DALLAS VOICES

We welcome you to our pages this month as we might welcome you to a dinner party. Your fellow guests are some of the most interesting men and women of letters in North Texas, and we’ve pretty well given them the run of the place. Our role as hosts has been to provide the setting; that done, we’ve settled back to enjoy the conversation.

As dinner conversations tend to do, the talk flows freely from one topic to another, touching on personalities and events which our authors have found of interest or which have played some part in their lives. As you turn through these pages you’ll encounter some remarkable people, including a newspaperman (in the loosest sense of the word) who seems to jump full-blooded from the script of Front Page; a now-legendary director who steam-rolled her way into creating a new experience in theater for Dallas; and a handful of characters who’ve added a special grace to Lon Tinkle’s memories of Dallas living. You’ll find some personal perspectives on widely assorted themes, ranging from David Ritz’s essay on fatherhood to Lee Clark’s brief description of the glory days of Dallas liberalism. Or, if your political persuasion is in the other direction, you might be amused by Frank Tolbert’s research on our first Republican governor. For the first time in our pages, you’ll find a poem and a short story – as well as a diary by Dallas’ most famous retailer describing the hardest thing he ever had to sell.

This is an issue for your every mood, a dinner conversation put to print. We invite you to enter into the spirit of the thing at your own leisure, but – before you do – allow us to introduce your fellow guests.

Blackie Sherrod, executive sports editor of the Times Herald, was once associated with the Fort Worth Press.

Lon Tinkle, professor emeritus of English at Southern Methodist University, has been a mainstay of Dallas’ cultural community as book editor of the Dallas News.

Jane Sumner is on the staff of State Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson. As editor of the Women for Change newsletter, she grew interested in women directors of regional theater groups.

Bill Porterfield is an author, lecturer, television commentator, and cultural phenomenon.

Michael Ryan, assistant professor at SMU, is a recent winner of the Yale Younger Poets Award. His book, Threats Instead of Trees, was nominated for a National Book Award.

Marshall Terry, another professor of English at SMU, is the author of two novels, Old Liberty and Tom Northway, and many short stories.

Lee Clark, executive producer of KERA’s “Newsroom,” was once a member of the board of the League for Educational Advancement. She withdrew from politics to accept a higher calling.

Stanley Marcus, chairman of the executive committee of Neiman – Marcus, is the author of Minding the Store.

David Ritz, president of Houston/Ritz/Cohen/Jagoda, and a contributing editor, became the father of twins last year.

Chet Flippo, contributing editor of Rolling Stone, is a native of Fort Worth.

Frank Tolbert, columnist for the Dallas News, is a famous archivist of fascinating Texas tidbits.