UT Press at the San Antonio Book Festival

On Saturday, April 5, the University of Texas Press and 8 of our authors will enjoy the 2nd annual San Antonio Book Festival at the Central Library and environs in downtown San Antonio. We'll have a booth in the Exhibitor Tent with tons of titles for sale at a great discount. There are a lot of great authors in attendance (Philipp Meyer! Sandra Cisneros!), so we’ve distilled our authors' appearances into a single UT Press schedule:

10:00 AM — 10:45 AM

Let the People In: The Life and Times of Ann Richards
Location: Swartz Room (2nd Floor of Central Library)
Authors: Jan Reid 
Moderator: Jan Jarboe Russell

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Authentic Texas: People of the Big Bend
Location: Rogers Hall, Southwest School of Art, Navarro Campus (1st Floor)
Authors: Marcia Hatfield Daudistel and Bill Wright
Moderator: Scott Martin

12:00 PM — 1:00 PM
Our Town: Stories That Shaped San Antonio

When Mexicans Could Play Ball: Basketball, Race, and Identity in San Antonio, 1928–1945

Location: Auditorium (1st Floor of Central Library)
Authors: Ignacio Garcia
Moderator: Gilbert Garcia

1:15 PM — 2:15 PM

Lake/Flato Houses: Embracing the Landscape
Location: Rogers Hall, Southwest School of Art, Navarro Campus (1st Floor)
Authors: Ted Flato
Moderator: Frederick Steiner

Your Last Minute Local Bookstore Shopping List

This time of year can be overwhelming. We're here to help! We've whittled down some of our best-selling books to 13 gift recommendations. We stand by these selections, but if you want to explore more options, we've linked to related titles. Now place your order, check several names off your list at once, and keep your cool! Happy Holidays.


The Salt Lick Cookbook
By Scott Roberts and Jessica Dupuy

No trip to Austin or Central Texas is complete without a visit to the Salt Lick. Both foodies and home chefs alike will enjoy the family recipes and prep techniques from this legendary restaurant.


Barbecue Crossroads: Notes and Recipes from a Southern Odyssey
By Robb Walsh

James Beard Award-winning author Rob Walsh takes us on an extraordinary journey from Texas to the Carolinas and back and to tell the story of Southern BBQ, past, present, and future. Whether a devoted fan of pulled pork or beef brisket, any Southern foodie on your list will enjoy the 70+ finger-licking recipes presented in this engaging book. 

¡Viva Tequila!: Cooking, Cocktails, and Other Agave Adventures
By Lucinda Hutson

America’s premier tequila expert presents a festive blend of lively personal anecdotes, spicy cultural history, and inspired recipes for drinks and dishes – all featuring Mexico’s most notable contribution to the world of distilled spirits. There actually is a whole other world out there beyond lick it, slam it, suck it. 



My Mexico: A Culinary Odyssey with Recipes
By Diana Kennedy

Considered the Julia Child of Mexico and author of the James Beard Award-winning Oaxaca al Gusto (also published by UT Press), Diana Kennedy has the magic touch when it comes to cook books. At 90, she is a master chef with a devoted following around the world. Finally back in print and fully updated, My Mexico is the most personal of Kennedy’s books. 

More in cookbooks »

The Pecan: America’s Native Nut
By James McWilliams

This charming book presents a lively history of the pecan from Southern groves to the Chinese marketplace. Whether you prefer to say “pee-kan” or “pi-khan,” this little nut inspires a sense of nostalgia due to its special place in the American diet and starring role in popular holiday dishes. For fans of the one-food-item-as-cultural-history thing. 

13 Gifts to Charm Every Book Lover

This time of year can be overwhelming. We're here to help! We've whittled down some of our best-selling books to 13 gift recommendations. We stand by these selections, but if you want to explore more options, we've linked to related titles. Now place your order, check several names off your list at once, and keep your cool! Happy Holidays.


The Salt Lick Cookbook
By Scott Roberts and Jessica Dupuy

No trip to Austin or Central Texas is complete without a visit to the Salt Lick. Both foodies and home chefs alike will enjoy the family recipes and prep techniques from this legendary restaurant.


