I went to a reception
last night, book launch if you will—for a simply magnificent book from TCU
Press. It’s The Art of Texas: 250 Years, Ron Tyler as editor and contributions
from well-known scholars, art historians, and curators. At 456 pp, measuring 10
x 12, and weighing 7 lbs., it’s a big baby. Kudos to TCU Press production
manager Melinda Esco and to Vicki Whistler, who designed the book. No detail is
overlooked, nothing spared—the color reproductions, on coated paper, seem to
shimmer.
It's the kind of
book that I always wanted TCU Press to
do during my days as director, the kind that establishes the press as a serious
contender in the world of academic publishing. University presses were for
years—and maybe still are—an endangered species. Certainly during my tenure as
director I faced more than one dire administrative threat to close the press in
order to get its budget, which was miniscule in the face of the university’s
overall budget. The provost simply didn’t see the value of a press, and we
constantly tried to produce worthy scholarly books that would prove our worth
and convince him that academic presses were not money-making ventures.
They exist to contribute to the existing body of knowledge and to bring
prestige to their institutions. With this art history, the first to take a serious
and in-depth look at the broad sweep of Texas art, TCU Press has achieved this.
While I enjoyed
support for the press from several administrators and from Dea of the Library
June Koelker, I always felt we were on thin ice. That has apparently changed,
and Director Dr. Dan Williams has broad support from the administration. I
congratulate him and wish him well.
TCU Press has done
other, notable books in recent years—memoirs from the late Lonn Taylor, a
recollection by Fort Worth TV personality Bobby Wygant, serious yet informative
and interesting studies of Texas politics—thank you, Jim Riddlesperger. The press
has been a strong influence in maintaining the strength of Texas fiction,
publishing new works by Texas authors Jan Reid and Tom Zigal as well as rescuing
from oblivion significant out-of-print titles by William Owens, Jane Gilmore
Rushing, Dan Jenkins, and almost the entire canon of Elmer Kelton’s fiction. In
my day, Kelton’s books were the backbone of the press’ list.
For me, retired
some nine years now, it’s been like sending a child off into the world and
watching its success. When I retired, one of my colleagues said, “Don’t worry.
We’ll take good care of your baby,” and that’s about how I felt about it. My congratulations
to everyone connected with this project—and a challenge: now that you’ve made
your mark in Texas fiction and art, what’s next? Women’s studies?
The book launch
party had another side for me, a chance to visit with people I once saw often
and now see rarely. I caught up with a history professor who served on the
press board, with an old friend from the Star-Telegram, with June Koelker, and
with the editor’s wife, who I think I’ve known forever. And I am always glad to
see Melinda Esco, who was both colleague and friend and remains my dear friend.
Afterward Carol
and I went to Lucille’s for a quick supper, and I had another treat—crab fingers!
A nice day.
No comments:
Post a Comment