Friends of the UTA Libraries

The Friends of the UTA Libraries was chartered in 1987 to offer community support in the Libraries' drive toward excellence. Toward this end, the Friends have established a tradition of offering interesting programs. The 2004-2005 year of Friends’ activities concluded with the April 22, 2005, presentation by James Ward Lee, author, folklorist, humanist, speaking on the topic “Reading Will Ruin You.” Lee is acquisitions editor for TCU Press and a former chairman of the English Department at the University of North Texas. Lee proved that truth and fiction can be equally funny when they are dished up together with a generous helping of topical politics. At that same meeting the slate of officers for next year was presented and elected.

On March 6, 2005, the Friends had a Sunday afternoon presentation by William Dunmire, retired National Park Service ranger and former Chief of Interpretation for the National Park Service in the mid-1970s. Dunmire discussed his new book Gardens of New Spain: How Mediterranean Plants and Foods Changed America, published in 2004 by the University of Texas Press. Dunmire’s wife Evangeline was the illustrator for this volume. The talk was followed by a book signing and a reception with several of the introduced plant foods mentioned in Dunmire’s book.

For something a little different, the Friends took a couple of field trips. On January 29, 2005, they went to lunch at Joe T. Garcia’s in Fort Worth, then visited the Amon Carter Museum to hear William Reese speak on the topic "Stamped with a National Character: Nineteenth Century American Color-plate Books." Reese curated the exhibit that featured many seminal works that illustrate [typify] the art of book illustration in America.

One road trip wasn’t enough, so several members of the Friends joined the UTA Alumni Association on their bus trip to Archer City, Texas, on February 26, 2005. The destination, of course, was Booked Up, Larry McMurtry’s remarkable and extensive used book store that occupies several buildings around the Archer County courthouse square in the middle of town. (Archer City photos by Vance Wingfield)

The Friends holiday program was on December 3, 2004. Typically the last meeting of the year has a story teller or musical guest, and this year’s meeting was no exception. The talent was provided by UTA’s own music department, with the award winning choir under the direction of Jing Ling-Tam, professor of music at UTA and a choral conductor of international reputation. Tam and the choir were joined by tenor Sam Savage, who performed additional solos. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1996 performing the tenor solos in works by Leonard Bernstein and Adolphus Hailstork.

As mentioned in the last UTA Library Notes, the first two meetings of the school year included talks by Don Newbury on September 24, 2004. Newbury is a philosopher, humorist, teacher, author, and former university president, whose books include When the Porch Light’s On, Life by the Seat of the Pants, and A Few Geese Short of a Gaggle. On October 22, 2004 Texas historian and prolific author Randolph Campbell, whose most recent book is the new single volume history of Texas titled Gone to Texas spoke about “The Search for a Usable Past” in the writing of Texas history, a history steeped in myth, folklore, braggadocio, and exaggeration.

In business conducted at the April, 2005 meeting, the following officers were elected for the upcoming year: Mary Ellen Emery, President; Bill Stallings, First Vice President; Judy Reinhartz, Second Vice President; Penny Acrey, Secretary; Brent Nicholson, Treasurer; Dorothy Rencurrel, Parliamentarian. LaVerne Knezek was elected to the Friends’ Advisory Council. Members of the Advisory Council are: Shirley Applewhite, Penny Acrey, Richard Browning, Betty Clark, Charles Duke, Mary Ellen Emery, Jenny Hudson, Jim Johnson, LaVerne Knezek, Don Kyle, Brent Nicholson, Lisann Peters, Judy Reinhartz, Dorothy Rencurrel, Allan Saxe, Bill Stallings, Terry Wang, and Tommie Wingfield.