Barbecue Crossroads: Notes and Recipes from a Southern Odyssey
By Robb Walsh

James Beard Award-winning author Rob Walsh takes us on an extraordinary journey from Texas to the Carolinas and back and to tell the story of Southern BBQ, past, present, and future. Whether a devoted fan of pulled pork or beef brisket, any Southern foodie on your list will enjoy the 70+ finger-licking recipes presented in this engaging book. 

¡Viva Tequila!: Cooking, Cocktails, and Other Agave Adventures
By Lucinda Hutson

America’s premier tequila expert presents a festive blend of lively personal anecdotes, spicy cultural history, and inspired recipes for drinks and dishes – all featuring Mexico’s most notable contribution to the world of distilled spirits. There actually is a whole other world out there beyond lick it, slam it, suck it.



My Mexico: A Culinary Odyssey with Recipes
By Diana Kennedy

Considered the Julia Child of Mexico and author of the James Beard Award-winning Oaxaca al Gusto (also published by UT Press), Diana Kennedy has the magic touch when it comes to cook books. At 90, she is a master chef with a devoted following around the world. Finally back in print and fully updated, My Mexico is the most personal of Kennedy’s books. 

More in cookbooks »

The Pecan: America’s Native Nut
By James McWilliams

This charming book presents a lively history of the pecan from Southern groves to the Chinese marketplace. Whether you prefer to say “pee-kan” or “pi-khan,” this little nut inspires a sense of nostalgia due to its special place in the American diet and starring role in popular holiday dishes. For fans of the one-food-item-as-cultural-history thing.

Indie Booksellers Praise Two Prospectors

We’re very excited to have a repeat appearance on an IndieBound Next List. Last October, it was the hardback edition of Jan Reid’s Let the People In: The Life and Times of Ann Richards (now a paperback pick for $11.36 on our website). This month, independent booksellers heaped praise on our new book Two Prospectors: The Letters of Sam Shepard and Johnny Dark, deeming it worthy of hype alongside the latest from Amy Tan, Wally Lamb, and Ann Patchett. Check out some of the rave reviews of Two Prospectors from independent booksellers across the country – and thank you IndieBound!

“Two Prospectors is an amazing read and the closest thing we'll probably get as far as a memoir from Sam Shepard since he's stated that he has no interest in writing one. Comprised of nearly forty years of correspondence and taped conversations between Shepard and his ex-father-in-law, Johnny Dark, the book is intimate and revealing (who knew that Shepard was into Gurdjieff?) not only about Shepard's craft but also his interior life. Perhaps even more surprising is the fascinating figure that Dark becomes as we get to know him through the letters. All in all, this is a one of a kind literary treasure that will probably not be seen in coming decades with the rise of email. Superbly edited by Hammett and beautifully put together by UT Press with lots of pictures and facsimiles of letters, this is my sleeper pick for one of the best books of the year.”
—Cody Morrison, Square Books, Oxford, MS

"This collection is unique in American letters. I don't know of any writer as open about his life and work as Sam Shepard. In addition, Shepard's a voracious reader who loves to discus what he's reading. This book is a tale of two life long friends trying to keep it together, living the writing life."
—Bob Contant, Saint Mark's Bookshop, New York, NY

"I loved Two Prospectors. The candor with which Shepard and Dark discuss art, love, sex, mortality, aging, time and pretty much everything else in life made this an addicting read. It's fascinating to watch the evolution of their relationship over the course of decades. This is a unique correspondence that made me think deeply about my own attitude towards friendship. Whether you're a Shepard fan or not makes no difference. Anyone with a creative bone will find a lot to chew on in their conversations. Ditto for anyone who spends any time thinking about what it is to live a life. I'm grateful they saved these letters". 

