Descriptive Dobie
I enjoyed the article about J. Frank Dobie [J. Frank Dobie Rides Again, October 2015]. In the 1930s, my mother was in one of his classes at the University of Texas, and she must have been perpetually late. She recalls Dobie’s ad-monishment: “Miss Nail, you remind me of a snail.”
Linda Wilcox | McKinney
CoServ Electric
More on “Mr. Texas”
I take umbrage with Lonn Taylor’s article J. Frank Dobie Rides Again. The article was fine until the last paragraph: “… but his [Dobie’s] books did make Texans, with their inherited cultural inferiority complex, realize that their native soil was fertile with literary inspiration …”
What on the “thank your lucky stars you are from Texas” Earth is this author implying by this very demeaning comment about an inferiority complex? As a proud Texan, never in my life, my travels or my experiences have I had an “inherited cultural inferiority complex” because I am from Texas. Just the opposite, sir.
The windows to the world are much wider and brighter because of Texas.
I think Taylor may have spent a bit too much time at the Smithsonian—a little too far north.
Lisa Ward | Tarpley
Bandera EC
Lonn Taylor responds: This reader is undoubtedly too young to remember the pre-Dobie days, when Texans who went east were considered to be yokels who had just fallen off a cotton wagon. Even in our home state, Texans hungry for culture were directed to Boston, New York and Paris rather than to Fort Worth, Austin and Houston. When Dobie first proposed his college course in life and literature of the Southwest to the University of Texas in 1930, he was haughtily told by a dean that “there is no literature in the Southwest.” Both the reader and I owe part of our pride in Texas culture to Dobie for revealing it to us.
My Way on the Highway
Goodness! I read My Way, [October 2015] with a great deal of interest, as I have property between Rocksprings and Brackettville, just south of where the West Nueces River crosses 674. The only thing I would disagree with is his low vehicle count. My trailer is close to the highway, and during the night there is quite a bit of traffic.
I traveled the road a week ago between 8 and 9 p.m. and played dodgeball with 25 deer in 40 miles. That’s the only thing that makes this road scary.
But the author’s assessment of the fantastic scenery is right on. That is truly “God’s country.”
Joyce D. Schaefer | Port Lavaca
Pedernales EC, Karnes EC and Victoria EC
Charles Goodnight’s Legacy
The legacy of Charles Goodnight was an exceptional article [The Goodnight-Loving Trail, March 2015]. I enjoy reading anything about Texas history.
My husband is one of many descendants of Charles Goodnight but only through one of Goodnight’s siblings. Goodnight had no children. We have also visited the Goodnight museum in Goodnight, Texas, and learned much more about his legacy.
Starla Gilbert
CoServ Electric
