A. C. Greene Explained

Birth Name:Alvin Carl Greene Jr.
Birth Date:4 November 1923
Birth Place:Abilene, Taylor County
Texas, USA
Death Place:Salado, Bell County, Texas
Occupation:Texas historian, author
Alma Mater:Abilene Christian College
University of Texas at Austin

A.C. Greene (born Alvin Carl Greene Jr.; 4 Nov 1923 – 5 April 2002) was an American writer – important in Texas literary matters as a memoirist, fiction writer, historian, poet, and influential book critic in Dallas. As a newspaper journalist, he had been a book critic and editor of the Editorial Page for the Dallas Times Herald when John F. Kennedy was assassinated, which galvanized his role at the paper to help untangle and lift a demoralized city in search of its soul. Leaving full-time journalism in 1968, Greene went on to become a prolific author of books, notably on Texas lore and history. His notoriety led to stints on radio and TV as a talk-show host. By the 1980s, his commentaries were being published by major media across the country. He had become a sought-after source for Texas history, anecdotes, cultural perspective, facts, humor, books, and politics. When the 1984 Republican National Convention was held in Dallas, Greene granted sixty-three interviews about Texas topics to major media journalists.[1] Greene's 1990 book, Taking Heart – which examines the experiences of the first patient in a new heart transplant center (himself) – made The New York Times Editors Choice list.[2]

Career

In 1948, Greene began working as a cub reporter for the Abilene Reporter-News and wrote book reviews and articles for the entertainment section. From 1952 to 1957, Greene owned and operated the Abilene Book Store, located at 365 Cypress Street, across the street from the Paramount Theater – its slogan: "The Book Center of West Texas." In 1957, he began teaching journalism at Hardin-Simmons University.[3]

Greene, in his teens, was known as "A.C." So, in 1953, he legally changed his name from Alvin Carl to A.C. and dropped the Jr.[4]

In 1960, Greene became a book editor for the Dallas Times Herald; and in 1963, the Times Herald promoted him to the editor of the Editorial Page, a role he performed until 1965. Of the Kennedy assassination, Greene wrote:

Greene left the Times Herald in 1968 to pursue a Ph.D. at the University of Texas at Austin and to devote more time to writing books. From 1968 to 1969, Greene was the executive editor of the Southwestern Historical Quarterly, a publication of the Texas State Historical Association. In 1969, he served as President of the Texas Institute of Letters while working on his doctorate at The University of Texas at Austin.

In 1968, Greene was awarded a Dobie-Paisano Fellowship from the University of Texas at Austin which included a six-month stay at Paisano, a ranch 14 miles southwest of Austin purchased by J. Frank Dobie for use as a writer's retreat. The award and retreat led to Greene's first book, A Personal Country.

In the 1980s, Greene wrote a weekly column on Texas history for the Dallas Morning News.[5]

From 1986 to 1992, Greene served as Founding Coordinating Director of the Center for Texas Studies at the University of North Texas in Denton. He retired as emeritus director. James Ward Lee – an author, professor of English at North Texas since 1958, former chairman of the English Department, and co-director of the center – called Greene "The Dean of Texas Letters."

Annually, Greene's hometown of Abilene, Texas presents the A.C. Greene Award to a distinguished Texas author for lifetime achievement during the West Texas Book Festival. Past winners include John Graves, Sandra Brown, Elmer Kelton, Liz Carpenter, John Erickson, and many others.[6]

Family

Greene's parents – Alvin Carl Greene Sr. (born in Wills Point, Texas, in 1902), and Johnnie Marie Cole (born in Beaumont, Teas, in 1906) – were killed in 1964 in a two-vehicle accident while traveling from Beaumont to Dallas. Their car had been hit by an 18-wheel truck U.S. 69.[7]

Greene gave much credit for his love of reading, writing, and storytelling to his maternal grandmother, Maude E. Cole (1879–1961). Besides being a writer and poet, she was also an amateur painter. She was a prize-winning and published poet and author,[8] and from 1926 to 1946, a librarian at the Carnegie Library in Abilene, Texas.[9]

A.C. was married twice, first in 1950 to Betty Jo Dozier (1925–1989). They had three sons and a daughter. In 1989, Betty died from cancer. He subsequently remarried Judy Dalton Hyland (née Julia Hall Dalton; 1933–2012), daughter of the former governor of Missouri, John Montgomery Dalton. Through that marriage, he gained two stepdaughters. Judy died 8 August 2012 in Austin.[10]

Selected published works

Books (1st editions)

Literary criticism by Greene

Poetry

Stage plays, screenplays and opera

Selected articles

Manuscripts and papers

Awards and honors

Texas Institute of Arts and Letters

Other awards and honors

Formal education

References

General references

Vol. 17: September 1990—August 1992 (1992) Vol. 29: September 2003—August 2004 (2004)

Volumes 37–40, 1st revision (1979) New Revision Series: Volume 14 (1985) New Revision Series: Volume 92 (2001)

Inline citations

Notes and References

  1. "Writer-Historian Greene, 'Dean of Texas Letters'", San Antonio Express-News, April 6, 2002
  2. https://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/15/books/best-sellers-july-15-1990.html Best Sellers, July 15, 1990, New York Times, July 15, 1990
  3. http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth116922/m1/6/?q=%22A.C.%20Greene%22 Folks and Facts, Range Rider, Volume 11, No 11, April 1957, pg. 6
  4. http://madmax.lmtonline.com/textarchives/040602/s16.htm Top Texas historian Dies at 78, Associated Press, April 5, 2002
  5. http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth35122/m1/42/?q=springs Legacies: A History Journal for Dallas and North Central Texas, Vol 1, No 1, Spring 1989
  6. http://abilenetx.com/city-hall/departments/community-services/library/friends-of-the-library/book-festival/a-c-greene-award A.C. Greene Award Information
  7. Crash Kills Parents of Dallas Man, Dallas Morning News, July 9, 1964, Sec 1, pg 15
  8. Maude E. Cole was the author of Wind Against Stone (a novel), Lyman House Press, (1941); and Clay-Bound (a book of poetry), Kaleidoscope Press (1936).
  9. Painter-Author, Maude E. Cole Can't Be Caught By Old Age, Abilene Reporter-News, June 2, 1957, pg 3C
  10. http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dallasmorningnews/obituary.aspx?pid=159086593#fbLoggedOut Obituary: Julia Greene, Dallas Morning News, August 12, 2012
  11. Larry McMurtry Used a Dallas Writer's 'Best Texas Books' List to Fire a Megatonnage Attack, by Homer Kint Biffle (born 1932), Dallas Morning News, September 19, 1982, pps 221 & 216

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