ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

PHOTOGRAPHERS Melinda Arceneaux-Wickman-Nicholls and Scott Newton have enriched the versions of the book with their images, and as colleagues, collaborators, friends, and spinners of yarns, they have brought laughter to the end of many long days. It will always be their book, as well as mine.

The book originated with leaps of faith by William Broyles, Jr., and Gregory Curtis, the first editors of Texas Monthly, and the revised edition would not have been possible without the enthusiasm and support of their successor, Evan Smith. One night over dinner, David Lindsey urged me to re-envision a magazine article as a book; one day at lunch, decades later, our mutual friend Dave Hamrick told me the book ought to be back in print. I am grateful to Heidelberg Publishers, Da Capo Press, and the University of Texas Press for their dedication to its three editions. My agent, David McCormick, encouraged me to stick to my plan for bringing the story up to date, and my editors of the revised edition, Theresa May and Leslie Tingle, helped me hone the crafting. Passages in one section began to take shape long ago when editor Louis Black asked me to write an essay for the Austin Chronicle; over the years that journal and its staff have been very generous to me and the reputation of this book. So have Michael Corcoran, Dave McNeely, John T. Davis, and other contributors to the Austin American-Statesman.

Some years ago I was stricken by misfortune while abroad, and for my family and me, it was a long way home. On the office wall above the desk where I composed this edition is a framed and autographed poster for a “Jan Reid Rescue Concert” sponsored at La Zona Rosa by the Chronicle and a distinguished Austin radio station, KGSR. By all accounts it was a rousing, good-hearted show. Several members and supporters of the Texas music community stepped up for us that night: Bobby Bridger, Kevin Connor, Fuller Dyal & Stamper, Anna Egge, Joe Ely, Kinky Friedman, Steven Fromholz, Ginny’s, Randy Glines, Michael Hall, Tish Hinojosa, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Guy Juke, Guich Koock, Jimmy LaFave, Joe Nick Patoski, Bruce Robison, Jesse Taylor, Rusty Wier, Jimmy Lynn Williams, Kelly Willis, and K. R. Wood. Those are just the ones I know about. Thanks to all who sang and played and to all who listened and danced. The spirit of this book was infused in the sense of community on display that May evening, and my wife Dorothy Browne phrased our feelings well: “Thank God we live in Austin.”