Hobnobbing with the literati-Texas style

Tonight was the biennial induction into the Texas Literary Hall of Fame sponsored by the Friends of the Fort Worth Public Library. It was a grand event--hors d'oevres and plentiful wine aside, the best part was that I saw and got to hug a lot of people I really like. It felt like being home--and then I realized how lucky I was to feel at home among so many accomplished authors.
My favorite mystery writer, Deborah Crombie, was the master of ceremonies--but we chatted mostly about dogs, not books. The honorees were Sarah Bird, who is a good friend and once stayed in my garage apartment; Carole Nelson Douglas, another good friend that I see once a month at Book Ladies breakfast; Robert Flynn--he and his wife are special to me and I'm proud that while I was at TCU Press we reprinted and published several of his novels; Leon Hale, whose wife is a good Facebook friend and a former publishing colleague (we both got out of the business to a certain extent)--Leon was not able to be there and Jim Lee accepted for him; Stephen Harrigan, a Texas Institute of Letters colleague who we honored once with the TCU Texas Book Award and whose Gates of the Alamo is a book I much admire; Joe Lansdale, who I used to know a lifetime ago in Western Writers of America--it was fun to say hello, tell each other it's been a long time, and how are you doing now?; Rosalyn Story, whom I"m sorry to say I don't know and didn't meet tonight; and Jane Roberts Wood, another special person.
There were others there--a friend who hugged me and said she loved my blog (are you reading this, Gay?), another member of the Book Ladies, and a former Book Lady I haven't seen in forever. I'm not in such a mass of authors and readers often and it was a real treat. Fran and Ross Vick, who are special people in my sphere of friends for lots of reasons; Bob Compton, once book editor of the Dallas Morning News--now we keep in touch through Facebook. I'm sure I'm missing others. Thanks to Jim Lee for chaffeuring me.
Lovely evening.

A gallery ofo photos and a rainy election day

Here are photos from the award ceremony Friday night. First, a very proud mom with three of her four children. Colin is holding the plaque though it's hard to see. We missed Megan, and she missed being there.

Me at the podium, with a strained and pained look because I'm speaking in public and I don't much like to do that. Joyce Roach said it was one of my best short talks ever--she failed to mention how I looked.

With my good friend, Jeannie, who is often my guardian angel. I have no idea what we were doing in the top photo--comparing our squash blossoms?

With longtime friend Joyce Roach, on the left--she's a fellow author, and we used to travel to meetings together all the time and had some great experiences. On the right is Melinda Esco, production manager at TCU Press and a good friend, who is terrific at her job.

Jamie, left, and Colin--two of the four lights of my life. Pictures are all thanks to Jordan Alter Burton.
A rainy day that started off with breakfast with an old friend and then two hours of telephone campaigning for Bill White--the mood in the local campaign office was upbeat and optimistic, and I was encouraged by all the people I talked to who were emphatic about voting for White. Then I found out it's a hand-picked list.  Still I think he has a better chance than the polls give him. I laughed at one answering machine message I got: "This is the queen. I'm not receiving subjects this morning, so leave a message." I wish I'd thought to begin the message with, "Your highness," but I wasn't that quick. I'll be glued to the TV tonight. Meantime, it's a wet, dreary afternoon--perfect for a book and a nap.
Later: well, it's over. The world looks glum to me: the Rangers lost, Bill White lost, the Republicans will take the House, and it continues to rain. White was gracious in his speech acknowledging Perry's victory, but I am baffled that so many vote with their eyes shut. I hope White's legacy of honesty, openness, and accountability will carry on in Texas and that he won't give up the fight. I want to urge him to stay on Perry's back. I think of the people I worked with every week at the local headquarters and want to weep--they were optimistic and upbeat this morning, and I grieve for what they must be feeling. From what I read we won't have Perry to worry about long--he's abandoning governorship to promote his book and then his eye is on the vice-presidency for 2012. I'm sorry. I can't be gracious in defeat--that gives me great worry for the country. I've had enough of election reports for the night.

A heady evening

Tonight I was inducted into the Fort Worth Publiuc Library's Texas Literary Hall of Fame, which means I joined the ranks with such people as John Graves, Katherine Ann Porter, Horton Foote, Shelby Hearon and others--pretty heady company. My children came--Colin, Jordan, and Jamie--Megan was delayed by a kindergartner's first ever school carnival and such things are priority, but she and her family are driving up as we speak. Lisa and Christian stayed home with four grandchildren, all of whom are now crowded into two beds in my family room. Maddie is one of the four, so she'll ride herd on them and make sure they go to sleep. Everyone has to be up and out the door by 8:40 for Jacob's soccer game. Not me. I'd sleep late but I'm sure young voices won't let me. It's such a joy to have them all here--Colin says he got a picture of all four of them in their bed, so I'm waiting for that.
Jordan got lots of pictures tonight at the dinner, but she hasn't shared them, so I have none to post--watch for them in future blogs. I was nervous, of course, about my half-page speech, but it went well, and I got a lot of compliments. I talked about growing up in Chicago and thinking Texas was a foreign land. Then my folks went to Corpus to visit my brother at the Naval Air Station and reported a lush and green tropical land. Later, my soon-to-be husband went to Turkey, Texas, and reported a barren, brown land with no vegetation. I was puzzled. My conclusion was, of course, that I found a land that was green sometimes and brown sometimes but more than that had a rich history and literature, out of which I built a career. I am really amazed by the honor, humbled and grateful.
The inductees with me were all good friends--and I was the only female. They were Jim Lee,sort of a grandfather of Texas literature in many ways, Bill Crider, mystery writer extradorinaire, Carlton Stowers, sports writer, true crimer author, and all around nice guy, Bob Ray Sanders, award-winning journalist with a career in TV, author of the text for one of TCU Press' best-ever photography books, and Jeff Guinn, former book editor of the Star-Telegram and the author of many books, one a winner of the TCU Texas Book Award. I keep using the word heady, but it was heady company to be in.
Best of all, my kids thought I did well on the talk, and that means everything to me. I'm not a native Texasn, but I've been here forty-five years, and I've written and published a whole lot about the state. It's my state, even though some call me an outsider.
I'm a happy camper tonight and going to bed tired.