T. R. Fehrenbach, Jr. | |
---|---|
Born | (1925-01-12)January 12, 1925 San Benito, Texas, U.S. |
Died | December 1, 2013(2013-12-01) (aged 88) San Antonio, Texas, U.S. |
Occupation(s) | Historian Columnist for San Antonio Express-News and other publications |
Spouse | Lillian Fehrenbach |
Theodore Reed "T. R." Fehrenbach, Jr. (January 12, 1925 – December 1, 2013) was an American historian, columnist, and the former head of the Texas Historical Commission (1987–1991). He graduated from Princeton University in 1947 with a degree in modern languages ("he never pursued graduate study or held a faculty post") and wrote more than twenty books, including the bestseller Lone Star: A History of Texas and Texans and This Kind of War, about the Korean War. Senator John McCain called this book "perhaps the best book ever written on the Korean War". Secretary of Defense James Mattis said “There’s a reason I recommended T.R. Fehrenbach’s book...that we all pull it out and read it one more time.”
Although he served as a U.S. Army officer during the Korean War, his own service is not mentioned in the book. Fehrenbach also wrote for Esquire, The Atlantic, The Saturday Evening Post, and The New Republic. He wrote popular histories of Texas, Mexico, and the Comanche people. For almost 30 years, he wrote a weekly column on Sundays for the San Antonio Express-News. On August 23, 2013, T.R. Fehrenbach announced that he would retire from writing columns because of declining health. T.R. Fehrenbach died of a congenital heart defect at Northeast Baptist Hospital in San Antonio on December 1, 2013.
Selected bibliography
- U. S. Marines In Action, 1962, LCCN 62-2205. Republished in 2000, ISBN 1-58586-062-X
- This Kind of War: A Study In Unpreparedness 1963, LCCN 63-9972. Republished in 1998 as This Kind Of War: The Classic Korean War History ISBN 1-57488-161-2, LCCN 98-27350
- Crossroads in Korea, the Historic Siege of Chipyong-Ni, 1966, LCCN 66-10022
- The Gnomes of Zurich, 1966, LCCN 66-77383
- The Swiss Banks, 1966, LCCN 65-28589
- This Kind Of Peace, 1966, LCCN 66-17238
- FDR's Undeclared War, 1939–1941, 1967, LCCN 67-13415
- Greatness to Spare: The Heroic Sacrifices of the Men Who Signed the Declaration of Independence, 1968, LCCN 68-30756. Republished in 2000, ISBN 0-7351-0164-7
- The Fight for Korea: from the War of 1950 to the Pueblo Incident, 1969, LCCN 68-29982
- The United Nations in war and peace, 1968, LCCN 68-23669
- Lone Star: A History of Texas and the Texans, 1968, LCCN 68-25222. Republished in 2000, ISBN 0-306-80942-7, LCCN 00-21771
- Fire And Blood: A History Of Mexico, 1973, LCCN 72-91265. Republished in 1995, ISBN 0-306-80628-2, LCCN 94-45811
- Comanches: The Destruction of a People, 1974, LCCN 73-20761. Republished in 2003 as Comanches: The History of a People, ISBN 1-4000-3049-8, LCCN 2003-267713
- Seven Keys To Texas, 1983, ISBN 0-87404-069-8, LCCN 82-74272
- Texas: A Salute from Above, 1985, ISBN 0-940672-28-6, LCCN 84-52739
Sources for book publication data: United States Library of Congress, Amazon.com.
T. R. Fehrenbach Award
The Texas Historical Commission gives this award to recognize books about Texas history and pre-history. The award is given annually.
References
- ^ T.R. Fehrenbach Book Award Archived 2009-01-06 at the Wayback Machine, Texas Historical Commission, retrieved 2009-02-22
- "T.R. Fehrenbach." The Complete Marquis Who's Who. Marquis Who's Who, 2008. Gale Biography In Context. Web. Retrieved 6 Jan. 2011. Document URL Gale Document Number: GALE|K2014301392. Fee, via Fairfax County Public Library.
- "Lives: T.R. Fehrenbach '45". 21 January 2016.
- Swartz, Mimi (January 23, 2009). "Oil Portraits". New York Times.
..there is, in fact, a Texas canon. Opinions vary, but my list would include T. R. Fehrenbach's "Lone Star," ...
- ^ Martin, Douglas (3 December 2013). "T.R. Fehrenbach, Historian, Dies at 88; Chronicler of Larger-Than-Life Texas". New York Times. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
- "The Book Mattis Reads to Be Prepared for War With North Korea". POLITICO Magazine. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
- "Defense Secretary Jim Mattis reads this book to be prepared for war with North Korea". Business Insider. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
- Kesling, Ben (2017-10-09). "On North Korea, Mattis Stresses Diplomacy, But Advises Army to Be Ready". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
- "T(heodore) R(eed) Fehrenbach, (Jr.)." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2001. Gale Biography In Context. Retrieved 6 Jan. 2011. Document URL Gale Document Number: GALE|H1000030971. Fee, via Fairfax County Public Library.
- Roberts, Sam (May 19, 1994). "A Rank That Rankles: New York Slips to No. 3; Now Texas Is 2d Most Populous State". New York Times.
...T. R. Fehrenbach, second to none as a Texas historian.
- A farewell from an author and historian
- He made history read like the news
- "Noted Texas historian, author T.R. Fehrenbach dies". Star-telegram.com. Retrieved 2013-12-02.
Sources
- Fehrenbach, T. R., Comanches: The Destruction of a People, Knopf, New York, 1974
External links
- Interview with T. R. Fehrenbach, May 30, 2001. University of Texas at San Antonio: Institute of Texan Cultures: Oral History Collection, UA 15.01, University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections.
- Works by T. R. Fehrenbach at Project Gutenberg
- Works by T. R. Fehrenbach at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- 1925 births
- 2013 deaths
- American military writers
- Historians of Texas
- Historians of the Texas Revolution
- Historians of Mexico
- Historians of the United States
- American military historians
- Princeton University alumni
- 20th-century American historians
- United States Army personnel of the Korean War
- United States Army officers
- Writers from San Antonio
- People from San Benito, Texas
- 20th-century American male writers
- American male non-fiction writers
- Historians from Texas
- Military personnel from Texas