Country Notes
February 27, 2023
Author John Graves Was a Literary Godfather to Texas Monthly
The author of Goodbye to a River and two-time National Book Award finalist helped create the magazine’s Country Notes column.
John Graves
Latest
1-16 of 16 Articles
The Culture
August 1, 2013
John Graves: An Appreciation
We first published John Graves in Texas Monthly in 1974. It was a selection from Hardscrabble, his book about his life on the place he and his wife Jane and his daughters Sally and Helen carved out of, and into, the limestone and scrub brush of the Upper Brazos country.That’s
The Culture
August 1, 2013
Goodbye to a Writer
Stephen Harrigan bids farewell to John Graves, a great man of Texas letters, who died July 30, 2013.
Feature
January 20, 2013
Writing Life
The long, slow, quiet, thoughtful, weird, brilliant, often-interrupted, never-compromised career of John Graves, who died July 30, 2013.
The Culture
January 20, 2013
The Craftsman
Gary Cartwright talks about writing profiles; interviewing his longtime friend John Graves, who penned Goodbye to a River fifty years ago; and concentrating on the present.
Books
January 20, 2013
The Uncertain Sage
A cool, brilliantly blue day in early February found me driving north from Austin on a sort of pilgrimage. I was going to see John Graves, the writer and gentleman farmer, now 73 years old, at his place on four hundred acres of rocky blackland prairie near Glen Rose.My visit
Sports
September 30, 2006
Great Guns
In my 86 years I’ve come into the possession of an assortment of firearms: a Colt .32-caliber semiautomatic pistol that my grandfather bought at a hardware store in Cuero; a Remington Model 870 pump, 20-gauge shotgun that my Aggie uncle-by-marriage used to shoot birds; the Winchester Model 06 pump .22
Books
June 30, 2006
Body of Work
For twenty years, the Southwestern Writers Collection, on the campus of Texas State University, in San Marcos, has gathered up manuscripts, personal papers, photos, and other mementos from various icons and at least one outlaw. Want to have a look-see?
Books
February 1, 2000
Stream of Consciousness
Rereading John Graves
The Stand Up Desk
December 1, 1996
Running With the Big Dogs
From Fred Gipson’s fictional Old Yeller to A&M mascot Reveille and Lyndon Johnson’s beleaguered beagles, dogs have always reigned as Texans’ pets of choice. The long line of distinguished dog lovers includes John Graves of Glen Rose, Texas’ writer emeritus, and acclaimed Beaumont photographer Keith Carter, who joined forces
Libations
March 1, 1982
Drinking
Saint Paul said that a little wine is a fine thing. He must have known something.
Country Notes
April 30, 1979
All That Litters
Trash collectors are not necessarily garbage men.
Country Notes
December 1, 1977
Ol’ Blue
A good country dog is loyal, obedient, and knows the difference between a chicken and a possum.
Food & Drink
August 31, 1977
Meat
The raw truth about out steaks and chops.
Country Notes
July 31, 1977
Of Bees and Men
Oh bee, where is thy sting?
Critters
February 1, 1977
Coping
Living in the country is all you ever wanted—and probably more than you bargained for.