Lou Halsell Rodenberger

"Study of the writing life, works, impact, and landscape of a West Texas writer. Though Rushing considered herself a regionalist, her seven novels of the Texas Rolling Plains, published between 1963 and 1984, enjoyed a wide national audience"--Provided by publisher.

Texas women have been eloquent commentators on the life and times of Texans from pioneer days to the present. Hundreds of memorable quotes and quips pay historical tribute to their insights and experiences. Presented in alphabetical order by subject and indexed by author, the quotes include such gems as:It's not just enough to swing at the ball. You've got to loosen your girdle and let 'er fly. - Babe Didrikson Zaharias; Every expert in this world started out as a beginner. - Suzann Thompson; At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, winning one more verdict, or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a child, a friend, or a parent. - Barbara Bush; I am Woman - hear me roar...Or is that my vacuum cleaner? - Liz Carpenter; Somewhere deep down, I really feel that every Texas woman ought to own a pair of red boots - even if she never wears them. - Betty Sue Flowers; If Texas were a sane place, it wouldn't be nearly as much fun. - Molly Ivins

Quincie, the motherless thirteen-year-old daughter of an itinerant muleskinner, is the captivating protagonist of this Depression-era novel set in the Texas oil patch. Her story's value resides not only in the viewpoint of a young girl who comes of age in the shadow of the derricks but also in the currency of her creators sensitivity to the natural world and environmental issues. Originally a 1941 Houghton-Mifflin Literary Fellowship Book, ""Quincie Bolliver"" is an extraordinary study in character, place, and the community of women weak and strong. From the moment the wise, lonesome Quincie and her stubborn, charming father, Curtin, arrive in Good Union, Texas, where the boom has passed and Judith Paradises boarding house stands as a tattered monument to bygone prosperity, King engages the reader in the passions and struggles of the small towns inhabitants. As beautiful and natural as its commanding realism, ""Quincie Bolliver"" is not only a remarkable first novel, but one that should stand for all time. Her grief was wide, touching the still trees, the wet coats of the grazing cattle, the lonely posts of the power line, the soft feathers of the heron. Her pity was for all things: for the leaf set spinning by the rain, for the drops of rain that fell and were lost, for the darkening sky itself, and for the tender earth that must lie forever open to the sky, racked to preserve the running heel-and toe-print of all who chose to pass.