranded motorists, and madmen got its hooks into me. Reading Ms. Strand’s thoughtful book is like driving a Nash Rambler after midnight on a highway to hell.” —Dwight Garner, The New York Times “A titillating, clever volume that mixes the sweeping sociological assertions of an urban-studies textbook with the chilling gore of true-crime stories.” —Bookforum “Ginger Strand is in possession of a sharp eye, a biting wit, a beguiling sense of fun—and a magnificent obsession.” —Bloomberg
Download or read book A Journey Through Texas written by Frederick Law Olmsted and published by . This book was released on 1857 with total page 570 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Bankhead Highway in Texas written by Dan L. Smith and published by . This book was released on 2013-11-28 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A history of the Bankhead National Highway, America's first all-weather transcontinental highway, and a guide to the earliest route across Texas (1921).
Download or read book Roads written by Larry McMurtry and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From earliest boyhood the American road has been part of my life -- central to it, I would even say. The ranch house in which I spent my first seven years sits only a mile from highway 281. We were thoroughly landlocked. I had no river to float on, to wonder about. Highway 281 was my river, its hidden reaches a mystery and an enticement. I began my life beside it and I want to drift down the entire length of it before I end this book . . .So begins Pulitzer Prize winner Larry McMurtry as he takes to the American roads of his past, rereading them as one might a favorite book and recording his observations along the way.
Download or read book Connecting Texas written by Gary Scharrer and published by Greenleaf Book Group. This book was released on 2020-02-04 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: American roads are about destinations. They’re also about destiny. The evolution of the national system of roads in the United States is undeniably linked to our unique history and our past and future successes. Today’s roads are a long way from the Model T days, when bold early contractors used mules and Fresnos to build roads and bridges that literally helped people up out of the mud and across uncrossable rivers. Those primitive roads, developed back at the beginning of the twentieth century, link us to each other today. But that story didn’t happen over night. The legacy of the colorful contractors whose careers intersected with the influential Association of General Contractors provides the basis for Connecting Texas, which is rich in personal interviews and present-day and historic photographs. Gary Scharrer clearly captures the effect that good roads have had on the Texas (and national) economy. But this longtime reporter also weaves an informed and entertaining narrative that will put readers face-to-face with the inspirational and larger-than-life stories of the giants and everyday people who gave Texas a road system that is the envy of the country. Millions of us get into our vehicles every day to go to work, or school, or any number of other places in our daily lives. But the majority of us don’t think about the roads underneath us. We jump in our cars or trucks, and off we go. But what about the individuals and the hard work and grit that it took—and continues to take—to build and maintain these essential arteries? Most of us generally take it for granted that good roads and bridges are simply a guaranteed fact of everyday life. Reading Connecting Texas will change these perspectives forever. Gary Scharrer spent 43 years as a journalist before landing at the Associated General Contractors of Texas. His work on Connecting Texas reflects his longstanding interest in highway transportation.
Download or read book Boss Texas Women written by Casey Chapman Ross and published by . This book was released on 2021-03-12 with total page 26 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Each of the women in this book worked to make Texas a better place. Some of them are doing great work today-even as you read about them! They have all overcome great challenges and used their special talents to succeed. Their stories are as diverse as Texas. There are countless Boss Women of Texas, and YOU are one of them! We encourage you to learn more about each of these women and let them inspire you to write your own story.
