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Thomas W. Knowles

Goodreads author profile

url

http://www.goodreads.com/TomKnowles

born

Waco, Texas, The United States

gender

male

website

http://www.lonestarpublishing.net

genre

History, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Nonfiction

influences

T. R. Fehrenbach, Rudyard Kipling, J.M. Barrie, Ernest Hemmingway, The...more

member since

March 2010

About this author

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Thomas W. Knowles has worked as a reporter, photographer, columnist, and news editor, as a program coordinator and instructor at Texas A&M University, and as a technical editor and engineering designer in industry and for consulting firms. His short fiction, technical articles and non-fiction articles, photo-interviews, essays, columns and reviews have appeared in Mystery Scene, New Destinies, Persimmon Hill, Southwest Art, Starlog, The Texas Aggie, Texas Books In Review, Texas Sportsman, Past Lives-Present Tense, and many other newspapers, anthologies, journals, and magazines. As a freelance interviewer for national and regional magazines, he published a series of photo-interviews with many Texas celebrities, including Lyle Lovett, Kin...more Thomas W. Knowles has worked as a reporter, photographer, columnist, and news editor, as a program coordinator and instructor at Texas A&M University, and as a technical editor and engineering designer in industry and for consulting firms. His short fiction, technical articles and non-fiction articles, photo-interviews, essays, columns and reviews have appeared in Mystery Scene, New Destinies, Persimmon Hill, Southwest Art, Starlog, The Texas Aggie, Texas Books In Review, Texas Sportsman, Past Lives-Present Tense, and many other newspapers, anthologies, journals, and magazines. As a freelance interviewer for national and regional magazines, he published a series of photo-interviews with many Texas celebrities, including Lyle Lovett, Kinky Friedman, Linda Ellerbee and John Henry Faulk.

Along with fellow Texan Joe R. Lansdale, he edited a critically-acclaimed series of anthologies published by Random House—the first detailed the history of the American West in The West That Was (1993); the second examined the genesis of the myth of the Wild West inWild West Show! (1994). Contributors to the series included most of the best-known fiction and non-fiction authors in the genre--Max Evans, Don Coldsmith, Dee Brown, Elmer Kelton, among many others. In 1996 the American Library Association picked Wild West Show! for their special recommended reading list of the 30 all-time best non-fiction books on the American West, a list that included Stephen Ambrose’s Undaunted Courage, Mark Twain’s Roughing It, Dee Brown’s Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, and John Nieheardt’s Black Elk Speaks. In conjunction with the ALA, PBS, and the NEA, the Newbery Library includedWild West Show! in their two year, 44-library exhibition of the listed books and relevant artifacts, “The Frontier in American Culture.”

The first book in his acclaimed multi-volume history of the Texas Rangers, They Rode for the Lone Star (Taylor Publishing, 1998), was chosen by the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum to commemorate the 175th anniversary of the founding of the Rangers by Stephen F. Austin. Subsequent to the appearance of this first volume, he introduced and narrated part of the Discovery Channel documentary, “Texas Rangers, Legendary Lawmen,” which first aired in 2000. He is presently working to complete the series, to relate the history of the Texas Rangers up to the present day, as well as other projects.

His interest in the American West stems from his heritage as a fourth generation Texan—he can claim ancestors from both sides of the long and bloody conflict between the Comanche and the Texas Rangers, as well as from both sides in the American Civil War. When he’s not writing, he hunts, fishes, engages in period re-enactments, and camps out with his son. He occasionally teaches the creative writing course he originally designed while working for Texas A&M University, but he’s more likely to be found wandering the back roads of his native state, photographing ruins, old farmhouses, antique churches, abandoned cemeteries, and small town streets, stopping occasionally to sample the local beer or to pass the time with farmers, ranchers, and oil-field workers.

Tom is a member of the Science Fiction Writers of America and the Western Writers of America, and is an honorary life member (along with Chuck Norris and Clayton Moore) of the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum in Waco, his old home town. He lives with his wife, Barbara,and his son, James in Bryan-College Station, Texas.

Tom is also the founder and managing editor for Lone Star Publishing (www.lonestarpublishing.net), a publisher of non-fiction and YA fiction, and for DarkStar Books (www.darkstarbooks.net), a publisher of SF, fantasy, mystery, and horror fiction, role playing games, and graphic novels.
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Thomas W. Knowles's Blog

Giveaways--They Rode for the Lone Star

We've had a great success with our giveways. Over one thousand Goodreads Members entered for Robert Asprin's NO Quarter, a thousand for Steve Banister's The St. Charles House, and between seven and eight hundred each for our other three books. Ten copies of my own book, They Rode for the Lone Star, Vol. 1, are up for giveaway between June 12 and July 1--and those copies will be autographed. Che... read more »

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Published on June 24, 2010 17:42 • 113 views • Tags: autographed, copies, giveaways, knowles, they-rode-for-the-lone-star