—Julie Wernersbach, Publicist at Book People, Austin, TX

Top 25 Moments for Women in Texas History

Certainly the most recognizable female Texas governor (there have been only two), Ann Richards began her political career during a very exciting time in Texas and US history. Now in paperback, the award-winning Let the People In by Jan Reid situates Gov. Richards in this lively political period. Because of her influence, personality, and the fact there hasn’t been a Democrat in the Texas governor’s mansion for the last eighteen years, people continue to talk about her life and political career. Most recently, the media recalled Gov. Richards and her politics—especially her work with Sarah Weddington who successfully argued Roe vs. Wade in the Supreme Court in 1973—as Texas State Senator Wendy Davis undertook her marathon filibuster in the Texas legislature earlier this year.

To celebrate the paperback edition, we’ve rounded up twenty-five key moments of women in Texas politics. We would like to thank the Ruthe Winegarten Memorial Foundation for Texas Women’s History for compiling an extensive timeline of historical moments for Texas women on their website, womenintexashistory.org.

Watch the progression of women in Texas over the course of roughly 1,313 years.

1
Circa 700: Some women of the Caddo tribe, in present-day east and northeast Texas, become priest-chiefs (xinesí), thus possessing religious and political authority. Read more about the Caddo tribe in The Caddo Nation.

'Kaw-u-tz (Cado)'via Southern Methodist University, Central University Libraries, DeGolyer Library
digitalcollections.smu.edu/u?/wes,539

2

Circa 1686: The Caddo tribe elects a woman chief.

3

1731: Women are among the 56 Canary Islanders who establish first permanent civilian settlement in San Antonio. María Robaina Betancour is a leader of the settlement.

4

1872: Martha Bickler, a clerk for the General Land Office, is the first female state employee.

5

1902: Mrs. L. P. Carlisle becomes the first woman office holder in Texas, appointed to succeed her husband as Hunt County Clerk.

6
1912: Dr. Anna Howard Shaw, president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, tours Texas and revives interest in woman suffrage. As a result, local suffrage leagues form in Houston, Galveston, Dallas, and San Antonio. (Austin had formed one in 1908).

7

1913: Texas suffragists hold their first state convention. Eleanor Brackenridge of San Antonio is elected state president and revitalizes the Texas Woman Suffrage Association, which grows to 2,500 members in one year.

8
1919-20: Black women vote for the first time in Texas. Three Houston women run for office on the "Black and Tan" ticket of the Republican Party (state representative, Harris County clerk, and school superintendent). Mrs. R. L. Yocome, unsuccessful candidate for state representative, may be first Texas woman to run for a legislative position.

9
1924: Miriam A. Ferguson, running on an anti-Ku Klux Klan ticket, is the first woman elected Governor of Texas. She drives an anti-mask bill through the legislature to combat Klan practices.

Miriam Amanda Wallace Ferguson (1875 - 1961)

Politics as Usual – A Texas Legacy

Patrick Cox, Ph.D., is the author or co-editor of five UT Press books, including most recently Writing the Story of Texas, and former assistant director of the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at the university. Sparked by last week’s events, here he takes a look at the recent history of Texas politics. 

'Politics as Usual – A Texas Legacy'

By Patrick Cox

Above: Texas State Senator Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, speaks to her supporters. Photo by Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune.

Texas State Senator Wendy Davis of Fort Worth rose to national attention last week with her eleven-hour filibuster of an anti-abortion bill and Governor Rick Perry's subsequent personal attack. Texas politics and politicians have always been a source of amazement, entertainment, disbelief (they really said that?), and provocation. Sam Rayburn once said that all politics is local, but Texans often seem to find their way onto a larger stage and into political lore in memorable fashion.

One old saying compares the practice of the art of public speaking in Texas to a Longhorn: there should be two good points, but far apart, with a lot of bull in between. Noah Smithwick, a critical observer of Texas during the years of the Republic and early statehood, described the attributes and shortcomings of Sam Houston in his memoir, The Evolution of a State, or Recollections of Old Texas Days: “Though his peculiar bent did not incline toward the founding of a nation, every instinct of his nature prompted him to resistance when the life and liberties of the nation were threatened.”

