Like true crime? Grab a copy of 'Last Gangster in Austin'

Michael Barnes, Austin American-Statesman
·4 min read

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

This week's column is a joy to share.

Recently, I interviewed author and musician Jesse Sublett, whose latest true-crime book, "Last Gangster in Austin," is the Texas history must-read for the summer.

The secret flight of Sheriff Raymond Frank (left) to Oklahoma City, where he convinced accused robber Red Holt (right) to return with him to Austin, met with disapproval D.A. Ronnie Earle, a federal grand jury and the FBI. The reporter on the left is Victor Solis; Chief Deputy Jim Collier (in hat) stands at the far right.
The secret flight of Sheriff Raymond Frank (left) to Oklahoma City, where he convinced accused robber Red Holt (right) to return with him to Austin, met with disapproval D.A. Ronnie Earle, a federal grand jury and the FBI. The reporter on the left is Victor Solis; Chief Deputy Jim Collier (in hat) stands at the far right.

Here is Sublett on his novelistic style:

"Like all crime stories, it starts with disruption. You try to make sense of it. What happened?

I mean, it starts with a robbery at a junkyard. A would-be robber wearing a rubber monkey mask opens fire, misses everybody, dies of a shotgun blast. He left his prescription glasses in the getaway car.

What? A junkyard? Why? Who was that guy in the green Cadillac?

It’s like jazz. A melody, then a deconstruction, going inside and out each riff, each note, you put it all together. To me, that’s noir, and this story seemed to be the perfect noir thing."

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THE COLUMN

This summer, snag 'Last Gangster in Austin,' a riveting book about 1970s Junkyard Mafia

If you pick up just one new Texas history this summer, make it "Last Gangster in Austin."

Author and musician Jesse Sublett's riveting true-crime story reads like a classic noir novel. It uncovers a seamy 1970s Texas underworld that you might not know existed, unless you have already read his equally revealing "1960s Austin Gangsters," published in 2015.

In that book, Sublett profiled the Overton Gang, which pulled off bank burglaries all across the state, while they ran prostitution and smuggling rings. Timmy Overton of Austin and Jerry Ray James of Odessa, former football players, were sometimes allied, at other times at loggerheads with infamous Austin madam Hattie Valdes.

Author and musician Jesse Sublett has uncovered several seamy layers of Texas underworld. His latest riveting true-crime book is "Last Gangster in Austin: Frank Smith, Ronnie Earle and the End of the Junkyard Mafia."
Author and musician Jesse Sublett has uncovered several seamy layers of Texas underworld. His latest riveting true-crime book is "Last Gangster in Austin: Frank Smith, Ronnie Earle and the End of the Junkyard Mafia."

Elements of that gripping story overlap with Ken Roberts' tremendous "The Cedar Choppers: Life on the Edge of Nothing" (2018).

Although it also chronicles a criminal empire that fanned out to the rest of Texas, "Last Gangster in Austin: Frank Smith, Ronnie Earle and the End of the Junkyard Mafia" is more tightly focused and produced. Not a comma is out of place.

If this story is not made into a feature film — not just TV true-crime fodder — that in itself would be a crime.

Currently, Sublett is taking a sabbatical of sorts in Los Angeles, where he has lived before. We chatted long-distance.

READ MORE

THE PODCAST

On the latest episode of "Austin Found" podcast, J.B. Hager and I chat about the land, love, work, family and loss that led to iconic Salt Lick barbecue in Driftwood, Texas.

American-Statesman columnist Michael Barnes and Austin360 Radio personality J.B. Hager team up on "Austin Found," a podcast about how Austin became Austin.
American-Statesman columnist Michael Barnes and Austin360 Radio personality J.B. Hager team up on "Austin Found," a podcast about how Austin became Austin.

HOMETOWN HISTORY

·      From Abilene: History is safe if Abilene ISD makes a name change

·      From Amarillo: Opportunity School celebrates 50-year history

·      From Austin: Austin high school namesake Gonzalo Garza has died at age 95

Gonzalo Garza signed up for the Marines in 1944 at age 17. He served in World War II and the Korean War. The GI Bill helped lift this child of migrant farm workers into an education that led to a doctorate and high positions in school administration.
Gonzalo Garza signed up for the Marines in 1944 at age 17. He served in World War II and the Korean War. The GI Bill helped lift this child of migrant farm workers into an education that led to a doctorate and high positions in school administration.

·     From Corpus Christi: City's first school was conducted in a store in 1846

·      From El Paso: Students look to make segregated Blackwell School a historic site

·      From Lubbock: Namesake for Smylie Wilson School came to Lubbock in 1902

·      From San Angelo: Look to the past: San Angelo schools' history

·      From Wichita Falls: Teaching History in the 21st Century

FUN TEXAS FACT

'Texas bird lady' added 20 new species to state's list

On June 14 in 1886, Conger Neblett was born in Corsicana. In 1926 she married Jack Hagar, a Bostonian who had come to Texas because of his interests in oil and real estate.

In 1935, the Hagars moved to Rockport, where Connie Hagar spent the rest of her life as an amateur bird-watcher and gained the respect of professional ornithologists in Europe and the United States.

Conger Neblett was known as the "Texas bird lady"
Conger Neblett was known as the "Texas bird lady"

The "Texas bird lady" added over 20 new species to the avifauna list of the state and was the first to report numerous species of migratory birds, including several that were thought to be extinct.

She died in 1973 and was buried in a spot overlooking the wildlife sanctuary that bears her name

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

TEXAS TITLES

Historian Gregg Cantrell wrote "Stephen F. Austin: Empresario of Texas"
Historian Gregg Cantrell wrote "Stephen F. Austin: Empresario of Texas"

I recommend: "Stephen F. Austin: Empresario of Texas" by Gregg Cantrell

Two of the state's top historians wrote biographies of Stephen F. Austin. In 1969, Eugene Barker came out with "The Life of Stephen F. Austin: Pioneer of Texas, 1793-1836." It remained the standard until Gregg Cantrell's "Stephen F. Austin: Empresario of Texas" came out in 1999. If the subject interests you, read both. READ MORE ON TEXAS TITLES

Thanks for reading,

Michael Barnes, Columnist

Email: mbarnes@statesman.com

Twitter: twitter.com/outandabout

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Like true crime? Grab a copy of 'Last Gangster in Austin'