From the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Lonesome Dove to books like Horseman, Pass By and The Last Kind Words Saloon, America has seen the Old West through the eyes of Larry McMurtry. McMurtry’s lifelong pursuit began with just an inheritance of a small sack of books.

You know it is “that time of year” when Christmas music begins playing on the radio and in stores. With the Christmas season creeping slightly earlier and earlier each year, or so it seems, the merry tunes can lose their novelty by the time the big day rolls around! To put some jingly spirit back into the classic tunes that underscore the holiday season, enjoy some lesser-known stories behind the songs.

Convicted of murder at as a teen, Clyde Thompson spent most of his life in prison. He earned the moniker "the meanest man in Texas," and lived up to it for a time, before finding salvation and the love of a good woman. Thompson served as a pastor for several years after his release.

Some people are legendary because of what they have done, but others and perhaps the most important ones, are legendary because of who they are. Grace Dobson, also known as Lady Grace, is the famous face behind the Whataburger empire.

Resting 20 miles south of the City of Austin sits a three-roomed house in the quaint town of Kyle, Texas, where a small child and her five-membered family moved as the result of a tragic death. This now-motherless child, Katherine Anne Porter, filled her days in this home with dancing, singing, drawing, and playing piano, experimenting with finding her given talents.

Roy “the Judge” Hofheinz, former mayor of Houston and the man who built the Astrodome, was an extravagant, boisterous personality, a man whose life accomplishments matched perfectly his outsized character and quirky genius.

Born in Refugio, Texas, in 1947 as the youngest of six children, Lynn Nolan Ryan was no stranger to hard work and hand-me-downs. At six months old, his father, Lynn Nolan Ryan, Sr., who worked for Hastings Oil Field was transferred to Alvin, Texas, where Ryan spent the rest of his childhood and much of his adult life.

The story of the last cowboy has been written, a movie was made, but out in a rolling pasture near Hamilton, Texas, the final scene has not been cut; the last word is still unwritten.

There is something called salesmanship, that when done really well, is a bit more like showmanship; it is the difference between convincing someone to buy something and allowing them to experience something. There is a broad contrast between having a press pass, which allows someone to view a special celebrity from behind the curtain, and being allowed the experience of feeling important in one's own right.