ABSTRACT
Growing up in south-central Texas may have been as good a beginning as any other. Texas is an interesting place, and life there is influenced by a great many trends from the past. A key facet of this is that Texans remain proud of the fact that the place was an independent country that chose to join the United States. That independence of spirit continues to carry forward within the citizens. More importantly, Texas is a central place where the old south mixes with the wild west to produce a somewhat unique blend (or perhaps its paranoia) within a person. The state is divided by a line which roughly runs along the Balcones Fault stretching from a point midway between Dallas and Fort Worth, south through Austin and San Antonio. To the east lies what is called “black dirt” country, where there are forests and heavy rainfall. This area is an extension of the old south. However, to the west of this line lies “red dirt” country and is arid grassland. This latter is West Texas, which is very different from East Texas. West Texas is the land of the plains Indians. Growing up in San Antonio meant being influenced by both sides of this great divide, or perhaps it explains the general confusion
with often permeates my thinking. Nevertheless, it provided an environment in which my views of life were formulated and it shaped the directions I would take.
