Texas Country Reporter : A Backroads Companion

by Bob Phillips

• ISBN13: 9780762707157
• ISBN10: 0762707151
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 2000-10-01
• Publisher: Globe Pequot

Summary

Based on the extremely popular weekly television show of the same name, Texas Country Reporter features 50 stories about the people and places along the backroads of Texas. Written by the host, producer, and creator of the show, Bob Phillips, it features extraordinary individuals with a passion for what they do, places that time seems to have forgotten, celebrations as big and brash as the Lone Star State itself. Like the T.V. show, the book will be, in Bob's words, "a tribute to the real heroes of our time -- the everyday men and women who make Texas such an incredible place". Infused with love, admiration -- and sometimes amusement -- Phillips' reporting has earned him a devoted viewership and brand-recognition throughout the state. His folksy narrative together with numerous color photographs, some captured from the TV show's video footage, make this book reach not only deep into the heart of Texas but also into the heart of Texas but also into the heart of anyone who reads it.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	x
Introduction	xi
Passionate People
Bat Man from Robinson, Robinson	3	(2)
Town Watchman, Devine	5	(2)
Mom, Apple Pie, and Chevrolet, Lubbock	7	(3)
Test of Fire, Lubbock	10	(3)
A Tall Ship for Texas, Galveston	13	(2)
Family of Farmers, Hooks	15	(4)
Stone Skipper, Driftwood	19	(2)
Roy Bellows' Forge, Fredericksburg	21	(4)
Wherever Two Are Gathered, Allen	25	(4)
The Good Old Ways
Movies at the Majestic, Wills Point	29	(3)
Museum of Memories, Bradshaw	32	(3)
America's Basket Factory, Jacksonville	35	(4)
Candy Creations, Abilene	39	(2)
Car Wash With That?, El Paso	41	(3)
Everything and the Kitchen Sink, Mineola	44	(3)
Scooters on Memory Lane, Canton	47	(3)
Nick's Place, Rosston	50	(3)
Raising the Roof, Nacogdoches	53	(3)
The Sweet Smell of Winter, Troup	56	(5)
Artists of All Kinds
Blacksmith on Ice, Whitehouse	61	(2)
Blue Tic Inspiration, Abilene	63	(2)
Mitt Maker, Abilene	65	(4)
Pine Mills Potters, Mineola	69	(3)
Accordion Rose, Port Aransas	72	(3)
Singing Drywall Man, Greenville	75	(2)
The Voice of the Trees, Groveton	77	(3)
Wildwood Dean, Bonham	80	(5)
Lone Star Legacy
A Giant of a Man, Huntsville	85	(2)
Dividers of the Plains, McLean	87	(2)
Ghost Town No More, Gruene	89	(3)
Charcoal Cowgirls, Frisco	92	(2)
Cowboy Poet, Matador	94	(3)
Willie Don't Stop No More, Luckenbach	97	(3)
King's Cowboy, Kingsville	100	(2)
Link to a Legend, Dublin	102	(3)
A Saddler's Story, San Angelo	105	(6)
Creatures Great & Small
Their Own Little Kingdom, Murchison	111	(3)
Calling All Pigs, Bainer Switch	114	(2)
Butterfly Ranch, Swinney Switch	116	(2)
Hog Heaven, Boerne	118	(3)
In Search of a Symbol, Burnett	121	(2)
Whoopers on the Front Line, Rockport	123	(4)
Roadside Texas
Velvet Elvis, El Paso	127	(2)
Traveling Exhibit, Houston	129	(2)
Pancakes, Texas-size, Sterling City	131	(3)
Legacy of Lids, San Antonio	134	(3)
Texas, Down Under, Boerne	137	(3)
Pumpjack Painter, Luling	140	(2)
Hidden Canyon, Lajitas	142	(2)
A Gin Restored, Burton	144	(3)
About the Author	147