One may wonder about the theory of evolution when we move from Sam Houston to Texas in the twentieth century. In retrospect, it is somewhat incomprehensible that we would have had the theatrics the entire nation witnessed in the Senate with either lieutenant governor Bob Bullock or Bill Hobby presiding. As for the governor and other elected officials making ill-advised and misguided statements, we do have many examples in our history.

When it comes to women, Texas governors have demonstrated a proclivity for inserting the proverbial foot in the mouth; consult The Power of the Texas Governor for many illustrations. Governor Bill Clements made one such cardinal mistake in his 1982 reelection campaign against Attorney General Mark White. When asked about appointing a member of a minority or a woman to the Public Utility Commission, Governor Clements responded that he did not know of any housewife qualified for the regulatory board. To compound the governor’s problems, White’s campaign changed “housewife” to “woman.”

Texas PBS Online Book Club Features Let the People In!

This month, Texas PBS, a non-profit association of the 12 Texas public television stations, will launch a new online book group devoted to Texas history. The first book chosen for discussion is UT Press’s Let the People In: The Life and Times of Ann Richards by Jan Reid.

The group will be a reader-led experience, with Texas PBS bringing in authors/experts and documentaries/artwork to create a multifaceted, educational, and interesting experience for group members. A new book will be selected each month.

Mr. Reid will join the book club for a live web chat from the Bullock Texas State History Museum on Wednesday, May 29, at 8 pm. Find out more information about this special event at www.texaspbs.org/texasourtexas/.

The book club is a part of Texas, Our Texas, a new online initiative by Texas PBS that celebrates, as their website states, “our shared history as Texans by exploring the events, cultural groups, communities and individuals that have come together over the centuries to create the state we live in today.”

 

Mother's Day Gift Ideas

We here at UT Press hope all of your mothers are book fans, because we have some fabulous selections to recommend as Mother’s Day gifts. (Mother’s Day, in case you haven’t noticed, is coming up soon on Sunday, May 12!). Our classic recommendations for Moms cover the domestic gamut – cookbooks and gardening guides – but we’ve also got a few titles that go a little bit deeper.

Food

Oaxaca al Gusto by Diana Kennedy
Certainly not another collection of casserole recipes, Diana Kennedy’s magnum opus of Mexican cuisine truly delves into the cultural gastronomy of the diverse and remote state of Oaxaca. Organized by regions, these three hundred plus recipes will provide your Mother with an almost guru-like knowledge of the three pillars of Oaxacan cuisine —chocolate, corn, and chilies.

The Herb Garden Cookbook by Lucinda Hutson
Long before the urban farm and DIY foodie movement, Lucinda Hutson published this book, which provides both helpful gardening tips for growing ingredients for your kitchen, and plentiful recipes to test out your skills. Lucinda provides artful guidance for menu planning and creative recipes for exotic herbs, as well as practical advice for harvesting and storing them. 

Stirring It Up with Molly Ivins by Ellen Sweets
Everybody’s mother is capable of putting someone in his/her place, or should be. Molly Ivins was no exception. Although she had no children of her own, she played surrogate mom to her friends’ children. As the witty political reporter, her scathing Texas Observer pieces put untrustworthy politicians in their place. Longtime friend and fellow reporter Ellen Sweets shares Molly’s recipes (traditional Texan and fine French cuisine!), escapades, and inner strength.

Memoir/Nonfiction

Let the People In by Jan Reid
As one of the ultimate inspirational but real women, Ann Richards changed the face of her state as the first ardent feminist elected to high office in Texas. The Texas State Historical Association awarded author Jan Reid the Liz Carpenter Award for Research in the History of Women for this absorbing biography of a mother who balanced the pressures of government, overcame her personal demons, and raised four children while remaining a funny, unique, and beautiful public figure.

Welcome to Utopia by Karen Valby
This book by Karen Valby, a senior writer at Entertainment Weekly, is a no-brainer in terms of gifts for Mom. Quintessential American stories of family and community are tenderly rendered as Valby saw them play out in the small Texas town of Utopia. The book’s real life protagonists and their stories are very moving, revealing just how much they affected Valby in light of her original assignment: to find an American town without popular culture.
 

