My friend and fellow geographer Kevin Anderson delivers noontime lectures on ecological topics every month for the CER. This past Monday was Discovering the Colorado: Environmental History of this Texas River. Kevin also leads occasional tours along Waller Creek, the informal eastern edge of the original Austin city, and never ceases to extol Life on Waller Creek by the late Joseph Jones, a UT English professor who ate lunch along the stream every day during the decades of his career.
I’ve found the book just as irresistible. Dr. Jones throws in many memorable quips about the city, geology, biology, and his employer, like referring to The University’s architecture as “Texas Petroleum Baroque.” The book’s been out of print for a long time, but could soon be republished.
I’ll be sharing other gems from this natural and cultural history tome in later postings.
-HR