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Some of Our Favorite Stories
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Bill Douglass
Bill Douglass, whose fifteen-store Lone Star chain has been the cutting edge of the convenience business for more than a decade, making Sherman, Texas a world leader in mini-mart innovation.
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Postcards from the Past
It is called deltiology, from the Greek for “writing tablet.” It is the collecting of postcards, and it is one of the three most popular collecting hobbies in the world.
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Kent Black
Kent Black was the first CEO of the United Space Alliance, a joint venture between Rockwell International and Lockheed Martin formed in 1996 at the behest of NASA to consolidate Space Shuttle programs under one ...
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Stairway to Heaven
Diamond Pointe was built during the real estate boom. Then, "boom." Today there are always units available and those who take up residence love the views and the amenities.
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I Knew Icky Twerp
Bob Allen has been in the radio business since he was a kid in Oklahoma City. He owns and operates Texoma’s KJIM-AM. With a notable career in radio and advertising from one coast to the ...
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Emory “Johnny” Perry
It seems appropriate that one of the voices behind the Doo-Wop classic "Cherry Pie," Emory Perry, grew up on Music Street in Sherman. “Everybody on Music Street played an instrument,” he said. His mother took ...
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Model Behavior
Jeff, Tiny, and Kevin like to build models of spacecraft. Really, really, expensive models.
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Exploring Our Neighborhoods
There are neighborhoods in Texoma’s towns where, if no modern automobiles intrude, a visitor could believe he was back in the the 1920s or 30s. In contrast, the growls of earthmovers drown out the birds ...
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Chef Robert Aranson
By all rights he should have been a lawyer. His father was a lawyer, his sister is a lawyer, but Robert Aranson adopted his father’s avocation rather than his vocation and became a chef instead.
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Loren's Lures Endures
Working and selling out of their tackle shop-hobby shop factory in Whitesboro, Chad and Michele Rigsby carry the mantle for Renner, and still make a 100 percent Made In America product, only now the ...
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Woodlake Park
Halfway between Denison and Sherman was Tanyard Springs, an area heavily wooded with elms, oaks and hickories and containing a flowing spring. It became a recreational destination to lure paying customers onto his interurban railway, ...
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Birds of Prey
Steve Armstrong of Denison has been practicing falconry for more than seven years. Armstrong takes his well-seasoned Harris’ hawks out after quarry ranging from small rodents to the occasional rabbit.
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A Thousand One-Night Stands
In his own way, Joe Hicks is Texoma’s version of the great impresario of the Follies, except that Ziegfeld’s shows ran for months, and Hicks’ shows all bring down the curtain after one performance.
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Two of Sixteen Million
The wars on opposite sides of the world fought by Charles Baum of Whitesboro and Leonard Riley of Denison were very different, but both were extraordinary examples of courage, steadfastness, and faith. Theirs are two ...
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Brad Underwood: The Right Person in the Right Seat
There is a wire-mesh business-card holder on Brad Underwood’s desk in his office at the TAPS headquarters in Sherman. The cards in the holder face Underwood’s chair. “Most of the people who come in here ...
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The Watson in Watsonburger
"The problem with many restauranteurs today, is that people get into the business to make money,” said Charlie Watson. “Well, we got in it to make good food. Some think they can work 8 to ...
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Young Men with Horns
Jazz is hot. For the first time since three-chord rockers took over the popular music scene five decades ago, jazz is in resurgence with those young men, and women as well. High school jazz bands ...
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Jerry Tate
“I like to make things that people can touch,” said Jerry Tate. “I get in trouble at museums and have to keep my hands in my pockets.” Tate is a sculptor, and not your regular ...
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Bonnie and Clyde and Lee
Lee Simmons vowed to avenge the guard murdered in the escape and stop the Barrow gang at any cost. He went to Austin where he met with Governor Miriam A. Ferguson. Simmons explained to her ...
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Steve's Bees
“I never intended to become a beekeeper, amateur or otherwise,” said Olner. “Helping a friend clear some property we cut down a good-sized tree and when it was on its side we noticed a bunch ...
