Chance Encounters: True Stories of Unforeseen Meetings, with Unanticipated Results

by A.C. Greene

Popular columnist A. C. Greene grew up in a small town in Texas-a place where no one would have expected he might encounter some very important people-but he tells of his unexpected meetings with famous and powerful figures as a young boy in Texas, and then later as a newspaper reporter in larger cities. He recalls these unexpected encounters with such famous people as Roy Rogers, Larry McMurtry, George H. W. Bush, George W. and Laura Bush, T. S. Eliot, Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner, and Van Cliburn, to name a few.

215 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

A.C. Greene (Alvin Carl Greene, Jr.) was an American writer — important in Texas literary matters as a memoirist, fiction writer, historian, poet, and influential book critic in Dallas. As a newspaper journalist, he had been a book critic and editor of the Editorial Page for the Dallas Times Herald when JKF was assassinated, which galvanized his role at the paper to help untangle and lift a demoralized city in search of its soul. Leaving full-time journalism in 1968, Greene went on to become a prolific author of books, notably on Texas lore and history. His notoriety led to stints in radio and TV as talk-show host. By the 1980s, his commentaries were being published by major media across the country. He had become a sought-after source for Texas history, antidotes, cultural perspective, facts, humor, books, and politics. When the 1984 Republican National Convention was held in Dallas, Greene granted sixty-three interviews about Texas topics to major media journalists. Greene's 1990 book, Taking Heart — which examines the experiences of the first patient in a new heart transplant center (himself) — made the New York Times Editors Choice list.

Reviews

[Lisa Matheny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading A.C. Greene is like passing the afternoon with a most interesting person. Grab a tall glass of iced tea and prepare to listen well. He obviously enjoyed life and had a wonderful outlook, an outlook that comes out in his storytelling. Most enjoyable. He makes me want to read more of his writing.