J. Frank Dobie

James Frank Dobie (September 26, 1888 – September 18, 1964) was an American folklorist, writer, and newspaper columnist best known for many books depicting the richness and traditions of life in rural Texas during the days of the open range. As a public figure, he was known in his lifetime for his outspoken liberal views against Texas state politics, and for his long personal war against what he saw as bragging Texans, religious prejudice, restraints on individual liberty, and the assault of the mechanized world on the human spirit. He was instrumental in the saving of the Texas Longhorn breed of cattle from extinction.

Early years

Dobie was born on a ranch in Live Oak County, Texas, and was the eldest of six children. When he was young, his father, Richard, read to him from the Bible while his mother, Ella, read to him from stories such as Ivanhoe and Pilgrim's Progress. At 16, Dobie moved to Alice, the seat of Jim Wells County, Texas, where he lived with his grandparents and finished high school. In 1906, he enrolled in Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, where he was introduced to English poetry by a professor, who urged him to become a writer. While in college he also met "the ever loyal" Bertha McKee (1890–1974), whom he married in 1916.