Texas_Highways_-_October_2019

TEXAS

HIGHWAYS™

© Texas De Transpor tation 2019 partment of

All rights reserved. txdot.gov

EDITORIAL

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Emily Roberts Stone

Managing Editor

Michael Hoinski

Senior Editor

Matt Joyce

Events Editor

Jane Kellogg Murray

Associate Editor

Kimya Kavehkar

Writers-at-Large

Clayton Maxwell, Joe Nick Patoski

Contributing Editors

Heather Brand, Melissa Gaskill, E. Dan Klepper,

June Naylor, Daniel Blue Tyx

Contributing Writers

John T. Davis, Steven L. Davis, Asher Elbein,

Chet Garner, John Lumpkin, MM Pack,

Robyn Ross, Jesse Sublett, Phil West

Editorial Coordinator

Cindy Newsom

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Lois M. Rodriguez

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ART

Creative Director

Mark Mahorsky

Art Director

Ashley Burch

Associate Art Director

Chris Linnen

Photo Editor

Brandon Jakobeit

Contributing Photographers

Kenny Braun, Christ Chavez, Sam Craft,

Larry Ditto, James H. Evans, Sean Fitzgerald,

Rob Greebon, Darren Huski, Pierce Ingram,

E. Dan Klepper, Nathan Lindstrom,

Tom McCarthy Jr., Eric W. Pohl, Bill Sallans,

Dave Shafer

Production Coordinator

Raquel V. Sanchez

OPERATIONS

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Julie Stratton

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DIRECTOR

Joan Henderson

PUBLISHER

Andrea Lin

Governor of Texas

Greg Abbott

Texas Transportation Commission

TxDOT Executive Director

James M. Bass

J. Bruce Bugg Jr., Chairman Alvin New, Commissioner

Published monthly by the Travel Information Division of TxDOT

6 texashighways.com Photos: Tom McCarthy Jr. (top); Lucia Ruiz Davis (middle)

For “What Lies in the Shadows” (Page 36), photog-

raphers were tasked not only with working in re-

portedly haunted areas but also with making sure

the photos captured the locations’ eeriness. Na-

than Lindstrom, who shot Bragg Road in Saratoga,

used special equipment to give a spectral glow. “My

studio manager, John Maxwell, and I set up large

strobe lights in the middle of the road to create the

effect of a train coming,” he says. “Then John pulled

a generator and fog machine up and down the road

to give a supernatural vibe to the lights shining to-

ward the camera.” While the photographers didn’t

experience anything paranormal, there were some

hair-raising incidents. “I was setting up the cam-

era on a tripod in the stairwell [at Yorktown Me-

morial Hospital] when a cat came careening down

the stairs,” Tom McCarthy says. “We both jumped

about 10 feet in the air when we saw each other.”

Featured Contributors

Steven L. Davis

San Marcos-based Davis penned “In

Defense of Dobie” (Page 12) about a

festival devoted to the father of Texas

literature. “I’d earlier written a biog-

raphy of J. Frank Dobie, but hearing

storytellers share his words around

a blazing campfire helped me gain a

fuller appreciation for him as a writer,” he says. Davis is

the literary curator of The Wittliff Collections at Texas

State University and the author of several books. He re-

cently edited a collection of Dobie’s writing, The Essential

J. Frank Dobie (Texas A&M University Press).

Bill Sallans

Houston native Sallans photographed

bassists and luthiers for the feature

“All About That Bass” (Page 58). “It

was great to see the diversity of style

and musical talent,” says the photog-

rapher, who is now based in Austin. “I

know there are many more great bass-

ists in the state, but the cross-section we were able to pho-

tograph is a good representation of the deep talent and

musical heritage we have here.” Sallans’ work has also

been featured in British GQ, Airways, and Austin Monthly.

Behind the Story

Laura Ryan, Commissioner Robert C. Vaughn, Commissioner