Flash Floods in Texas

Acknowledgments

~~~~~~~~~ acknowledgments A book of this type cannot be written and published without help from many sources. There are more than twenty sources for photographs alone and dozens of sources from newspapers and libraries throughout Texas. Initially, I was driven by the research of Texas weather and an interest in nature. As the project progressed, some of my favorite discoveries were the generous and helpful people of Texas, who were found at libraries, museums, newspapers, historical celebrations , and parks. I am grateful to everyone who shared resources to help me research, write, and publish this book. I thank the editors and staff affiliated with Texas A&M University Press whose vision and dedicated efforts allowed this book to be published, especially Jennifer Ann Hobson, Diana Vance, Shannon Davies, and Carol Hoke. I am also grateful to Andrew Sansom and Terry Hershey for their support in this field of research, specifically the River Books series at Texas A&M University Press. While researching these flash flood events, I met and worked with several experts in the study of Texas floods. I am grateful to Roy Sedwick, Raymond Slade, Lynn Lovell, William Asquith, and the late John Patton for their work in the field and for their support of my interest in flash floods and hydrology. I also thank the late Gunnar Brune for a meaningful and insightful interview about what he learned from writing Springs of Texas. Dan Yates and Melinda Luna at the Lower Colorado River Authority also have supported me and exchanged their knowledge related to flood studies. I thank them for their support over the years, too. I thank George Bomar for his research and for his classic book Texas Weather. I was reading that book on a camping trip in 1990 to Garner State Park and the Davis Mountains State Park that included a stop in Sanderson. The mix of learning about Texas weather and visiting Sanderson made a connection that later inspired me to write this book on flash floods. I am also very appreciative of the professors and graduate students in the hydrology field of the geography department at Texas State University, especially Richard Earl and Joanna Curran, who is now teaching at the University of Virginia. The list of people from libraries, museums, historical commissions, and other entities that helped me is long. I specifically want to acknowledge the following individuals and parties for their help: the late Wayne Spiller, Anne Cook, Texas Department of Transportation, Ben Grillot, Austin History Center at the Austin Public Library, Kim Adelle Kroll, Lena Armstrong Public Library, Bill Stein, Nesbitt Memorial Library, Billy Moore, Melinda Curley, Lower Colorado River Authority Archives, Patrick Lemelle, University of Texas at San Antonio’s Institute of Texan Cultures, Karen Ellis, Taylor Public Library, Linda Dietert, Sopheinburg Museum and Archives, Hondo Anvil Herald, Frederica Wyatt, Kimble County Historical Museum, Virginia Davis, El Progreso Library, Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Shannon Strum, West A4481.indb xi A4481.indb xi 1/18/08 1:50:38 PM 1/18/08 1:50:38 PM xii Texas Collection at Porter Henderson Library at Angelo State University, Bert Striegler, Heart of Texas Historical Museum, Ann Shuffler, E. M. Richards Library, Karen Faught, San Saba News & Star, Donna S. Kruse, Fort Worth Public Library, Cathy Spitzenberger, University of Texas at Arlington Library, Special Collections, John Anderson, Texas State Library Archives, Gladden Corbin, Kay Briggs, Amy McDaniel, Keystone Square Museum, Dorothy Marquart, Terrell County Historical Commission, David Woo, Dallas Morning News, Rowe Ray, San Marcos Record, Brad Tooley, Canyon News, Donnie Lucas, Albany News, Joe San Miguel, Del Rio News-Herald, Jo Guiterrez, Houston Chronicle. Thanks to the many other libraries, parks and museums I visited throughout the state while researching this book. A few of my friends who are writers provided constant and unwavering encouragement to me and this project. I thank Scott Blackwood, Jerry Young, and Clara Serrano for their support. I also thank my friends Frank Markle, Tom McNair, and Michael and Julie Allen. I thank my family for their patience and understanding while I spent many hours on this project. Thanks go to Maggie, Isaac, and Jesse. I want to acknowledge several other people who taught me the perseverance needed to span the fourteen years it took to write this book. I thank my mother, Vida, whose dedication to teaching music in small towns throughout Texas showed me the rewards of sharing her talents with others on a daily basis. I thank Bob McNair and his family, who taught me that the...