Texas, My Texas: Musings of the Rambling Boy

by Lonn Taylor

In a collection of essays about Texas gathered from his West Texas newspaper column, Lonn Taylor traverses the very best of Texas geography, Texas history, and Texas personalities. In a state so famous for its pride, Taylor manages to write a very honest, witty, and wise book about Texas past and Texas present. Texas, My Musings of the Rambling Boy is a story of legacies, of men and women, times, and places that have made this state what it is today.  From a history of Taylor’s hometown, Fort Davis, to stories about the first man wounded in the Texas Revolution, (who was an African American), to accounts of outlaw Sam Bass and an explanation of Hill Country Christmases, Taylor has searched every corner of the state for untold histories.Taylor’s background as a former curator at the Smithsonian National Museum becomes apparent in his attention to   Roosevelt’s Rough Riders, artists, architects, criminals, the founder of Neiman Marcus, and the famous horned frog “Old Rip” all make appearances as quintessential Texans.  

Lonn Taylor’s unique narrative voice is personal.  As he points out in the foreword, it is the stories of Texans themselves, of their grit and eccentricities, that have “brought the past into the present . . . the two seem to me to be bound together by stories.” People—real Texans—are the focus of the essays, making Texas, My Texas a rite of passage for anyone who claims Texan heritage. There are just a few things every good Texan “knows,” like the fact that it is illegal to pick bluebonnets along the highway, or that the Menger Hotel bar is modeled after the one in the House of Lords in London. Taylor points out with his usual wit that it is not, in fact, illegal to pick any of the six varieties of bluebonnets that grow throughout our state, and that few Texans would know that the bar is modeled after the one in the House of Lords, as few Texans are Lords. These are just a few examples of Taylor’s knowledge of Texas and his passion for its citizens.

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 26, 2012

About the author

Lonn Taylor was an expert on "The Star-Spangled Banner" (both the national anthem and the flag) and Southwestern furniture. He was a curator and historian with the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History for nearly twenty years. After retiring in 2002, he returned to his home state of Texas, where he penned a weekly newspaper column about Texas history and other stories about Texas, which he read on Marfa Public Radio. Before his death, he finished a memoir about his childhood years spent in the Philippines.

Reviews

[Alexander Boeringa · Rating 5 out of 5]

An admission, The author has been a friend of mine since 1965 or so, and while both of us have moved around quite a bit over the years we have still intermittently kept in touch. The last time we visited was in Ft Davis,Texas where he now lives, and he gave me a signed copy of this book. That said, if you are a Texan (and once equals ALWAYS) you need to have this book on your shelf. Lonn is a true historian both by deep interest and academic title, erudition, and employment (such as The Smithsonian). In his writing it is if he is taking you along with him in the numerous short stories in which he shares his knowledge, experience and, above all, sense of humor. Don't take my word for it; read over the 53 titles in the contents; If you can resist reading them I fear for your spirit of curiosity and thirst for new information. I would try and list a few but one title just caught my eye and I can't help but stop and reread it... right now.