The Texas Observer

What the Texas Observer Has Taught Me

HEN I FIRST PICKED UP A COPY OF THE TEXAS OBSERVER I was an undergraduate at UT-Austin, working in the periodicals section of the LBJ Library. Back in the early 2000s, students still mostly did their research the old-fashioned way, by turning pages in books and magazines and journals. One of my jobs was to get the magazines onto the shelves for my peers. It was dull work, except for the chance to explore a wild, the , , the and many others. But it was the discovery of the that was most meaningful in my life. Back then the was a biweekly printed on featherweight newsprint, with all the aesthetic charm of a receipt. Reading an issue left ink on your hands and the sobering feeling of getting the unadulterated truth about Texas, this mad, frustrating, wonderful place.

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