Tweed Scott

Texas is (dare I say it?) a special place, a special state, a special part of the world. There is no doubt about it – just ask any Texan you run across and they will tell you so. And you’d best not doubt them, because they can prove it – and they will jump at the chance to set you straight. I know this because I am a first generation Texan, father of two second generation Texans, and grandfather of three young third generation Texans. My Texas citizenship has served me well in a lifetime spent traveling and working throughout the world, but, hey, don’t take my word for it. Tweed Scott has written/edited a whole book in which my fellow Texans make the case for this wonderful state.

Texas in Her Own Words (Second Edition) is a compilation of dozens of interviews that Scott did with Texans from one corner of the state to the other. Interviewees include ordinary Texans from every walk of life, ranging from folks you’ve never heard of all the way to superstars like country music singer Willie Nelson. The first thing that jumps out at you about Scott’s interviews is that, if you pay no attention to the speaker’s identity, they all, each and every one of them, have two things in common: a deep love of Texas and a strong sense of self-identification as a Texan. This is true regardless of whether the interviewee is a sixth generation Texan or someone who got here a decade ago almost by accident. Even those newcomers now call Texas home in every sense of the word.

Why is Texas this way? After all, every state in the Union has a relatively unique history of its own to be proud of, so why don’t people from Wisconsin and Arizona feel as deeply proud of their state heritage as Texan’s feel of theirs? As you can imagine, Tweed Scott has given this question a good bit of thought over the years he has worked to put the two editions of Texas in Her Own Words together. And he has reached some interesting conclusions regarding the psychology of the average Texan and how new generations of passionate Texans continue to be created to this day (although that is getting a bit more difficult to do with each generation, I think).

Scott concludes that Texans, no matter where in this huge state they live, have at least four traits in common, traits that bind them together as Texans even if they enjoy very different Texas lifestyles. West Texas cowboys, South Texas Hispanics, East Texas southerners, Gulf Coast beach lovers, and those sturdy folk who live up in the Texas Panhandle all have enough in common to make them brothers under the skin, and just plain old Texans above all else in their self-identity. They recognize each other when they meet out of state or in foreign countries – and they never miss the opportunity to connect when that happens.

But let Tweed Scott explain it to you – with a lot of help from his friends. Texas in Her Own Words is a feel-good book for Texans, and maybe it will explain us to a few of our friends in the rest of the country who just don’t get us.… (altro)