J. Frank Dobie: A Liberated Mind is the first biography of Dobie in 30 years and offers a fresh look at the famed Texas folklorist and intellectual freedom-fighter.
In this lively biography, Steven L. Davis takes a fresh look at a J. Frank Dobie whose "liberated mind" set him on an intellectual journey that culminated in Dobie becoming a political liberal who fought for labor, free speech, and civil rights. Tracing the full arc of Dobie's life (1888-1964), Davis shows how Dobie's insistence on "free-range thinking" led him to such radical actions as calling for the complete integration of the University of Texas during the 1940s, as well as taking on governors, senators, and the FBI (which secretly investigated him) as Texas's leading dissenter during the McCarthy era.
At last, after a long wait, we have a crisp, reliable, and thorough biography of J. Frank Dobie... Steve Davis gives us a much richer understanding of Dobie than we have had previously.
Finalist, Texas Institute of Letters Award for Best Non-Fiction Book.
Finalist, Philosophical Society of Texas Award for Best Book.