Snakes inspire extreme reactions. Love or hate these limbless reptiles, almost everyone is fascinated by them. Although snakes are widespread and frequently encountered, they may be more misunderstood than any other group of animals. From giant rattlesnakes to mating dances, there are dozens of myths and misconceptions about snakes. In Secrets of ......
For almost five decades, the band known as Riders in the Sky ("America's Favorite Cowboys") has entertained and delighted audiences in Nashville and throughout the United States with their mixture of quirky sendups of the silver-screen Western and their "faultless, evocative instrumentation, perfect harmony, fantasy, and humor." Remarkably, the ......
The Black Death. Cholera. Spanish flu. Swine flu. HIV/AIDS. COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2. Each of these pandemics has made (or, is making) a lasting impact on humanity. From the immediate mental image of the beaked masks worn in the Middle Ages (bubonic plague) and the birth of epidemiology (cholera) to recognizing the benefits of social distancing (1918 ......
Flowers have played an important role in human culture and survival for thousands of years. The final products of flowers-fruits and seeds-are vitally important as food. Flowers provide bursts of color to homes and gardens and they symbolize love, sorrow, and renewal. Yet we often overlook their real purpose. Why do flowers exist and why do they ......
In 15,000-year-old archaeological sites throughout Texas and Northeastern Mexico, records left by Indigenous communities tell stories about their food practices. Author and chef Adan Medrano, a descendant of these communities, has made it his life's work to document these food practices. With Medrano's expert eye, in this book we can learn about ......
Cowboy spurs are a pure form of American folk art. Like the cowboy himself, the way spurs developed was molded by their use and the environment of the range, along with a generous dose of individualism and pride. Cowboy Spurs and Their Makers tells for the first time the fascinating story of this western art and the artisans who professional ......
Expanding Abstract Expressionism in the American West
Offering a fresh perspective on the influence of the American southwest-and particularly West Texas-on the New York art world of the 1950s, Three Women Artists: Expanding Abstract Expressionism in the American West aims to establish the significance of itinerant teaching and western travel as a strategic choice for women artists associated with ......
This brief and entertaining history of the Texas Longhorn details the development of the first distinct American breed of beef cattle. The Spanish herds that had roamed Texas for generations, when mixed with English Longhorns brought by Anglo settlers in the early 1800s, yielded a rangy hybrid that could thrive in Texas' climate and was ideally ......
From the backstreets of Saigon to the sprawl of suburban Texas, Gills gathers stories of longing, estrangement, and quiet transformation. In luminous, sometimes haunting prose, Tuan Phan captures the ways Vietnamese lives ripple outward across oceans and generations, shaped by war, exile, and the stubborn pull of memory. A refugee returns to ......