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Ashburn's Ice Cream
From Ashburn’s Ice Cream's beginnings in 1907 until well after World War II, almost all ice cream was local and made in small batches to satisfy one day’s worth of customers. Its local flavor meant ...
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Life at the Top
"It’s really a whole-body workout. I mean it’s a Stair-Stepper from hell. You work your calves, arms, thighs, I mean everything. You’re climbing completely vertical, lifting your own body weight. If you put on thirty ...
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Fashion's Last Stand: Ringler's Denison
When fashion returned with a vengeance after World War II, women who had scaled back on their clothing during the war years now wanted what they saw in the major fashion magazines. Louis and Esther ...
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Rancho Sereno
Located on FM 678, between Whitesboro and Callisburg, Rancho Sereno: The Inn at Sandy Creek sits quietly along a winding road behind tall trees. Behind the eight foot Austin stone walls and gated entry, ...
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Talk to the Horses
“What you’re looking for is a partnership when you train them,” he said. “The horse responds to what you ask freely and without resentment, willingly. When you break horses, you’re breaking their will. They do ...
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Building Denison Dam
In 1937 Congressman Sam Rayburn led a contingent from Denison to a meeting in Louisiana that would lead to the construction of one of the largest man-made lakes ever.
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Willie Jacobs & The Strikes
At the end of one spring semester, when Willie Jacobs was in school at North Texas in Denton in the mid 1950’s, a friend and classmate ask him if he would like to join a ...
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Citizen Sanders
If Roger Sanders were an insect, most likely he would be a boll weevil. Now wait a minute. Before the Sherman lawyer’s friends start raising sand, let us consider the attributes of the little black ...
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The Silver Screen Cowboys
At the heart of the thing, it is simple. Billy Holcomb loves movies, especially cowboy movies. “I like all of them, and I kept track of all of them—the bad men, the comics. I could ...
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On Being a Cowboy
By most accounts the business of photographing kids on ponies began not long after the camera was invented. There are tintypes in museums with faded images of boys and girls astride, usually Shetland horses.
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Scholar in the Saddle
Spence Hardie grew up in the years after the Civil War wanting to be a cowboy. His family ranched in Montague County near Saint Jo not far from the point where the Chisholm Trail crossed ...
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Cowboy Radio
"With so much trauma and stress over our country’s situation, it’s nice to have a little happy, and you’ve got to be happy around goats and Western music,” said Waynetta Ausmus. “Goats will make you ...
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The Texas Longhorn
If you are looking for a Texas symbol as big as the state itself, consider the longhorns. They evolved from cattle brought to the Americas from the Canary Islands by Spanish explorers in the late ...
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The Way North
The way north was an old trace that lay along the great wrinkle in the earth that separated the Blackland Prairie to the east from the Southern Plains to the west. The trail ran from ...
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Texoma Pawn Stars
Before there was a check cashing store on every corner, pawn shops were there to help everyday people make ends meet. If you needed consumer credit in America before the 1960s, odds are you had ...
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Cowboy with a Camera
Photographer Erwin Smith of Bonham, Texas was to the American cowboy what Matthew Brady was to the Civil War. Smith captured the life of the cowboys of West Texas and New Mexico in a time ...
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Cowboys at Work
The alarm sounds at 4am. In a dimly lighted barn the horses are fed and saddled, the stalls cleaned, all before the light of day, all before the real work can begin. The mornings may ...
