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Claytie: The Roller-Coaster Life of a Texas Wildcatter
The native son of a distinguished West Texas family and a 1954 graduate of Texas A&M whose career and personal pursuits have ranged from farmer to insurance salesman to wildcatter, pipeline entrepreneur, rancher, banker, real estate mogul, big game hunter, conservationist, philanthropist, front-running gubernatorial candidate, and oil tycoon, Clayton W. Williams Jr. is by all measures one of a kind.
He has repeatedly been on the Forbes list of the 400 wealthiest Americans, yet more than once Claytie has also been on the verge of bankruptcy. This authorized biography captures the dimensions of his fascinating life: his determined work ethic and honesty; his passionate interests and rough-hewn style; his devotion to wife and constant companion Modesta and family; his all-in wildcatter bets and integrity-above-all payoff of debts; his patented gaffes in the “wildest, woolliest Texas governor’s race ever” and their spotlighted consequences for the state and nation; and running through it all, both unrestrained celebrations and knees-on-the-ground repentance.
His many notable successes, his most admirable traits, as well as his most outrageous flaws are all portrayed in this book, often in Claytie’s own words or in the extensive comments, revealing anecdotes, and first-person accounts of others, supplemented by family and business documents, as well as contemporary journalistic records.
This book tells it all, revealing one distinctive maverick who has left his boot prints all across Texas for 75 years.
He has repeatedly been on the Forbes list of the 400 wealthiest Americans, yet more than once Claytie has also been on the verge of bankruptcy. This authorized biography captures the dimensions of his fascinating life: his determined work ethic and honesty; his passionate interests and rough-hewn style; his devotion to wife and constant companion Modesta and family; his all-in wildcatter bets and integrity-above-all payoff of debts; his patented gaffes in the “wildest, woolliest Texas governor’s race ever” and their spotlighted consequences for the state and nation; and running through it all, both unrestrained celebrations and knees-on-the-ground repentance.
His many notable successes, his most admirable traits, as well as his most outrageous flaws are all portrayed in this book, often in Claytie’s own words or in the extensive comments, revealing anecdotes, and first-person accounts of others, supplemented by family and business documents, as well as contemporary journalistic records.
This book tells it all, revealing one distinctive maverick who has left his boot prints all across Texas for 75 years.
- GenresBiography
446 pages, Hardcover
First published August 9, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 6, 2008
Clayton Williams (Claytie) is a Texas treasure. This biography is an honest and very delightful glimpse into his very colorful life as a West Texas wildcatter. He has never tried to hide his failings in life and they are described accurately in this easy reading book. If all you know about Clayton Williams is what you have read in liberal Texas newspapers, take a chance and meet the "real" Claytie in this book.
September 4, 2020
Awesome biography of a larger then life character that I had the pleasure to work with. More than just an oil man.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews