FATHER’S DAY BOOKS

By Ella Tyler

One Father’s Day, my siblings and I bought our father a wallet. It seemed like a great gift – his old one was falling apart and the new one was the same kind. He didn’t take it out of the box. So we re-wrapped it in different paper for Christmas, and again for Valentine’s Day, and his birthday, and Father’s Day again. We got a lot of mileage out of that wallet, but he never used it. We should have given him a book.

‘Energy Metropolis, an Environmental History of Houston and the Gulf Coast’, edited by Martin Melosi and Joseph Pratt, is a collection of essays on topics such as energy and environment, growth of the region, and grassroots environmental activism. The book’s focus on air conditioning, road building, water and sewer issues, and other infrastructure matters recognizes the contributions of engineers and builders. Environmental activists will enjoy the chapter ‘To Combine Many and Varied Forces’, by Teresa Tomkins-Walsh, which relates the history of the bayou preservation movement and early park protection activities. CEC’s early history is mentioned also. The book is published by University of Pittsburgh Press.

Texas A & M University Press has several series on regional topics with titles that focus on special interests. The books are scholarly, but not textbooks. It seems as if their catalogue has a title for any esoteric bit of Texana you father may be interested in.

The Gulf Coast Studies series, sponsored by Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, has just released ‘Texas Coral Reefs’ by Jesse Cancelmo. This book looks at the Flower Gardens and thirty other natural reefs in Texas waters and the exceptional amount and variety of sea life they support.

Although I haven’t seen the reefs book yet, I have enjoyed other books in the series. I’ve read and enjoyed ‘The Book of Texas Bays’ by Jim Blackburn; ‘Galveston Bay’ by Sally Antrobus; ‘Birdlife of Houston, Galveston, and the Upper Texas Coast’ by Eubanks, Jr., Behrstock, and Weeks, and ‘The Formation and Future of the Upper Texas Coast’ by J. B. Anderson.

A & M also has the Louise Lindsey Merrick Natural Environment Series; the W. L. Moody, Jr., Natural History Series; a series about Texas rivers; and a lot more. The press puts out about 70 new titles a year including ones in history, architecture, gardening, and art. Check out the website.

If your father is a gardener, instead of a new sprayer, get him Bob Randall’s book ‘Year Round Vegetables, Fruits and Flowers for Metro Houston (A Natural Organic Approach Using Ecology)’ and Brenda Beust Smith’s ‘The Lazy Gardener’s Guide’. They show how to garden successfully without pesticides.