Edwin "Bud" Shrake is one of the most intriguing literary talents to emerge from Texas. He has written vividly in fiction and nonfiction about everything from the early days of the Texas Republic to the making of the atomic bomb. His real gift has been to capture the Texas Zeitgeist. Legendary Harper's Magazine editor Willie Morris called Shrake's essay "Land of the Permanent Wave" one of the two best pieces Morris ever published during his tenure at the magazine. High praise, indeed, when one considers that Norman Mailer and Seymour Hersh were just two of the luminaries featured at Harper's during Morris's reign. This anthology is the first to present and explore Shrake's writing completely, including his journalism, fiction, and film work, both published and previously unpublished. The collection makes innovative use of his personal papers and letters to explore the connections between his journalism and his novels, between his life and his art. An exceptional behind-the-scenes look at his life, Land of the Permanent Wave reveals and reveres the life and calling of a writer whose legacy continues to influence and engage readers and writers nearly fifty years into his career.

Nancy Larimore Hellane was born and raised in the little Washington County, Maryland village of Edgemont. Although she left the area following her marriage to Vince Hellane, she never lost her love for the mountain or the little village she called home. This book describes the many fond memories of family and friends who also lived there.

Winner, Coral Horton Tullis Memorial Prize, Texas State Historical Association, 2014 During the early 1970s, the nation’s turbulence was keenly reflected in Austin’s kaleidoscopic cultural movements, particularly in the city’s progressive country music scene. Capturing a pivotal chapter in American social history, Progressive Country maps the conflicted iconography of “the Texan” during the ’70s and its impact on the cultural politics of subsequent decades. This richly textured tour spans the notion of the “cosmic cowboy,” the intellectual history of University of Texas folklore and historiography programs, and the complicated political history of late-twentieth-century Texas. Jason Mellard analyzes the complex relationship between Anglo-Texan masculinity and regional and national identities, drawing on cultural studies, American studies, and political science to trace the implications and representations of the multi-faceted personas that shaped the face of powerful social justice movements. From the death of Lyndon Johnson to Willie Nelson’s picnics, from the United Farm Workers’ marches on Austin to the spectacle of Texas Chic on the streets of New York City, Texas mattered in these years not simply as a place, but as a repository of longstanding American myths and symbols at a historic moment in which that mythology was being deeply contested. Delivering a fresh take on the meaning and power of “the Texan” and its repercussions for American history, this detail-rich exploration reframes the implications of a populist moment that continues to inspire progressive change.

The rural post office was once a vibrant institution of sociability and communication in Canada. Country Post strives to recreate the postal world of 1880 – 1945 through extensive research and the recollections of twenty-eight postmasters from all regions of Canada.

Living in a home with no electricity, no indoor plumbing, and an outhouse for a bathroom is a few of the true inconveniences experienced by the author as a child. Her parents had lived in Kentucky long before she was born. Her ancestors found their way into the Kentucky mountains from Scotland and Ireland by way of England in search of a better life. The search ended when they reached the southeastern Kentucky mountains. Land in that area was most likely available through land grants. In the early 1930s, the father inherited a parcel of the land that was once owned by the great-grandfather. These twenty acres or more provided the family a way to survive in this remote area. The natural wooded area changed drastically when coal was found in that area of Kentucky. A large part of the grandfather's land was leased to a coal mining company. The development of coal mining communities covered many acres of the land. This was when Allais, Kentucky, was added to the map. After many years of working underground in a coal mine, the father was diagnosed with a form of leukemia in the late 1940s. He was blessed with relatives and friends in Allais when they donated the blood he needed to live. He prayed to God to keep him alive until all his children were on their own. God chose to take him in a car accident the day his last child was getting her marriage license. The author's memories of her happy childhood are true experiences, and her love of Kentucky will remain and be passed on to all her present and future generations.