Gardening

Texas Gardening the Natural Way by Howard Garrett

If your mom has a green thumb, no matter where she may garden, Howard Garrett’s complete organic gardening guide is the end-all, be-all for conscientious gardening. Covering everything from trees, soils, design, shrubs, annuals and perennials, herbs, grasses, fruits, nuts, and vegetables to organic pest control and plant diseases, all fully illustrated with 833 full-color photos.

Additional recommendations:
Dear Dirt Doctor by Howard Garrett
100 Love Sonnets by Pablo Neruda
Don’t Make Me Go to Town by Rhonda Lashley Lopez

Oxford American :: Let the People In

Let the People IN

by Jan Reid

Buy It Now

 Writer Thomas Larson reviews Let the People In for the Oxford American:

"We can surely credit Reid for keeping alive Richards's swagger and humor, though: “I get a lot of cracks about my hair,” he quotes her, “mostly from men who don’t have any.”. . . It’s during such deliciously self-effacing spouts when she’s punking her over-seriousness—some might recall her Doritos commercial with the likewise ousted New York governor Mario Cuomo during the 1995 Super Bowl—that Richards, and her biographer, shine."

Read the full article at oxfordamerican.org >>

 

AAUP Book, Jacket & Journal Show :: 13 UT Press Titles!

We are happy to report that many UT Press titles have been selected for inclusion in the 2013 AAUP Book, Jacket & Journal Show.

Judging for the 2013 AAUP Book, Jacket and Journal Show took place January 24-25 at the AAUP Central Office in New York City. Approximately 273 books, 331 jacket and cover design entries, and 4 journals were entered. 51 books and 44 jackets/covers were chosen by the jurors as the very best examples from this pool of excellent design.  
UT Press congratulates the design staff below on the recognition they duly deserve!

Trade Illustrated Books:
DKR: A Royal Scrapbook (designed by Derek George)
Andy Coolquitt (designed by Derek George)
Nic Nicosia (designed by Lindsay Starr)

Trade Typographic Book:
Let the People In (designed by Lindsay Starr)
 
Scholarly Illustrated Book:
Photographing the Mexican Revolution (designed by Lindsay Starr)
 
Covers/Jackets:
All-American Boy (designed by Derek George) 
Colonel Sanders and the American Dream (designed by Derek George) 
Dwight Yoakam (designed by Lindsay Starr) 
The Fictional Christopher Nolan (Ayham Ghraowi)
Killer on the Road (designed by Derek George) 
Ryan Adams (designed by Lindsay Starr)
The Surprising Design of Market Economies (designed by Derek George)
Uncivil Wars (designed by Lindsay Starr)

Best of 2012 Round Up

In addition to 'Best Of' accolades for Let the People In and A Book on the Making of Lonesome Dove, we're proud to share that the following books were hand picked by a variety of outlets as some of the best of 2012.

Colonel Selig, the Man Who Invented Hollywood
Picked by Thomas Gladysz as one of the best film books of 2012 on Huffington Post Books


See the list at huffingtonpost.com>>

Killer on the Road: Violence and the American Interstate
Picked by Heather Mallick as one of the best books of 2012 in the Toronto Star


See the list at thestar.com>>

Let the People In: The Life and Times of Ann RichardsPicked by Blue Willow bookstore as one of the best books of 2012
 
See the list at blog.bluewillowbookshop.com>>
  

Nathan Lyons: Selected Essays, Lectures, and Interviews Picked by Time Magazine’s Lightbox blog as one of the best photography books of 2012

See the list at lightbox.time.com>>

  
Ryan Adams: Losering, a Story of Whiskeytown
Picked by Uprooted Music Revue as one of the top 15 music books of the year

See the list at uprootedmusicrevue.com


Estampas de la Raza: Contemporary Prints from the Romo Collection
Nic Nicosia
Texas Furniture Volume Two: The Cabinetmakers and Their Work, 1840-1880
Picked by staff as some of the best coffee table books of 2012 in The Austin-American Statesman

See the list at statesman.com>>

Vintage Moquegua: History, Wine, and Archaeology on a Colonial Peruvian Periphery
Picked by Gourmand International as one of the best drink history books of 2012

See the list at cookbookfair.com>>

Let the People In on Library Journal and Houston Chronicle Best Lists

Let the People In

By Jan Reid

Buy it now

End of the year best lists are in full swing, and our Let the People In has landed on some great ones!

