A Crunchy Hit

People sure do love Fritos® Pie! After Kaleta Doolin’s book, Fritos Pie was featured in Texas Highways June 2011 issue, the magazine received more feedback on the crunchy comfort food than on just about any other topic they’ve covered in Texas Highways’s 37 years.

“I loved your story on Fritos Pie. It brought back the times in high school in the ’60s in Grand Prairie, when we would go to the Dairy Queen and order Fritos Pie. My favorite was with onions, chili, mustard, and hamburger dill slices. Yum! Yum!” - JOAN BRONSTAD, Dallas

You can find other reader memories here!

Fritos® Pie is an insider’s look at the never-before-told story of the Frito Company written by Kaleta Doolin, daughter of the company’s founder. Filled with personal anecdotes, more than 150 vintage and newly created recipes, and stories, this book recounts the company’s early days, the 1961 merger that created Frito-Lay, Inc., and beyond.

Read more about Fritos® Pie: Stories, Recipes, and More on the Press’s website and order your own copy here. Book to hit shelves in August!

Revamped

Gardeners have come a long way in their outlook about water, garden design, organics, and respect for wildlife. Because of these significant changes in gardening philosophy over the years, Cheryl Hazeltine, author of Cheryl Hazeltine's Central Texas Gardener had a lot of updating to do from the 1980 edition of the book.

In 1999, Cheryl Hazeltine and Barry Lovelace revamped the book, and Texas A&M Press published it as The New Central Texas Gardener. In fall 2010, TAMU Press released the expanded and updated resource, Cheryl Hazeltine's Central Texas Gardener.
The newest edition brings readers reliable information on what to grow and how to grow it, including the latest tips on organic methods, a few favorite recipes, and helpful websites. Containing a generous sprinkling of sidebars, bulleted lists, and special icons that quickly guide users to pertinent information, this must-have book has the know-how you need for gardening success throughout the heart of the Lone Star State.

Hazeltine recently appeared on PBS Austin television show “Central Texas Gardener” to discuss the significant changes in gardening philosophy since her first edition of the book in 1980. View the interview segment with CTG host, Tom Spencer here:

Read more about Cheryl Hazeltine's Central Texas Gardener (TAMU PRESS 2010) and order your own copy now!

Make sure to visit PBS Austin’s CTG blog for more information about Hazeltine’s interview and more gardening tips.

Flippin' San Antonio Fiesta

Artist Rolando Briseño brought some cultural adjustment to an iconic Texas landmark at the June 2011 "Flippin' San Antonio Fiesta" in San Antonio, Texas. Briseño and his art are the subject of Moctezuma's Table (TAMU PRESS 2011) by Norma Cantú. Watch exclusive footage from the event here:

Get an inside look at Briseno's art, order your own copy of Moctezuma's Table here.

TAMU Press author on PBS Austin!

Author William C. Welch recently appeared on KLRU PBS Austin's Central Texas Gardener to talk about his book Heirloom Gardening in the South: Yesterday's Plants for Today's Garden. Welch illustrates our cultural garden design melting pot and some of its pioneer plants. Watch the segment here!

“In Heirloom Gardening in the South, discover which native plants were respected for survival, those that made their way to our shores, and the ones that have stuck it out through thick and thin. Discover the reason behind 'swept gardens' and how plants like crinums and Phlox paniculata ‘John Fanick’ found their way into our backyards.”— Linda Lehmusvirta, Central Texas Gardener Producer, KLRU-TV, Austin PBS

Read more of Linda’s blog featuring Heirloom Gardening in the South here! Her blog includes pictures from the book, tips from Welch and videos.

Want to see what all the hype is about? Read more about Heirloom Gardening in the South: Yesterday's Plants for Today's Garden and order your own copy here!

How to “Adapt and Overcome”

“Adapt and Overcome” is the motto Urban Search and Rescue lives by.

Texas Task Force 1, the state’s primary search and rescue team and one of 28 federal teams in the national urban search and rescue system, has been dispatched for state and national emergencies ─ probing the devastation at Ground Zero and saving lives on the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Members are trained for ground, water, and air missions throughout Texas and the nation.

In Bud Force’s book Texas Task Force 1: Urban Search and Rescue, readers get an intimate picture of Texas Task Force 1 at work as he follows the team on their major deployments and documents their specialized equipment and training, including time spent at the unique facility known as Disaster City. The result is a lively mix of history, interviews, and photographs that paints a fascinating portrait of these courageous people — and their canine partners — who place themselves in danger in order to save others.

Texas Task Force 1 hits stores in August! Order your own copy here!

With 289 color photos, readers get a truly inside look on how to “adapt and overcome.”

Enjoy these exclusive photos from the book:

Multiple Transformations…Not Just for Celebrities

Did you know that the Texas Clipper, which currently sits off the coast of South Padre Island, was once an attack transport in World War II? The Texas Clipper has undergone transformation…after transformation… after transformation.

After the war, the ship became the SS Excambion, one of the “4 Aces” of American Export Lines: the only fully air-conditioned ships in the world at the time.

In 1965, the versatile Excambion underwent yet another transformation—into a floating classroom. Recommissioned as the USTS Texas Clipper, the ship began a third life as a merchant marine training vessel with its home port in Galveston. For the next three decades the Texas Clipper would be home to merchant marine cadets, and by the time it was retired in 1996, it was the oldest active ship in the U.S. merchant marine fleet. Finally, the Texas Clipper, after lengthy bureaucratic wrangling, was designated to be sunk in the Gulf of Mexico as an artificial reef to provide habitat for marine life. In 2009, the ship was towed to its final resting place, 17 nautical miles off the coast of South Padre Island. Now, 136 feet below the surface, the venerable Texas Clipper lives on as home to a wide variety of underwater species.

If this series of transformations captivates you, order a copy of Stephen Curley’s The Ship That Would Not Die now!

Curley’s book is filled not only with meticulously researched technical and historical data about the ship’s construction, service record, crew procedures, and voyages, but also features lively anecdotes from crew members, passengers, and officers. More than 140 color and black-and-white photos illustrate the ship’s construction, its wide variety of shipboard life, the exacting process of making the Texas Clipper ready to become an artificial reef, and its final sinking in the Gulf of Mexico.

Read more about The Ship That Would Not Die and order your own copy here!

High Hopes

"Two toymakers have literally written the book on building chimney swift nesting towers- vital to the declining bird’s survival-and turned their Texas property into a thriving Audubon sanctuary."

These toymakers are not only innovative bird watchers but TAMU Press authors as well! Paul and Georgean Kyle were recently featured in Audubon Magazine for their ability to turn their Texas property into a prosperous sanctuary. The magazine features the Kyles and their books Chimney Swift Towers and Chimney Swifts.

If you are not a subscriber to Audubon Magazine, make sure to check out this web exclusive here! It features YouTube videos, an article excerpt, and photos about how the Kyles have dedicated their spare time—and their property—to providing summer homes for chimney swifts. Or, read the FULL article here!

TAMU Press is offering both Chimney Swift Towers and Chimney Swifts for just $5 each! Get your own copy now!!!!