Out of the Old Rock (Comstock Edition)

The people J Frank Dobie liked to write about during his lifetime were the men and women who came "out of the old rock" --genuine, independent, unpretentious people,specialists of one kind or another, whether that specialty was teaching or horseshoeing--people who were, above all, interesting. There are sixteen such personalities in OUT OF THE OLD ROCK: a cowboy preacher, a wildcatter, a trail driver, a gunman, an ornithologist, a rancher, a homesteader, several teachers and writers, including artist-novelist Tom Lea, historian Walter Prescott Webb, and folk singer-archivist John Lomax. Most of them Dobie knew personally, some intimately, and they come vividly alive through his portraits--in the familiar way in which a common friend may make you surprisingly knowledgeable about somebody you may never actually have met. Compiled by Frank Dobie's wife and lifelong companion, Bertha Dobie, who also provides the Introduction, this is a memorable collection by a memorable man, rich with dobie's own special brand of warm insight and humor.