Newsletter of the

Society

Porter Inducted Into Texas Literary Hall of Fame

Katherine Anne Porter was one of the inaugural inductees into the Texas Literary Hall of Fame that opened Saturday, May 8, 2004, during a gala event at the Fort Worth Central Library. A 8-foot-by-14-foot mural by Marjorie Stark Buckley entitled “Texas Tales” is the centerpiece of the installation; it includes scenes from Texas history and depicts the eight original members of the Hall of Fame. A project of the Friends of the Fort Worth Public Library, the Hall of Fame honors authors whose body of work contributes to Texas literary heritage and provides educational opportunities to citizens of all ages. Two of the inaugural inductees, John Graves and Horton Foote, attended the dedication ceremony at the library, located at 500 W. Third Street in Fort Worth. In addition to Katherine Anne Porter, the other original Hall of Fame authors featured in the mural are Larry McMurtry, Shelby Hearon, Elmer Kelton, Walter Prescott Webb, and J. Frank Dobie.

Master of Ceremonies for the event was Don Graham, the J. Frank Dobie Regents Professor of American and English Literature at the University of Texas at Austin. Each Hall of Fame member was presented with an etched glass award designed by Mark Avant of Avant Design Studio of Arlington, Texas. At the ceremony, Forth Worth author and poet Betsy Colquitt accepted the award for Katherine Anne Porter. The award has been donated to the University of Maryland Libraries’ Special Collections and is now part of the permanent display in the Katherine Anne Porter Room in Hornbake Library.