Symposium Draws Good Crowd
June 15, 2002
On Saturday, June 15, Texas authors Robert Flynn (above left), James L. Haley (center), and Jean Flynn (right) addressed audiences of between 25 and 40 people at the library. All three ended their sessions by signing copies of their books.
Jean Flynn, noted for her biographies for young adults, opened the symposium with an excellent presentation on the craft of writing for a young audience. She described some of the less agreeable circumstances of the lives of William B. Travis, James W. Fannin, Annie Oakley, and others she has written about, and then described how she presented those circumstances in her books.
Haley followed with a presentation on Sam Houston, the subject of his latest book. He detailed his searches through archives and libraries for new material, and explained why he thought another biography of Houston was warranted.
Robert Flynn then got the audience laughing, with remarks about his Baptist upbringing, and passages from his latest novel, Tie-Fast Country. Flynn related how he mixed fact and fiction to create his humorous books with serious points.