Way Out West Book Festival

The Alpine Avalanche newspaper plans a series of article on the participants of its "Way Out West Book Festival" August 8-9 on the Sul Ross campus  The first installment begins

" By Arlene Griffis / Special to the Avalanche

"This week, we'll focus on Lee Merrill Byrd and her husband, Bobby, both of whom will be at the festival as publishers and as writers. They are co-founders of Cinco Puntos Press in El Paso. The business, started in 1985, is a nationally-known, independent, literary press that specializes in publishing literature (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and books for kids) from the U.S.-Mexico border, Mexico and the American Southwest."

READ MORE ABOUT IT http://www.alpineavalanche.com/articles/2008/06/30/news/news10.txt

 

Stagecoach Sesquicentennial at Fort Davis

Stagecoach Travel Sesquicentennial at 150 Years

Celebrate the Butterfield Overland Stagecoach

Big doings for September, visit Fort Davis for the Butterfield Sesquicentennial events, see http://www.fortdavis.com

Texas Awl Bidness on TV

Black Gold is Texas TV

Article by Tom Maurstad

extract:

"Black Gold chronicles the daily grind and explosive drama of oil-field drilling in West Texas. The debut had plenty of reality-TV traditions -- it sets up a drama-inducing narrative by focusing on three competing operations all drilling in hopes of tapping into the same reserve.

It introduces plenty of colorful characters. Each operation has its own team of players,starting with the driller who is like the quarterback and, of course, each driller represents a rival archetype."

Read more at

http://tvblog.guidelive.com/archives/2008/06/black-gold-is-texas-tv.html

Or see videos at

http://www.trutv.com/ Showing Wednesdays 10:00 pm

Llano Estacado Bibliography

Midland's

Sibley Nature Center

Bibiliography

"The Sibley Nature Center celebrates the southern Llano Estacado and the region surrounding it within 150 miles. Through programs given at its site of 49 acres in Hogan Park in Midland, Texas, and at schools, meeting rooms, ranches, and personal homes through out the region, the Sibley Nature Center seeks to encourage the region’s citizens to be knowledgeable about the flora, fauna, and history of the region."

The list is described as "Best Books about the Llano Estacado: The following is a list of the Best Books to Read (in one person’s opinion) to learn about West Texas History and Culture, and the best field guides for the flora and fauna. "

Sibley's topics include

History - Geology, Indians, Hispanic, Anglo,

Elmer Kelton's Best Books

20th Century

Culture

Future

Natural History

See the list at http://www.sibleynaturecenter.org/list.html

The Bookshelfer came here for the bibliography but look!

"In the collections room are a plethora of resources:
a 1,000+ volume natural history library,
the Midland Archaeological Society’s 400 volume library,
the Frances Williams Memorial Bird Library,
an insect collection,
a bone collection,
the Midland County Herbarium,
the beginnings of a Hispanic cultural library,
the beginnings of a West Texas Historical library,
vertical files of magazine and scholarly journal articles,
a collection of West Texas county soil maps, and mounted specimens."

The online collection of essays on natural and people topics is quite admirable, a leader I'd say in that area as well.

Talking Newspapers in West Texas

West Texas Recording Library opens telephone reader

by Kathleen ThurberMidland Reporter-Telegram

http://mywesttexas.com/articles/2008/06/19/news/top_stories/west_texas_recording_library.txt
Published: Thursday, June 19, 2008 3:21 AM CDT
-Program allows visually impaired to hear current events

[Clients call in and give a listen to their newspaper]

"Today is Thursday June 19. Beep.

Press one for the Midland Reporter-Telegram,

two for grocery store ads,

four for Texas Monthly. Beep.

Press 10 for front page, 11 for local news, 12 for state news. Beep.

With the touch of just a few buttons visually impaired citizens throughout the Permian Basin will now be able to call in and soak up local news, advertisements and other information they may have been missing by only having accessibility to audio news reports. The Recording Library of West Texas opened a new phone line this week where locals can hear recordings of the Reporter-Telegram each day as well as grocery store ads, Texas Monthly articles and any requested newsletters, said its Executive Director Trish Speight. The Odessa American and a variety of national news articles also will be added to the line shortly.

Way Out West Book Festival

http://alpinelibrarynews.org/2008/06/18/266/

Way Out West Texas Book Festival
The Rotary Club of Alpine will host the WAY OUT WEST TEXAS BOOK FESTIVAL to benefit the Alpine Public Library and its Marathon branch.

The multifaceted event is scheduled for August 8-9 at the Sul Ross Espino Conference Center.

"To date, authors Elmer Kelton, Jim Glendinning, Mike Blakely, Sharon Spinks, Joaquin Jackson, Bobby Byrd, Lee Merrill Byrd, Tim McKenzie, Denise Chavez, David Carlton, Joe Nick Patoski, Roy Morey, Benjamin Saenz, Sarah Bird, Cyndi Hughes, Larry Thomas, Mike Cox, James H. Evans, Bob Kinford, The University of Texas Press, Texas Tech University Press, Cinco Puntos Press, Iron Mountain Press, have made plans to attend."

For more information visit: http://wowtxbookfestival.com/1.html

West Texas Book Festival Sept 23-27, 2008

West Texas Book and Music Festival, September 23-27, 2008

http://liswire.com/node/58

"Save the dates for the eighth annual West Texas Book and Music Festival, September 23-27, 2008 at the Abilene Civic Center in Abilene, Texas. Dr. Don B. Graham, a distinguished writer and teacher specializing in Texas and Southwest literature, will be the 2008 recipient of the A. C. Greene Award to be presented at the West Texas Book & Music Festival on Sept. 27."

"Other featured authors at this year’s festival will be: Elmer Kelton, Joaquin Jackson, and Mike Cox, who have all written books about the Texas Rangers; Kathy Patrick, author and organizer of The Pulpwood Queens reading club, featured on Good Morning America; and Amarillo novelist Jodi Thomas, whose new book Twisted Creek is being touted for community-wide reading programs."