urn:taro:uh.ua.00031 Leon Hale Papers Text converted by SPI Content Sciences Inc., June 2003. Finding aid written in English. Descriptive Summary Hale, Leon, 1921- Leon Hale Papers 1923-2002 Documentation of the career of Texas journalist and prose writer, Leon Hale. Central to this career, since 1956, is his work as a regular "roving Texas" columnist and chronicler for the Houston Post and Houston Chronicle. 16 boxes, 17 linear feet 2001-004 Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries Biographical Note

Leon Hale is a widely read and longtime columnist for the Houston Chronicle. He makes his home in Houston but spends much time at Winedale (near Round Top, TX) and Santa Fe, NM. Hale is a master at recounting tales of and reflections upon life and times in rural 20th Century Texas. He conveys all his subject's charm in the colloquial language, salty wit, and country humor that he uses so well. He is the father of Mark and Rebecca and the husband of Babette Fraser Hale.

Born May 30, 1921, at Stephenville, Texas, Leon Hale was reared in 22 different houses in nine different West Texas towns, from Fort Worth to Lubbock. His father was a store clerk and traveling salesman, but most of his relatives were farmers and his early background is entirely rural. Hale graduated from Eastland, Texas High School in 1939, entered Texas Tech at Lubbock and served 3 years in the U.S Army Air Forces before returning to "Tech" to take a journalism degree in 1946.

Hale began his journalism career as assistant editor for the Texas A&M University Extension Service, 1946-47, and progressed as follows: farm and ranch editor for the Houston Post, 1948-52; magazine editor for Humble Oil & Refining Co., 1953-55; "roving Texas columnist" for the Houston Post, 1956-1983; and since 1983, columnist for the Houston Chronicle. In addition, he has served as part-time instructor at Sam Houston State University, contributed to Texas Parade magazine, written free-lance articles, authored ten books and contributed to many others. Mr. Hale's awards include recognition by the Headliners Foundation of Texas and AP and UPI wire services. He also received the Jesse H. Jones Award for Fiction from the Texas Institute of Letters for one of his two novels.

 Scope and Contents

This set of papers documents Leon Hale's long and prolific writing career that began in 1946. It is divided into ten major categories with the bulk of the material being comprised of Mr. Hale's book projects, daily columns, letters from readers, and miscellaneous articles. The materials are housed in sixteen boxes, including fourteen record cartons and two oversized boxes. Each of the categories is prefaced by a detailed description.

 Access Restrictions

Open for research.

 Use Restrictions

Special Collections owns the physical items in our collections, but copyright normally belongs to the creator of the materials or their heirs. The researcher has full responsibility for determining copyright status, locating copyright holders, and abiding by current copyright laws when publishing or displaying copies of Special Collections material in print or electronic form. For more information, consult the appropriate librarian.

 Index Terms

Terms are either Library of Congress Subject Headings or taken from local sources.

Subjects (Persons) Hale, Leon Formats Correspondence Typescript drafts Galley Proofs Preferred Citation:

Leon Hale Papers, Courtesy of Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries.

 Acquisition:

Donated by creator, 2001

 Processed by

Dick Dickerson, 2002

 Detailed Description 1-3 Book Projects, 1963-1997

The materials in this section are housed in three cartons and represent eight different volumes published by Leon Hale. The materials include correspondence with editors/publishers, business/legal documents, notes, outlines, manuscripts, typescripts, proof copies, reviews, promotions, letters from readers and even screenplays. The bulk of the material represents Hale's work on two novels, Bonney's Place and Addison.

