Out of the Old Rock

by J. Frank Dobie

The people J Frank Dobie liked to write about during his lifetime were the men and women who came "out of the old rock" --genuine, independent, unpretentious people,specialists of one kind or another, whether that specialty was teaching or horseshoeing--people who were, above all, interesting. There are sixteen such personalities in OUT OF THE OLD a cowboy preacher, a wildcatter, a trail driver, a gunman, an ornithologist, a rancher, a homesteader, several teachers and writers, including artist-novelist Tom Lea, historian Walter Prescott Webb, and folk singer-archivist John Lomax. Most of them Dobie knew personally, some intimately, and they come vividly alive through his portraits--in the familiar way in which a common friend may make you surprisingly knowledgeable about somebody you may never actually have met. Compiled by Frank Dobie's wife and lifelong companion, Bertha Dobie, who also provides the Introduction, this is a memorable collection by a memorable man, rich with dobie's own special brand of warm insight and humor.

Genres: Westerns

180 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Called the "Storyteller of the Southwest," James Frank Dobie was born in 1888 on his family's cattle ranch in Live Oak County. During his long life, J. Frank Dobie would live astride two worlds: a rugged life on a Texas cattle ranch and the state's modern centers of scholarly learning.

Dobie came to Austin in 1914 to teach at the University of Texas. In time he pioneered an influential course on the literature of the Southwest. By the late 1920s, Dobie discovered his mission: to record and publicize the disappearing folklore of Texas and the greater Southwest. Dobie became secretary of the Texas Folklore Society, a position he held for 21 years.

J. Frank Dobie Dobie was a new kind of folklorist—a progressive activist. He called for UT to admit African-American students in the 1940s—long before the administration favored integration. Dobie's vocal politics led to his leaving the University in 1947, but he continued writing until his death in 1964, publishing over twenty books and countless articles.

The inscription on Dobie's headstone in the Texas State Cemetery reads: "I have come to value liberated minds as the supreme good of life on earth." J. Frank Dobie was not content to simply preserve Southwestern heritage within libraries and museums. He gave life to that heritage and informed generations of Texans about their rich history.

Reviews

[Terry McIntire · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the look at the people Dobie met but found the writing hard to follow sometimes. It would have been fun to have a beer with Dobie and some of those he writes about but just reading his thoughts on them left me unsatisfied. Recorded conservation by or about would have worked better.

[Ralph Estes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Only fair. Dobie overrated.