Texas Standard » Stories From Texas

As Valentine’s Day is approaching, I thought I’d share a romantic story about one of Texas’s greatest artists, Tom Lea.  This is a love story, expressed in one painting, titled “Sarah in the Summertime.”  I’ll tell you the story of that painting and how it came to be. Tom Lea was a true renaissance artist in […] The post Artist Tom Lea’s ‘Sarah In The Summertime’ appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

For me, Lyndon Johnson did more for Texas in his lifetime than any other politician, except for Sam Houston. And Houston’s greatest gift was given to Texas in the form of a resounding victory at San Jacinto, before he began his political years as president. Two of Johnson’s most enduring gifts to Texas are NASA, […] The post Lyndon Johnson’s Gifts To Texas appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

I go for walks in the country often this time of year here in the Rio Grande Valley. This is our Goldilocks season. Not too hot. Not too cold. Just right. We have a perfectly warming sun in the crisp, cool air of winter mornings. I like to walk along a dirt road that has […] The post In Praise Of Vultures appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

If you had walked into the Neiman-Marcus store during the Christmas season in Dallas in 1939, you would have found a beautiful little book for sale titled A Letter from Texas.  The 20-page book, by the Texas poet, Townsend Miller, was commissioned by Stanley Marcus himself. He had the gifted printer Carl Hertzog publish an […] The post A Letter from Texas appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Bridges are measured in three ways, for those who like to keep world records and such: longest, tallest and highest.  In Texas, the Fred Hartman Bridge is both the longest bridge at 2.6 miles, and the tallest, at 440 feet. But it is not the highest. That honor goes to the aptly named Pecos High […] The post The Texas Connection To Colorado’s Royal Gorge Bridge appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

By W. F. Strong and Lupita Strong February 2021 will mark Queen Elizabeth II’s 69th year on the British throne. In all of those years during which she witnessed some of the world’s most pivotal events, one can say — if one is a Texan — that we deserve an honorable mention amongst those events […] The post The Queen’s Royal Welcome to Texas appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

By W.F. Strong The year was 1919. J. Frank Norfleet, after two years of pursuit, finally slapped the handcuffs on Mr. Stetson in Florida. Stetson – real name: Joe Furey – had swindled Norfleet out of $90,000 in Dallas and Fort Worth two years before. Stetson was shocked to see him and paid him a […] The post Norfleet: The Texas Rancher Who Kept On Coming appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

By W.F. Strong If you were ever to start a new country, one of the first tasks you’d have to undertake would be to design a flag. Are you really a country if you don’t have a flag to advertise your existence – a flag that can fly atop skyscrapers, state houses, schools and ships […] The post Texas: A State That Loves Its Flag appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

My friend, Jac Darsnek, owner of the always remarkable Traces of Texas webpage sent me a message recently. He asked if I had ever told the story of Dora Hand on the radio. I said, no, but I will. Thanks for the suggestion Jac. Here we go: Dora Hand, many said, was the most beautiful […] The post The Tragic Story of Dora Hand appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

By W. F. Strong The Llano Estacado is an enormous mesa. It covers more than 37-thousand square miles of Texas and New Mexico. On this side of the state border it starts north of Amarillo and ends south of Odessa. But how did it get its name and what exactly does it mean? Turns out, […] The post El Llano Estacado appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

By W. F. Strong A couple of years ago, there was a photograph published on Twitter of a group of radiation oncologists in the radiation treatment room at MD Anderson, all women, under the hashtag, “Women Who Curie.” They were celebrating the legacy of Madame Marie Curie and her pioneering work in radiology that daily […] The post How Madame Curie’s Philanthropy Continues To Inspire appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

By W. F. Strong and Lupita Strong  Dichos are proverbs. Dichos is a Spanish word for wise sayings, clever maxims, humorous perspectives that can guide you well. Dichos are life coaches, lighting a pathway that, if followed, can make our lives better and less painful. Dichos are nuggets of wisdom that are handed, like gold, […] The post Dichos appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

By W.F. Strong On July 29, 1925 — a full 60 years after the American Civil War — Miss Decca Lamar West of Waco, Texas, wrote a strongly worded letter to Chief Thomas H. MacDonald, the head of what was then the Federal Bureau of Public Roads. Miss West was an influential member of the […] The post Jefferson Davis Highway: The Persistence Of A Confederate Memorial appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

By W. F. Strong To much of the world, and to many people in the U.S. who have never been to Texas, the state is a vast desert. It is not the Sahara, but instead a high-plains arid region studded with rocky mesas, sweeping wall-like cliffs, dusty canyons, and sometimes adorned with thousands of Saguaro […] The post How Texas Became A Desert appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

By W.F. Strong Ten years ago I was touring the great Catedral de Sevilla, in Spain, when I got into an unexpectedly informative conversation about Texas with an 80-year-old guide of that majestic church. When he discovered that I was from South Texas, he asked me, in perfect British English, “Did you know that your […] The post El Rio Bravo appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

My wife Lupita and I were celebrating Cinco de Mayo at home Tuesday. We had a couple – or so – margaritas in honor of General Zaragoza’s victory at the Battle of Puebla. Lupita said, “I wonder if Texans know what they’re celebrating when they party on Cinco de Mayo.” She’s originally from Mexico and, […] The post The Hero Of Cinco De Mayo Was A Texan appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

by W. F. Strong (adapted from folklore)  I think we’re in need of humor more now than ever before. So I thought I’d share with you this bit of classic Texas folklore. You may well have heard it before and, if you have, I’m sure you won’t mind hearing it again. If you haven’t heard […] The post Texas Cowboy Moves to Montana appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

By W. F. Strong A while back I had occasion to travel across 400 miles of Texas, about half the state, with my older brother, Redneck Dave. We call him that out of admiration for his unbending and unapologetic devotion to life as he sees it. He loves his nickname, by the way. Wears it […] The post Things ‘Redneck Dave’ Said to Me on the Drive Across Texas appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

The silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic, if there is one, seems to be that it spares children. The polio epidemic that raged off and on in the United States for about 40 years did the opposite. Indeed, it seemed to focus on children. Whereas there is hope that COVID-19, like the flu, will weaken […] The post The Texas Polio Epidemic appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

A relatively new phenomenon in modern society is the rise of the influencer, a person on social media who is skilled at persuading followers to buy things. Some are influencers by design and some are accidental influencers, finding without trying that they have attracted an army of imitators. I wondered how many of these now […] The post Jim Bowie: Timeless Influencer appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.