John Steinbeck was already suffering serious heart trouble when, in 1962, he and his dog clambered into a pickup with a camper topper for a cross-country trip chronicled in his famous final book,... READ MORE

From deep within I heard: “not a woman.” The desert stretched out in front of me as I drove. For months, feelings I couldn’t put my finger on simmered. I realize in the... READ MORE

In Texas, Juneteenth is often described as the day that Union Major General Gordon Granger marched upon the shores of Galveston to announce the Emancipation Proclamation—on June 19th, 1865.  But freedom in Texas... READ MORE

In 1863, Betty Simmons was about 20 years old, and her 3-year-old son, Charlie, would soon be made to work in the field.  In her 1938 interview with the Federal Writers’ Project, Simmons... READ MORE