sat on the other side of the academicrnfence as a member of the Board of Directorsrnof Texas Technological College,rnappointed by then-governor Allan Shivers.rn(During that same period, GovernorrnShivers also appointed J. Evetts the hrstrnmember from Texas to the foundingrnBoard of Directors of the National CowboyrnHall of Fame and Western HeritagernCenter in Oklahoma City. Twenty-fivernyears later he was inducted into the CowboyrnHall’s Hall of Creat Westerners.)rnWhile J. Evetts was on the Board ofrnTexas Tech, the Board suspended twornprofessors as subversives (communist fellowrntravelers), and a brouhaha ensued.rnThe Board members, particularly J.rnEvetts, who had pushed for the dismissal,rnwere called everything imaginable in thernmedia, except American patriots.rnIt was in 1954 that Frazier and EmmyrnHunt visited our ranch home on LakernCreek in the Texas Panhandle. FrazierrnHunt wrote the definitive biography ofrnGeneral Douglas MacArthur, followingrnwhich for “fun” he wrote a biography ofrn”Billy the Kid.” Much of his research forrnthis book was from the notes and files ofrn]. Evetts Haley (who had himself consideredrndoing a book on the Lincoln County,rnNew Mexico war). These hies todayrnare in the archives of the Nita StewartrnHaley Memorial Library in Midland,rnand since being on deposit there, twornmore books on the Lincoln County Warrnhave been written and largely researchedrnfrom J. Evetts’ files, and a third book isrnforthcoming.rnFrazier Hunt’s natural wit and innaternScots/Irish sense of humor complementedrnDad’s own, and my bride and I wererncaptivated by the charm of summerrnevenings beside coal oil lamps, after thernday’s work was done, with no sounds torninterrupt the conversation of the two historian-rnpatriots of widely differing Americanrnbackgrounds except those of crickets,rnwhippoorwills, hoot owls, coyotes,rnand an occasional cow seeking to reassurernher calf of mama’s proximitv. ThernWeller’s bourbon and fresh well waterrn(later Rebel Yell, strictly sold in thernSouth) fueled exuberance and no doubtrnsome extensions of these conversations.rnMuch could have been learned by listeningrnto J. Evetts and Frazier Hunt discussrnnot only the tragic maneuvers ofrnpoliticians without principle that led torncombat deaths and the subjugation ofrnvast numbers of people by armies and secretrnpolice, but also about the contentrnand form to be used in chronicling history.rnJ. Evetts was decidedly skeptical ofrnthe work of even the best among journalisticallvrntrained writers when thev attemptedrnto write historv. Of course, Frazierrnwas himself a journalist.rnJ. Evetts argued that newspaper writersrnwere apt to be shallow or disinclinedrnto do the research necessary for writingrnhistory. He believed that the newspaperman’srn”deadline” became his commandingrnmotivation rather than a desire to getrnto the bottom of the story. To some extentrnFrazier agreed with him, but he alsornbelieved in the necessity of a regularrndeadline in order for a writer to acquire arnhabit of producing copy.rnI remember Frazier looking at mernacross the kitchen table and remarking,rn”I understand you are inclined towardrndoing some writing yourself. Let me givernyou some advice. Get your dad to helprnyou buy a small rural weekly newspaperrnanywhere in Texas. “Vou go to work therernand do all the work, except typesetting,rnyourself. Meeting that deadline will getrnyou in the habit of writing. I have knownrnvery few people in all mv years of experiencernwho had the self-discipline to producernserious writing without having hadrnyears of experience in meeting at least arnweekly deadline. Your dad is the rare exception!”rnPerhaps more than anything otherrnthan Dad’s great integrity, I now hopernthe intellectual community will rememberrnthat he lived to produce some 23rnbooks and pamphlets of biography ofrnTexas and the Southv/est. He did this almostrnentirely while making his living inrnthe cattle business. He did not believernan author should promote his own work.rnHe believed that the work should be promotedrnby the publisher only, after whichrnit should sell itself. I ie was aghast at thernmodern practice of authors appearing onrntelevision talk shows plugging their ownrnbooks. He thought they were prostitutingrnthemseKcs. In spite of J. Evetts’ attituderntoward promotion and a generalrnlack of it done on an of his books, hisrn1956 biography Charles Goodnight:rnCowman and Plainsman has been inrnprint for 61 years.rnSometime in the late 50’s, followingrnFrazier Hunt’s advice to me. Dad and Irnwent to look at what was then a ruralrnweekly newspaper with the thought ofrnbuying it. After a couple of days of negotiationrnand serious deliberation on Dad’srnpart, he decided against the purchase,rnsomewhat to my disajspointment. Today,rnI could be far better off financially hadrnwe gone through with the purchase.rnThat little weekly is now a major newspaperrnin Mesquite, Texas, and is one ofrnthe best in the Dallas suburbs. But Dadrnknew back then (James Evetts III was arnbaby) that life on the ranch for me andrnhis grandchildren would be a whole lotrnmore conducive to character building.rnOne exchange of letters with Dad inrnthe spring of 1951 stands clear in myrnmind. I had written him a rather hastyrnand superficial response to the famousrnfarewell address (“old soldiers never die,rnthey just fade away”) of General DouglasrnMacArthur before Congress, subsequentrnto his dismissal by Harry Truman.rnDad answered as follows:rnI was disturbed and disappointedrnover your reaction to MacArthur’srngreat speech. It will go down inrnhistory. I sat in the study with yourrnmother and cried as he talked….rnYou show evidence of the cynicismrnthat is the curse of this age. Whenrnyou have labored, fought andrnslaved for your country, unselfishly,rnas long as I have, to say nothing ofrnMacArthur’s 52 years of service,rnyou will, I hope, realize the differencernbetween deep and movingrnsentiment and mushy sentimentality.rnMore than that, if you do notrnrealize it much sooner, you and therncountry too will be sunk.rnMidway through the next paragraph, hernwarned: “But the youthful, callow cynicsrnof the make-believe university atmospherernwhere vou are stand above sentiment,rnlove of country, and deep abidingrndevotion. Shake yourself out of this dishonest,rndilettante atmosphere or it willrnruin you.”rnIn February of the following year, I didrn”shake out” of that “false atmosphere,”rnand ever since I’ve been punching cows,rnhauling hay, digging postholes, fightingrndrought and government controls andrnpredatory taxes—making a living fromrncattle produced for and sold on a freernmarket. For these 44 years, I have followedrnthe course in partnership with J.rnEvetts Haley.rnWhat remains is the memory. One finalrnmemory is that of a man past 90, alreadyrnin decline, saying to me, “Don’trnyou ever forget, I’m behind you. Myrnhand is always on your shoulder.”rnEvetts Haley, jr., writes from Midland,rnTexas.rn48/CHRONlCLESrnrnrn