Some of Our Favorite Stories
Bill Douglass
Bill Douglass, whose fifteen-store Lone Star chain has been the cutting edge of the convenience business for more than a decade, making Sherman, Texas a world leader in mini-mart innovation.Postcards from the Past
It is called deltiology, from the Greek for “writing tablet.” It is the collecting of postcards, and it is one of the three most popular collecting hobbies in the world.Kent Black
Kent Black was the first CEO of the United Space Alliance, a joint venture between Rockwell International and Lockheed Martin formed in 1996 at the behest of NASA to consolidate Space Shuttle programs under one ...Stairway to Heaven
Diamond Pointe was built during the real estate boom. Then, "boom." Today there are always units available and those who take up residence love the views and the amenities.I Knew Icky Twerp
Bob Allen has been in the radio business since he was a kid in Oklahoma City. He owns and operates Texoma’s KJIM-AM. With a notable career in radio and advertising from one coast to the ...Emory “Johnny” Perry
It seems appropriate that one of the voices behind the Doo-Wop classic "Cherry Pie," Emory Perry, grew up on Music Street in Sherman. “Everybody on Music Street played an instrument,” he said. His mother took ...Model Behavior
Jeff, Tiny, and Kevin like to build models of spacecraft. Really, really, expensive models.Exploring Our Neighborhoods
There are neighborhoods in Texoma’s towns where, if no modern automobiles intrude, a visitor could believe he was back in the the 1920s or 30s. In contrast, the growls of earthmovers drown out the birds ...Chef Robert Aranson
By all rights he should have been a lawyer. His father was a lawyer, his sister is a lawyer, but Robert Aranson adopted his father’s avocation rather than his vocation and became a chef instead.Loren's Lures Endures
Working and selling out of their tackle shop-hobby shop factory in Whitesboro, Chad and Michele Rigsby carry the mantle for Renner, and still make a 100 percent Made In America product, only now the ...Woodlake Park
Halfway between Denison and Sherman was Tanyard Springs, an area heavily wooded with elms, oaks and hickories and containing a flowing spring. It became a recreational destination to lure paying customers onto his interurban railway, ...Birds of Prey
Steve Armstrong of Denison has been practicing falconry for more than seven years. Armstrong takes his well-seasoned Harris’ hawks out after quarry ranging from small rodents to the occasional rabbit.A Thousand One-Night Stands
In his own way, Joe Hicks is Texoma’s version of the great impresario of the Follies, except that Ziegfeld’s shows ran for months, and Hicks’ shows all bring down the curtain after one performance.Two of Sixteen Million
The wars on opposite sides of the world fought by Charles Baum of Whitesboro and Leonard Riley of Denison were very different, but both were extraordinary examples of courage, steadfastness, and faith. Theirs are two ...Brad Underwood: The Right Person in the Right Seat
There is a wire-mesh business-card holder on Brad Underwood’s desk in his office at the TAPS headquarters in Sherman. The cards in the holder face Underwood’s chair. “Most of the people who come in here ...The Watson in Watsonburger
"The problem with many restauranteurs today, is that people get into the business to make money,” said Charlie Watson. “Well, we got in it to make good food. Some think they can work 8 to ...Young Men with Horns
Jazz is hot. For the first time since three-chord rockers took over the popular music scene five decades ago, jazz is in resurgence with those young men, and women as well. High school jazz bands ...Jerry Tate
“I like to make things that people can touch,” said Jerry Tate. “I get in trouble at museums and have to keep my hands in my pockets.” Tate is a sculptor, and not your regular ...Bonnie and Clyde and Lee
Lee Simmons vowed to avenge the guard murdered in the escape and stop the Barrow gang at any cost. He went to Austin where he met with Governor Miriam A. Ferguson. Simmons explained to her ...Steve's Bees
“I never intended to become a beekeeper, amateur or otherwise,” said Olner. “Helping a friend clear some property we cut down a good-sized tree and when it was on its side we noticed a bunch ...Ashburn's Ice Cream
From Ashburn’s Ice Cream's beginnings in 1907 until well after World War II, almost all ice cream was local and made in small batches to satisfy one day’s worth of customers. Its local flavor meant ...Life at the Top
"It’s really a whole-body workout. I mean it’s a Stair-Stepper from hell. You work your calves, arms, thighs, I mean everything. You’re climbing completely vertical, lifting your own body weight. If you put on thirty ...Fashion's Last Stand: Ringler's Denison
When fashion returned with a vengeance after World War II, women who had scaled back on their clothing during the war years now wanted what they saw in the major fashion magazines. Louis and Esther ...Rancho Sereno
