Joe Nick Patoski kicks off fall Texas Author Series

The Texas Author Series, sponsored by Friends of the Abilene Public Library, has been held in the spring for the past several years. This year they've added a fall series as well.

Noon brown bag programs, free to the public, will be presented on three Mondays – Oct. 19, Nov. 2, and Nov. 16 -- at the Abilene Public Library, 202 Cedar. The Nov. 16 program will also be the annual meeting of Friends, when new officers are elected.

Kicking off the series next Monday, Oct. 19, is Joe Nick Patoski, a veteran Texas magazine writer and author whose biography of Willie Nelson: An Epic Life won the TCU Book Award as the best Texas book of the year. Come hear him talk about Willie Nelson, Texas music, and Texas culture.

Sherrie McLeroy of Aledo will tell true Texas tales on Nov. 2 from her new book, Bragging on Texas, a collection of about 50 stories of Texas firsts and bests. Her book is part of the Small Texas Books series from TCU Press. Priced at just $9.95 hardcover, they make good inexpensive birthday or stocking-stuffer gifts.

On Nov. 16 two of the authors of a great new coffee-table book, Historic Texas from the Air, will tell stories and show pictures of historical Texas sites. Author Gerald Saxon, Dean of the Library at the University of Texas at Arlington, and photographer Jack Graves will take us on a historic tour that includes downtown Abilene and Fort Phantom Hill among its 73 selected sites.

As usual, sandwich plates will be available for $4, or you can bring your own lunch. Drinks will be provided by Friends. Authors will sign books after their presentations.