Texas history: J. Frank Dobie: 'Earth Rhythms and the Southwestern Tempo'
This week, we share another literary gem from “The Essential J. Frank Dobie,” collected and edited by Stephen L. Davis. The 2019 Texas A&M University Press book will go into a second printing soon.
This excerpt from the writings of “Mr. Texas,” first published as part of a column in The Dallas Morning News on Dec. 12, 1943, takes on the notion of a Southwestern tempo of life:
On my way to England, I flew over the ocean without seeing it, and realized again the distinction between transportation and travel. The other passengers inside the clipper plane played cards or chess, read magazines and books, and talked above the roar of the propellers as the fog of clouds cut off all vision.
In the days to come, when air travel is as common as automobile travel, I doubt that people will experience novel and pleasurable sensations from being in the air. Like other kinds of transit, airplanes will be valued chiefly for transporting a person from where he is to where he wants to go. No amount of advertising will make air travel capable of transporting a person outside of himself. And that is the only kind of traveling worth calling by name.
Read more: https://www.statesman.com/entertainmentlife/20200217/texas-history-j-frank-dobie-lsquoearth-rhythms-and-southwestern-temporsquo
Note: I'm biased about J. Frank Dobie since he is a fellow Southwestern University alum and was raised in the same county (Live Oak County) as I was.
= new reply since forum marked as read