 1 1-16 Turn South at the Second Bridge - 1965 1 1 Doubleday letters & statements. 1963-1973 1 2 Hale letters to Doubleday. 1963-1967 1 3 Doubleday business documents. 1963-1973 1 4 Character list and other notes. 1965 1 5 Chapters outline. 1965 1 6 Chapters III & IV - typescript w/corrections. no date 1 7 Answer to queries from editor. 1965 1 8-13 Typescript - chapters I - XII. 1965 1 14 Reviews and Promotions. 1965 1 15 Letters regarding - miscellaneous. 1963-2001 1 16 Texas A & M reprint project. 1980 1 17-31 Bonney's Place - 1972 1 17 Letters from Doubleday. 1969-1974 1 18 Hale letters to Doubleday. 1969-1974 1 19 Doubleday business documents. 1972-1975 1 20 Outline. no date 1 21 Early typescript fragment. no date 1 22 Final galley proof. 1971 1 23 Foundry proof. 1972 1 24 Reviews and Promotions. 1972 1 25 Letters from readers. 1972-1977 1 26 Alternative dust jacket drawing from reader. 1978 1 27 Correspondence regarding film rights. 1975-1979 1 28 Film rights business documents. 1977 1 29-30 Screenplay based on novel. 1986 1 31 Popular library letters about paper edition. 1973-1974 1-2 Addison - 1979 1 32 Initial proposal by Leon Hale. no date 1 33 Sample pages initially submitted. no date 1 34 Letters from Doubleday. 1976-1980 1 35 Hale letters to Doubleday. 1976-1978 1 36 Doubleday business documents. 1976-1979 1 37 Correspondence with Philip Spitzer. 1976-1979 1 38 Outline. 1978 1 39-43 Manuscript draft fragments. no date 1 44 Editing Notes. no date 1 45-48 Early typescript w/corrections. no date 2 1-4 Later typescript w/corrections. no date 2 5-8 An original typescript of final draft. no date 2 9 Final galley proof. 1979 2 10 Foundry proof. 1979 2 11 Dust jackets. 1979 2 12 Letters from readers. 1978-1980 2 13 Reviews and Promotions. 1979 2 14 Texas Institute of Letter's award announcement letter. 1980 2 15-17 Screenplay Based on Novel. 1982 2 18-37 A Smile from Katie Hattan & Other Natural Wonders - 1982 2 18 Tentative outline. no date 2 19-34 Columns chosen for chapters I - XVI. 1982 2 35-37 Galley proof w/corrections. 1982 2 38-49 Easy Going - 1983 2 38-49 Columns chosen for sections I - XIII. 1983 3 1-12 Paper Hero - 1986 3 1 Notes and Revisions. 1986 3 2-5 Early draft - typescript. 1986 3 6-9 Later draft - typescript. 1986 3 10-12 Galley proof w/corrections. 1986 3 13-26 Texas Chronicles - 1989 3 13-19 Galley proof. 1989 3 20-26 Uncorrected proof copy. 1989 3 27-37 Home Spun - 1997 3 27 Working notes. 1997 3 28 Winedale Press documents. 1997 3 29 Final Manuscript - second draft. 1997 3 30-34 Corrected proof copy - sections I - III. 1997 3 35 First uncorrected proof copy w/print wrappers. 1997 3 36 Second uncorrected proof copy w/print wrappers. 1997 3 37 Dust jacket proofs. 1997 4 1-42 Articles and Short Stories, 1946-2000, 92 items

This section includes articles and short stories, other than his regular column, authored or edited by Mr. Hale from 1946-2000. Included are manuscripts, typescripts and printed items.

 4 1-19 Manuscript 4 1-19 Miscellaneous manuscripts. 48 items. 1960-2000 4 20-42 Printed 4 20 Southern Living. 1 item. 1983 4 21 Vision. 1 item. 1978 4 22-23 Vista. 3 items. 1967-1970 4 24-32 Texas Parade. 14 items. 1966-1973 4 33 Texas Living, Houston Post. 1 item. 1952 4 34-41 Humble Farm Family. 22 items. 1948-1959 4 42 Annual Report, A&M Extension Service. 1 item. 1946 4 43-51 Notes, no dates

These folders hold pages from nine different legal pads that were filled with manuscript notations by Leon Hale. The content appears to be random, varied, and without date or formal arrangement.

 4 43-51 Miscellaneous Manuscript Notes 4 43-51 Working notes on ruled paper. no dates 4, OVS 1-OVS 2 Address Books and Calendars, 1973-2000, 25 items

Includes 3 different address books and 22 calendars. Only one of the address books is dated, 1976. The calendars span the years 1973-1981 and 1988-2000. The two varieties of wall calendars typically note column subjects, appointments and appearances for each day.

 4 52-54 Address Books 4 52-54 Address books. 3 items. 1976-? OVS 1-OVS 2 Calendars OVS 1 1-9 Houston Post wall calendars. 9 items. 1973-1981 OVS 2 Year-at-a-Glance, laminated calendars. 13 items. 1988-2000 5 1-26 Photographic Materials, 1964-1998

This set of photographs falls roughly into two categories: file or publicity shots of Mr. Hale and shots of people, places, things, and events that interested or inspired him in his work. The bulk of the photos are black and white. Those photos not of Hale appear to have been shot by him.

