Three Friends: Roy Bedichek, J. Frank Dobie, Walter Prescott Webb - Paperback

by William A. Owens (Author)

Roy Bedichek, J. Frank Dobie, and Walter Prescott Webb--a naturalist, a folklorist, and a historian--all taught at the University of Texas, lived only a few blocks apart, and saw each other almost every day. The true cement of their friendship, however, was the correspondence that makes up much of this book. They wrote not to exchange information, but to communicate ideas, to nail down the generalities of conversation, and, above all, to challenge, encourage, and stimulate one another.

William A. Owens, who knew all three personally, has tied their letters together with his own observations and with transcripts of tape interviews with the men. The result is a unique book, a combination of biography and personal history that portrays not only the three friends, but the land they loved as well.

Author Biography

William A. Owens, professor emeritus at Columbia University, is the author of many books on the history and folklore of the Southwest and was, as a young man, an employee under Bedichek's supervision in the University of Texas Division of Extension.