When Catfish Had Ticks: Texas Drouth Humor

We have all heard jokes about hot weather, especially those of us who live in Texas. But it would be difficult to find a better collection of stories, jokes and tall tales of dry spells than Rana Williamson's "When the Catfish Had Ticks: Texas Drought Humor". While working on her doctoral thesis on the Texas Seven Year Drought of the 1950's at TCU, Dr. Williamson, a native of Junction, Texas, conducted many personal interviews with folks all over the state. As people told her of despair and hopelessness as their world dried up, they also told her jokes they had heard that made life a little less hopeless. These anecdotes were just as much a part of their memories as the dead grass and devastation. She has chronicled these jokes into a wonderful "coffee table favorite". Quoting simple farmers, famous authors of Texana literature, and folks remembering a childhood without precipitation, this book is a pleasure to read cover-to-cover or one entry a! t a time. As I suffer through this record-setting Fort Worth summer, I often find myself quoting one-liners from "When the Catfish Had Ticks" as I chat with people about the heat.