 5 1-25 Prints 5 1 Animals, rural. [black & white]. 1973 5 2 Artwork. [black & white]. no dates 5 3 Buildings, rural. [black & white]. 1973-1977 5 4 Contact sheet, misc. images. [black & white]. no dates 5 5 Folks, identified. [black & white]. 1964-1977 5 6-9 Folks, unidentified. [black & white]. 1973-1977 5 10-13 Leon Hale, file photos. [black & white]. no dates 5 14-19 Leon Hale, file photos. [color]. 1966-1998 5 20 Leon Hale and other folks. [black & white]. 1966-1973 5 21 Houston Post shots, Al Shire. [black & white]. 1998 5 22 Landscapes, rural. [black & white]. 1972-1974 5 23 Miscellaneous snapshots. [color]. no dates 5 24 Scheller's Place. [black & white]. no dates 5 25 Leon Hale, candid. 1973 5 25-26 Negatives 5 25 Black & white. no dates 5 26 Color. No dates 6 1-55 Incoming Correspondence, 1957-2001, 426 items

These are letters sent to Leon Hale over more than forty years. Most of them are laudatory but a few are critical. Many of them are one-time missives from loyal readers but there are as many as 145 from the most prolific of the correspondents. Some also appear to be from friends or acquaintances. Among them are letters from John Henry Faulk and Louie Welch.

 6 1 Letters from Twiss Butler. 4 items. 1975-1978 6 2 Letter from Colleen's Books. 1 item. 1975 6 3 Letter from John Henry Faulk. 1 item. 1977 6 4 Letter from Pinky Hull. 1 item. 1986 6 5 Letters from Pud Joines. 7 items. 1975-1978 6 6 Letter from Brad Justice. 1 item. 1975 6 7 Letters from Jim McMahon. 5 items. 1966 6 8 Letters from O. F. Morgan. 4 items. 1990s 6 9 Letters from Bill Puckett. 7 items. 1976-1977 6 10 Letters from Spradlin Family. 4 items. 1970 6 11 Letters from R. R. Riley. 5 items. 1959 6 12-23 Letters from Robert C. Roach. 145 items. 1974-1994 6 24 Letter from Louie Welch. 1 item. 1976 6 25-31 Miscellaneous letters. 30 items. No Dates 6 32-55 Miscellaneous letters. 210 items. 1957-2001 7 Scrapbooks, 1948, 2 items

These two scrapbooks were carefully constructed from the clipped articles authored by Leon Hale during his 1948 tenure as Houston Post, Farm and Ranch Editor.

 7 Houston Post Farm & Ranch Editor Articles 7 Volume I. 1948 7 Volume II. 1948 8-11 Leon Hale Columns, Houston Post, 1948-2002

The bulk of Leon Hale's columns, printed over 54 years, will be found in this group. The acidic and crumbling newsprint clippings have been photocopied for the sake of preservation, and arranged chronologically by year. Six binders are filled with typescripts of various columns that have been thematically grouped by the author.

 8-10 Photocopies of Columns [clipped, sorted by month and year] 8 1-32 Photocopies of printed columns. 1948-1969 9 1-27 Photocopies of printed columns. 1970-1976 10 1-41 Photocopies of printed columns. 1977-2002 11 1-6 Binders of Selected Columns [grouped by Leon Hale] 11 1-3 Typescripts of columns [binders 1-3]. No Dates 11 4-6 Typescripts of columns [binders 4-6]. 1964-1995 12 1-10 Awards and Artifacts, 1972-1992, 10 items

There are eight wall-plaque type awards presented to Leon Hale, together with two small wooden carvings crafted by him.

 12 1-8 Awards 12 1-8 Wall-plaque awards. 8 items. 1972-1992 12 9-10 Artifacts 12 9-10 Wood carvings by Leon Hale. 2 items. 1942 4, 7, 13-14, OVS 1 Collected Materials, 1923-2001

This large group of materials is composed of items collected but not created by Leon Hale. It includes books, articles, subject files, newspaper sections, posters, work created by others, audio and video recordings. These materials were collected on the basis of their importance as information, ephemeral memorabilia or project documentation.