Located on FM 678, between Whitesboro and Callisburg, Rancho Sereno: The Inn at Sandy Creek sits quietly along a winding road behind tall trees. Behind the eight foot Austin stone walls and gated entry, ...Talk to the Horses
“What you’re looking for is a partnership when you train them,” he said. “The horse responds to what you ask freely and without resentment, willingly. When you break horses, you’re breaking their will. They do ...Building Denison Dam
In 1937 Congressman Sam Rayburn led a contingent from Denison to a meeting in Louisiana that would lead to the construction of one of the largest man-made lakes ever.Willie Jacobs & The Strikes
At the end of one spring semester, when Willie Jacobs was in school at North Texas in Denton in the mid 1950’s, a friend and classmate ask him if he would like to join a ...Citizen Sanders
If Roger Sanders were an insect, most likely he would be a boll weevil. Now wait a minute. Before the Sherman lawyer’s friends start raising sand, let us consider the attributes of the little black ...The Silver Screen Cowboys
At the heart of the thing, it is simple. Billy Holcomb loves movies, especially cowboy movies. “I like all of them, and I kept track of all of them—the bad men, the comics. I could ...On Being a Cowboy
By most accounts the business of photographing kids on ponies began not long after the camera was invented. There are tintypes in museums with faded images of boys and girls astride, usually Shetland horses.Scholar in the Saddle
Spence Hardie grew up in the years after the Civil War wanting to be a cowboy. His family ranched in Montague County near Saint Jo not far from the point where the Chisholm Trail crossed ...Cowboy Radio
"With so much trauma and stress over our country’s situation, it’s nice to have a little happy, and you’ve got to be happy around goats and Western music,” said Waynetta Ausmus. “Goats will make you ...The Texas Longhorn
If you are looking for a Texas symbol as big as the state itself, consider the longhorns. They evolved from cattle brought to the Americas from the Canary Islands by Spanish explorers in the late ...The Way North
The way north was an old trace that lay along the great wrinkle in the earth that separated the Blackland Prairie to the east from the Southern Plains to the west. The trail ran from ...Texoma Pawn Stars
Before there was a check cashing store on every corner, pawn shops were there to help everyday people make ends meet. If you needed consumer credit in America before the 1960s, odds are you had ...Cowboy with a Camera
Photographer Erwin Smith of Bonham, Texas was to the American cowboy what Matthew Brady was to the Civil War. Smith captured the life of the cowboys of West Texas and New Mexico in a time ...Cowboys at Work
The alarm sounds at 4am. In a dimly lighted barn the horses are fed and saddled, the stalls cleaned, all before the light of day, all before the real work can begin. The mornings may ...
Although the magazine is no longer being published, you can search every story, on every page, of every issue of Texoma’s Best Read Magazine, ever.
The last issue to be published was in October 2010. The economic downturn caught up with us.
It took two years of work to move all of Texoma Living! Magazine’s nineteen issues to this final online resting home. There are already more than 2,000 pages of material available. Plus, we are adding new stories (never before published) whenever possible.
To search for a particular story or subject, just use the search box on the above right of the page. Put in name, a place, a subject and read to your heart’s delight.
On Reflection
As I write this addendum in early 2013, it is with great pride that I share the pages of Texoma Living!. Since putting these past issues online there have been 309,000 visits to our pages. That’s impressive for a local magazine in a small community.
Rarely a day goes by that I do not have the opportunity to reminisce about my time as publisher. I am convinced that in the end my obit will lead with “former publisher of Texoma Living! Magazine.” I’m OK with that.
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Featured Archive Story
Your Moles and You
Recently I had moles removed from my head. I never paid much attention to them, but my mother insisted I go to a dermatologist to have them checked.
Living Large in Small Spaces
Filling the gap between desire and reality is just a matter of planning. Making every space do its part—living areas, kitchen, bedrooms, event storage areas—requires thinking how to make every inch count.
Play Ball!
The importance of baseball in towns such as Sherman or Denison, in a time before instant entertainment attached us to the living room sofa, is hard to imagine. Accounts of the games were the lead sports stories every day, and the coverage easily eclipsed that of the big leagues.
