Get to know living Texas authors like Sarah Bird in person

Welcome back to “Think, Texas,” your free weekly digital newsletter about all things Texas past.

Do you have a favorite living Texas author? Have you met that person who has put so many thoughts into your head?

You can. Texas authors, such as Sarah Bird, the subject of today's "Think, Texas" column, often meet and greet their readers at bookstores, libraries and schools.

Don't forget the annual Texas Book Festival, a giant meet-up with all our beloved authors and their loyal readers.

I recently interviewed Sarah at a bookstore in Houston regarding her historical novel, "Last Dance on the Starlight Pier," set in Galveston during the Great Depression.

No matter where you live in the state, folks, your favorite Texas author will find a way to get there. Keep an eye on your hometown USA Today Network newspaper for postings about public appearances.

Questions? Tips? Send your Texas history questions, tips and comments to Michael Barnes at mbarnes@gannett.com.

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THE COLUMN

Texas history: Step inside the upside-down world of dance marathons in Depression-era Galveston

HOUSTON — Texas author Sarah Bird constructs curious dreamscapes.

We, the readers, linger in them for as long as we can, even after we've finished the last pages of one of her luminescent books.

In her recent novel, "Last Dance on the Starlight Pier," that dream world — sometimes a nightmare — involves Depression-era dance marathons, especially a spectacular one staged at an aging venue raised above the Gulf of Mexico in Galveston.

In an America during the 1930s desperate for any type of distraction, marathon couples, some amateurs, others "horses," or pros, danced until one couple was left standing. They followed enforced rules and took designated breaks, but it was really a matter how long they could endure their foot-bruising, sleep-deprived time on stage.

The pro dancers took on distinct personalities. Organizers devised false narratives to fit their stars. Audiences lapped it up.

Bird's novel pivots on the character of Evie Grace Devlin, a tough Texas survivor haunted by her past as a child vaudeville performer and her youth in the seamy Vinegar Hill district of Houston; anxious as an adult to become useful as a registered nurse; but swept up in the dance marathon craze where not everybody or everything is who or what they seem to be.

Galveston Island during the 1930s was a world apart. This version of "Sin City" was held together by a mob-like family who promoted drinking, gambling and other seaside fun.

READ MORE

THE PODCAST

On this week's "Austin Found" podcast, J.B. Hager and I chat about the new book, "Indelible Austin: Volume 4," the latest in my series of collected columns about Austin people, places, culture and history.

HOMETOWN HISTORY

· From Abilene: Abilene restaurants marks 80s years

· From Alice: DQ restaurants celebrate 75 years in Texas

· From Amarillo: Fiesta Foods caters to its neighborhood

· From Austin: What did the early days of Austin’s food scene look like?

· From Corpus Christi: Documenting the city’s oldest restaurants

· From El Paso: Lost restaurants of El Paso

· From Glen Rose: Sexton Mill heads for a rebirth

· From Lubbock: Lost restaurants of Lubbock

· From San Angelo: Fast food craze made big waves in 1969

· From Stephenville: Erath County salutes the dairy industry

· From Waxahachie: Opal Lee explains Juneteenth and its food

· From Wichita Falls: Singular foods from the Wichita Falls area

FUN TEXAS FACT

Dallas Mavericks joined the NBA in 1980

On May 1, 1980, the Dallas Mavericks officially became the 23rd member of the National Basketball Association, when owner Donald Carter's Dallas National Basketball Association, Inc., was awarded a franchise by NBA commissioner Lawrence O'Brien.

Norm Sonju, the club's first and only general manager, had initiated the process of bringing professional basketball to Dallas in 1978, when he contacted Dallas Mayor Bob Folsom. Together they put together a group of eight investors, headlined by the Carter family's Home Interiors and Gifts.

Mayor Folsom and the city of Dallas also assisted by building the 17,007-seat Reunion Arena in downtown Dallas in 1979. Sonju hired Dick Motta, then the coach with the third-highest number of wins in NBA history, as the team's first head coach.

That first team had a record of 15 wins and 67 losses for the 1980-81 season.

(Texas Day by Day / Texas State Historical Association) READ MORE

TEXAS TITLES

We recommend: "War on the Border: Villa, Pershing, the Texas Rangers and an American Invasion" by Jeff Guinn

The Mexican Revolution (1910-1920) is confusing. Yet grasping its twists and turns is crucial to understanding Texas and American history. Popular historian Jeff Guinn helps us make sense of this action-packed decade with his new book that includes insightful character studies and an innate sense of historical drama. READ MORE

Thanks for reading,

Michael Barnes, Columnist

Email: mbarnes@statesman.com

Twitter: twitter.com/outandabout

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Get to know living Texas authors like Sarah Bird in person