 4 55 Books 4 55 Books donated - catalog records. 26 items. 1972-2000 4 56-57 Printed Articles 4 56-57 Articles about Leon Hale. 12 items. 1947-2000 13 1-47 Subject Files 13 1-13 Files Including Letters from Leon Hale. 1965-1980 13 1 Bits & Pieces - Jokes & Quotes [notes]. no dates 13 2 Camp Creek property. 1966-1974 13 3 Jokes and Yarns [notes]. no dates 13 4 Mark & Joanne [Hale]. 1970-1974 13 5 C. E. Morgan's "witches" project. 1966-1973 13 6 Jack Sander's book project. 1965-1967 13 7 Buck Schiwetz and Sharon Steen [miscellaneous]. 1976-1979 13 8 Buck Schiwetz interview and Hale article. 1975 13 9 Buck Schiwetz Memories project. 1977-1978 13 10 Philip Spitzer file [literary agent]. 1973-1974 13 11 Talking with Texas Writers: Twelve Interviews project. 1979-1980 13 12 Texas Out Back project. 1974 13 13 War Stories column conflict. 1978 13 14-47 Files. 1941-1990 13 14 Bozo Texina and other railroad information. 1974 13 15 George Bush Presidential Library [UH proposal]. 1990 13 16 Jimmy Carter articles [clipped]. 1970s 13 17 Cartoons, original by Bud Bentley, (B.B.) No Dates 13 18 Clippings, miscellaneous. 1956-1990 13 19 England and France, [trip]. 1994 13 20 Hale family mineral rights business. 1973-1974 13 21 Leon Hale's favorite columns [from his office wall]. 1976-1984 13 22 Houston Post employment business. 1968-1974 13 23 Hurricane tracking chart. 1977 13 24 Industry, Texas, first-day-of-issue envelope. 1976 13 25 Mailing Lists, miscellaneous. do dates 13 26 Joe Marlarney's Texas Living columns and illustrations. 1952 13 27 James Foster McSwill [farce]. 1965-1970 13 28 Mimi's songs no dates 13 29 The Old House Journal. 1978 13 30 Promotions, advertisements and clippings. 1969-? 13 31 Real estate, reply to inquiry. 1979 13 32 Recipes. no dates 13 33 Reprints, miscellaneous. 1973 13 34 Shearer Publishing royalty statements. 1996-1997 13 35 Southern Living's Southern Journal articles [clipped]. 1982 13 36 Taping for the blind. 1970-1973 13 37 Texas A & M versus UH program. 1961 13 38 Texas Books in Review, Vol. 1, No. 1. 1977 13 39 Texas Community Improvement Program Newsletter. 1973 13 40 Texas Folk Life Festival. 1973 13 41 Texas Institute of Letters. 1955-1974 13 42 Texas Writer's Roundup. 1972 13 43 Tex-Mex Cookbook. 1971 13 44 Val Verde Goatskin Corset Works. 1951-1972 13 45 Victoria, Texas API speakers list. 1969 13 46 World War II flying lessons I. 1941-1943 13 47 World War II flying lessons II. 1941-1943 OVS 1 1-26 Newspapers, Special Editions and Sections OVS 1 1-12 Houston Post, 70th anniversary edition. 1955 OVS 1 13-17 Houston Post, Golden Crescent edition. 1956 OVS 1 18-24 Houston Press, 50th anniversary edition. 1961 OVS 1 25 Houston Press, Pictorial History of Hurricane Carla. 1961 OVS 1 26 Houston Chronicle, D-Day, 50 Years Later. 1994 OVS 1 27-33 Posters OVS 1 27-33 Events and publications involving Leon Hale. 7 items. 1982-2001 7, 13 Manuscript Materials by Others 13 48-67 Miscellaneous manuscripts. 23 items. 1923-1984 7 Binder 1. Ralph Robertson's Memories. 1995 7 Binder 2. Ralph Robertson's Old Tales from the Kitchen Table. 1997 14 1-32 Audio Recordings 14 1-20 Spoken Word 14 1 "Endangered Species: Old Time Consensus. no date 14 2 Hell Sermon. 1987 14 3 Alonso Hinson Funeral. no date 14 4 Home Spun read by Leon Hale. 1997 14 5 I Saw Heaven. no date 14 6 Marvin's World, A & B. no dates 14 7 From Mimi. no date 14 8 Aunt Minnie. no date 14 9 Wyatt Moore, A - E. 1981-1982 14 10 Bettie Olney. 1963 14 11 David Owen: the Shooting. no date 14 12 Plain Talk read by Leon Hale. 1991 14 13 Wylie Price, A & B. no date 14 14 Martha Riggs Rogers. no date 14 15 Rural Chat. no date 14 16 Aunt Ruth & Aunt Arda. no date 14 17 Don Swaim - Book Beat. 1983 14 18 Pauline Wharton. no date 14 19 Vernon Marie Fitzgerald Schuder. 1975 14 20 Texas Bound - short stories. no date 14 21-32 Musical 14 21 Elbert Brown, piano. 2002 14 22 Cowboy music. no date 14 23 Cowboy song. no date 14 24 Gabby's Cowboy Corral. no date 14 25 Jim Hutcheson, original songs. 1991 14 26 Ima Ruth, A - C. 1974-1988 14 27 Ima Ruth, Tape B, duplicate. 1974 14 28 Oscar Peterson. 1986 14 29 Scheller's Place, A - B. 1976 14 30 Rare songs from 78 rpms. 1999 14 31 Saloon. no date 14 32 Dr. Stumm's Theme. no date 14 #1-#3 Video Recordings 14 #1 E. M. Schiwetz. no date 14 #2 Steam locomotives. no date 14 #3 Where the River Flows North. no date