Texas Highways, Volume 51 Number 9, September 2004 Page: Page2
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O'From the Editor's desk
'It
/~~.W elcome to our 30th an-
niversary issue. Some
times I feel like I was here at
the magazine's inception, but
that's not the case. Texas High-
ways, the travel magazine,
was the brainchild of one
Franklin T. Lively, the man
who wisely hired me more
than 20 years ago.
Since 1962, Frank had [FROM FOP LEFT] The
edited a magazine called Tex- magazine-Frank LiV
as Highways, which covered shown here circa 19
highway design, engineer- for a sampling of Te
ing, construction, mainte- tographer Michael
nance, transportation research, and personnel
issues for the Texas Highway Department.
Frank quickly realized that he could justify in-
cluding articles on places those highways
served. "So I began publishing features about
historical spots and attractions," he says. His
ultimate dream, though, was to convert the
magazine into a showpiece for Texas, a publi-
cation that would have the best qualities of
National Geographic, which dates to 1889, and
Arizona Highways, which premiered in 1925.
"I can't believe the number of dumb mis-
takes I made over the years," Frank told me
recently. "I let somebody talk me into devoting
our entire first issue as a travel magazine to a
single topic-the Indians of Texas-and I put
a painting of an Indian in the snow on the
front cover. Our boss did not like it. He told us
never to devote an entire issue to one subject
and not to print a snow scene on a May cover.
I soon learned that our readers prefer photo-
graphs to paintings, and that they like scenery
or flowers on the cover."
But for every poor idea, Frank had 10 good
ones: "We learned that our readers liked arti-
cles about history, scenery, travel, and wild-2 TEXAS HIGHWAYS September 2004
flowers. We placed a lot of emphasis on top-
notch photographs and quality color repro-
duction." Under his watch, the quality of the
photography and writing increased dramati-
cally. Frank introduced regular departments
such as Fun Forecast, Speaking of Texas, and
For the Road. He added maps and informa-
tional guides to improve the usefulness of trav-
el stories. And within a few years, he offered
readers a broad range of top-
ics-foods, flora, and fauna;
architecture, geology, and his-
tory; art, museums, and ro-
deos; Texans of Indian, Span-
ish, and German descent;
and scenic views of state and
national parks, roadside vis-
tas, and ranch country.
As longtime readers may
know, we keep the Lively
legacy alive-in part by con-
an behind the tinuing to publish the work
ly, TH's first editor, of such longtime contri-
2. See page 23 butors as Carol Barrington,
is portraits by pho- Howard Peacock, Rosemary
Brien. Williams, Nelson England,
Gene Fowler, Damond Benningfield, Candace
Leslie, Elizabeth Lewis, J. Griffis Smith, Randy
Mallory, Dale Weisman, Laurence Parent, Richard
Reynolds, Wyman Meinzer, Jan Edwards, and
Stephan Myers. And we have kept alive Frank's
pioneering spirit by creating new departments,
such as Just Passing Through and TexCetera,
and by adding contributors like Kathryn Jones,
John T. Davis, Lana Robinson, Maxine Mayes,
Melissa Gaskill, Mary Ramos, Joe Wiseman, Joel
Salcido, Arturo Longoria, Robert Mihovil, Mike
Cox, June Naylor (see page 32), Randy Anthony
(page 52;, and Elizabeth and Michael O'Brien
(page 23).
I must add that I'm fortunate to have the
finest magazine staff in the land (see staff box
at right). Of course, we have the best readers
as well. Rest assured that we'll keep trying to
improve our product as time goes by. We invite
you to relax and enjoy this issue. It's a keeper.THE TRAVEL MAGAZINE OF TEXAS
H I G H W A Y S
GOVERNOR OF TEXAS
RICK PERRY
TEXAS TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION
RIG WILLIAMSON Chair
HOPE ANDRADE Commissioner
TED HOUGHTON, JR. Commissioner
JOHN W. JOHNSON Commissioner
ROBERT L. NICHOLS Commissioner
MICHAEL W. BEHRENS, PE. Executive Director
PUBLISHED MONTHLY BYTHE TRAVEL DIVISION
Division Director DORIS HOWDESHELL
Publisher KATHY MURPHY
Editor JACK LOWRY
Managing Editor JILL LAWLESS
Senior Editor ANN GALLAWAY
Associate Editor NOLA McKEY
Associate Editor LORI MOFFATT
Assistant Editor MARTY LANGE
Photography Editor MICHAEL A. MURPHY
Art Director JANE WU KNAPP
Associate Art Director JANE SHARPE
Design Assistant KIRSTI HARMS
Editorial Assistant NORA M. BALDWIN
Editorial Intern FORD GUNTER
Marketing Manager CINDY LEFFINGWELL
Circulation Manager CYNTHIA KOSEL
Business Manager LUCIA CORDOVA
Ancillary Products Manager JULIE JACOB
Administrative Assistant LUPE VALDEZ
Texas Highways (ISSN 0040-4349) is published
monthly by the Texas Department of Transportation,
150 East Riverside Drive, Austin, Texas 78704. The
official travel magazine of Texas encourages rec-
reational travel within the state and tells the Texas
story to readers around the world.
Texas Department of Transportation
2004. All rights reserved. opaten
The editorial office of Texas Highways is at 150
East Riverside Drive in Austin. Call 512/486-5858;
fax 512/486-5879.
Internet Sites: www.texashighways.com
www.traveltex. com and www.dot. state.tx us
Send queries about manuscripts or photographs to
Box 141009, Austin, TX 78714-1009. We are not
responsible for unsolicited materials.
Subscriptions to Texas Highways are $17.50 annually
($25.50 foreign). Call 800/839-4997. (Call 850/
683-1394 outside the U.S.) Single copies/back
issues: current issue, $3.50, back issues, $5, plus
shipping & handling. Call 512/486-5823.
For subscription services, write to Texas Highways
Circulation, Box 51564, Boulder, CO 80322-1564, or
call 800/839-4997. To be removed from mailing list
sales, write to Texas Highways Marketing, Mailing
Lists, Box 141009, Austin, TX 78714-1009.
For advertising information: AJR Associates, 3229
D'Amico St., Ste. tOO, Houston, TX 77019; 800/383-
7677; fax 713/942-0277.
Periodicals Postage paid at Austin, Texas, and addi-
tional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address
changes to Texas Highways Circulation, Box 51564,
Boulder, CO 80322-1564.
IP& MEMBER, INTERNATIONAL REGIONAL
MAGAZINE ASSOCIATION
PRINTED IN U.S.A. o N RECYCLED PAPER ur
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Texas. Department of Transportation. Texas Highways, Volume 51 Number 9, September 2004, periodical, September 2004; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth838833/m1/4/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.