The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 86, July 1982 - April, 1983 Page: 459
616 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Book Reviews
capitol press corps as "Creighton The Creep" (p. 22); Betty Andujar
of Fort Worth was a "grandmotherly Republican" who "clucked in
her head-rocking style" (p. 25); Ray Farabee of Wichita Falls "had a
hint of a ferret about him" (p. 59); and Bill Moore of Bryan "thun-
dered in his inimitable Claghorn style" (p. 2o). Yet only a few of the
Killer Bees fared much better. With nine of them holed up in one
Austin household for five days, closeness under pressure revealed both
their strengths and human frailties. Ron Clower of Dallas was often
belligerent, obnoxious, and drunk; Gene Jones of Houston, a claustro-
phobic, together with his brother, misled Ranger Charlie Cook and
"to his discredit ... admitted nothing" (p. 98); while Chet Brooks of
Houston tried to play both sides of the aisle and was therefore drub-
bed a "Crippler Bee" (p. 94).
Overall, Heard has done justice to this brief incident in Texas po-
litical history. His research is thorough; his acquaintance with the
people involved, as well as his knowledge of Texas government, con-
ducive to insightful comment; and his writing delightfully entertain-
ing. But concluding that this maneuver was significant and more than
a temporary victory is, however, open to question. Texas politics may
have been temporarily altered, but the ensuing Sixty-seventh Texas
Legislature in 1981 seemed to prove the old adage, "Business as
usual."
On the other hand, Ben Sargent, editorial cartoonist for the Austin
American-Statesman, has laid bare the capitol scene in the scathing
tradition of the famous cartoonist Thomas Nast. He has depicted the
actions of governors Dolph Briscoe and William P. Clements in a
humorous, yet acerbic manner. Politicians John B. Connally, John L.
Hill, and Bob Bullock also feel the barbs from his pen. And the
powerful influence of lobbyists in affecting legislation is painfully ob-
vious. Sargent has therefore correctly entitled this excellent and enter-
taining work Texas Statehouse Blues.
Texas Christian University BEN H. PROCTER
Texas Rich: The Hunt Dynasty from the Early Oil Days Through the
Silver Crash. By Harry Hurt III. (New York: W. W. Norton Sc
Company, 1981. Pp. 446. Illustrations, notes, index. $16.95.)
Texas Rich is a family biography that sorts out the complicated ca-
reers of H. L. Hunt and his fourteen offspring, especially his sons Nel-
son Bunker, William Herbert, Lamar, and Ray. With remarkable re-
straint, Hurt documents how Haroldson Lafayette Hunt (1889-1974)459
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 86, July 1982 - April, 1983, periodical, 1982/1983; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101209/m1/507/?rotate=180: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.