Picked as Margaret Heilbrun of Library Journal’s best book of 2012: Biography and History

See the list at libraryjournal.com>>

Picked as one of Houston Chronicle’s Best of 2012 book list

See the list at houstonchronicle.com>>

The Economist :: Let the People In

Let the People In: The Life and Times of Ann Richards

By Jan Reid

Buy it now

The Economist reviews Let the People In:

“FEW people watching the Democratic convention in 1988 would forget the sight: a silver-haired grandmother named Ann Richards delivering rousing oratory with a Texas twang. An attack on George Bush senior, then running for president, brought the house down. “Poor George,” Richards intoned. “He can’t help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth.”

Thus did Richards, then merely the state treasurer of Texas, burst into national politics. Two years later, she became the state’s first female governor in over 50 years. Higher office seemed within reach.

And yet, nearly a quarter-century after the Democrats’ convention, Richards’s influence seems all but extinguished. In 1994, after just four years as governor, she lost her re-election bid to George Bush junior. The liberal causes she fought for, including better conditions for prisoners and a ban on concealed handguns in Texas, now languish in a state thoroughly dominated by the Republican Party. No Democrat has been elected to statewide office since the year she fell to Mr Bush.

Richards’s rise was extraordinary, and her story is sympathetically, if sometimes flatly told by Jan Reid, a one-time adviser to the governor. Born in small-town Texas in the teeth of the Great Depression, Richards married young and bore four children. But she chafed at convention and eventually got involved in small-time campaign and policy work in Texas. Once running for office herself, she climbed swiftly from local to state posts. Along the way, she suffered alcoholism and a divorce.

Richards is a vibrant character, who bubbled with wit. “It’s about time we put somebody in the governor’s mansion that knows how to clean it,” she told a reporter who inquired about the governorship. In an earlier government job, she made occasional use of a rubber stamp that simply read: “Bullshit”. She once hosted a party dressed as a tampon, complete with fake blood and a string. Abe Rosenthal, a New York Times editor who was there, never forgot the sight.”

Read the full review on economist.com >>

Indie Bookseller Reviews of Let the People In

We are one of IndieBound's picks for October and today's the last day to revel in the glory on IndieBound's Next List page!

www.indiebound.org/indie-next-list

Check out the reviews we received from independent booksellers for Let The People In: The Life and Times of Ann Richards by Jan Reid:

"You don’t have to be a Texan, a political junkie, or a feminist to be fascinated by Ann Richards, the colorful one-time Texas governor. Reid, her biographer, knew his subject and had access to her unpublished letters and other documents, and he brings Richards vividly to life with help from her many lively remarks about the people and events of the day. She was active on both local and national fronts, kept up with a family and a career, and struggled successfully against alcoholism. She was a fighter and a survivor, and in Reid’s compelling portrait she will remain an inspiring figure for some time to come."

—Laurie Greer, Politics & Prose 

Washington, DC

 

"An insider's view to the backrooms of Texas progressive politics! Reid's biography has much in common with some of my favorites-- those of Martha Gellhorn, May Sarton, Molly Ivins, and most recently Alice Kessler-Harris's bio of Lillian Hellman. These are all books about difficult, passionate women who led unconventional lives in the mid-20th century. They worked and lived and fought and drank with men and competed on their own terms. Their feminism was intrinsic to their identities. And all of them were opinionated, brash as well as brave, compassionate in the largest sense, while often petty and prickly in their private relations. Fascinating, filled with primary source materials. This is a great, in-depth portrait of a brilliant, feminist, and politician."

 —Linda Bubon, Women and Children First

Chicago, IL