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combine editions
Books by Thomas W. Knowles

Average rating: 4.16 · 32 ratings · 6 reviews · 7 distinct works

	They Rode for the Lone Star, Volume 1: The Saga of the Texas Rangers: The Birth of Texas - The Civil War by Thomas W. Knowles (Goodreads Author) (author), T.R. Fehrenbach (Foreword) 4.50 avg rating — 8 ratings — 3 editions	My rating:
	The West That Was: A Lively and Authoritive Story and Picture Album by Thomas W. Knowles (Goodreads Author) (editor), Joe R. Lansdale (editor) 3.88 avg rating — 8 ratings — published 1993	My rating:
	Wild West Show! by Thomas W. Knowles (Goodreads Author), Joe R. Lansdale 3.80 avg rating — 5 ratings — published 1994	My rating:
	The Living West: The Enduring Spirit of the American West 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	My rating:
	They Rode for the Lone Star, the Saga of the Texas Rangers, Volume 2: The Border Wars--The 21st Century 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	My rating:
	Past Lives, Present Tense by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough (Editor), Margaret Ball, Gary A. Braunbeck 3.80 avg rating — 25 ratings — published 1999 — 3 editions	My rating:
	New Destinies Volume 9 by Jim Baen (editor), Elizabeth Moon (contributor), Michael Flynn (contributor) 4.50 avg rating — 4 ratings	My rating:

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Thomas Knowles is now friends with Barbara Silkstone
May 30, 2012 11:53am
Thomas Knowles added a quote "The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles." — Jeff Cooper
May 14, 2012 08:39pm · add quote added! · more quotes by Jeff Cooper
Thomas Knowles liked Saul's review of Tin Woodman: " This novel is based on a nebular award winning short story, and was later adapted into a Star Trek episode named Tin Man. Highly recommended. "
May 11, 2012 09:26am · see review
Thomas Knowles liked Heather's review of Morticai's Luck: " Yes, this book was written by a very close friend of the family. Yes, even if it wasn't, I would be happy to recommend it to any fan of fantasy. Intrigue, sword play and lots of people wanting to kill the main character... what more could you ask... " Read more of this review »
May 10, 2012 11:54pm · see review
Thomas Knowles is now following Lillian Carl's reviews
Apr 09, 2012 11:12am
Thomas Knowles recommended The Far Stars War (The War Years, #1) to Sharon Ford The Far Stars War (The War Years, #1) by Bill Fawcett	My rating:
Mar 17, 2012 07:12pm · like
Thomas Knowles gave to: The Far Stars War (The War Years, #1) by Bill Fawcett	My rating:
Mar 17, 2012 07:05pm
Thomas Knowles gave to: Moonspeaker (House of Moons Chronicles, #1) by K.D. Wentworth	My rating:
Feb 29, 2012 12:40pm
Thomas Knowles gave to: Live Free or Die (Troy Rising, #1) by John Ringo	My rating:
Feb 29, 2012 12:34pm
Thomas Knowles gave to: Burning Water (Diana Tregarde, #1) by Mercedes Lackey	My rating:
Feb 29, 2012 12:34pm

More of Thomas's books…

Quotes by Thomas W. Knowles

“In the person of Quanah Parker, an extraordinary man in whom the blood of two strong peoples flowed, the Lone Star and the Comanche Moon at last found common ground.”
― Thomas W. Knowles, They Rode for the Lone Star, Volume 1: The Saga of the Texas Rangers: The Birth of Texas - The Civil War

tags: comanche , lone-star , quanah-parker , texas , texas-rangers

3 people liked it

“Charged with the mission of operating beyond the boundaries of civilization with minimal support and no communication from higher authority, they lived and often died by the motto, 'Order first, then law will follow.”
― Thomas W. Knowles, They Rode for the Lone Star, Volume 1: The Saga of the Texas Rangers: The Birth of Texas - The Civil War

tags: texas-rangers , wild-west

2 people liked it

“When the impossible is eliminated, whatever remains, however improbable, is the solution ... unless you're mistaken as to just what is and what isn't impossible.”
― Thomas W. Knowles

1 person liked it

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Topics Mentioning This Author

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All things Dragon...: 2011 Authors	88	143	Aug 29, 2011 03:43pm

Quotes Thomas Likes

“When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes

tags: inspirational

2,530 people liked it

“When the impossible is eliminated, whatever remains, however improbable, is the solution ... unless you're mistaken as to just what is and what isn't impossible.”
― Thomas W. Knowles

1 person liked it

“The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven..”
― John Milton, Paradise Lost

tags: inspirational , religion

1,545 people liked it

“In a mad world, only the mad are sane.”
― Akira Kurosawa

tags: insanity , madness , sanity

120 people liked it

“Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? (Who watches the watchmen?)”
― Decimus Junius Juvenalis

11 people liked it

More quotes Thomas likes…