Booksigning at Vereins Kirche - November 10

Braiding strands of earthen insight with uproarious storytelling, Texas Hill Country legendary author Becky Patterson recreates the history of the Stieler Hill Ranch in the twenty-four anecdotal chapters of her latest book, The Ranch That Was Us, interspersed with her original artwork.  Patterson, the daughter of Texas folk hero and self-proclaimed mayor of Luckenbach, Hondo Crouch and the indomitable Schatzie Crouch, has big shoes to fill, and she does so successfully in this colorful collection of Hill Country and Texas ranch vignettes.  Becky, the granddaughter of Adolf Stieler, “goat king of Texas”, grew up in the Texas Hill Country on the Stieler Ranch.
The ranch foreman and general cowboy Raymond Kuhlmann tells stories of the Goat King and German Drinking songs, the buzzard traps, and Mexican corridos that filled the nighttime pastures.  First-person accounts and vivid historical narratives evoke the ranch’s past overlaid with Patterson’s breathless personal histories of afternoon rescues of wildlife.

This is a book that will connect you to whatever patch of earth you hold dear.  It is a poignant reminder of the landscapes we’ve forgotten to keep close and of the land that does not belong to us but simply is who we are.  The Ranch That Was Us is an affectionate reminder to go outside and touch the earth that is you as written by Willie Nelson, a personal friend of the family, in his foreword to the book.  Readers will identify their memories of shearing time, ranching, taming land and livestock with the memories of Schatzie Crouch and other family members.

In 1960 Schatzie was president of the Gillespie County Historical Society and was honored in 2002 with the prestigious Texas Star Award from the state of Texas and the Gillespie County Historical Society in appreciation for her labors, outstanding achievements, and contributions to preserving Texas historical culture.  The organization welcomes you to attend Becky Crouch Patterson’s book signing on Saturday, November 10, 2012 from 2:00 – 4:00 P. M. at the Vereins Kirche in the center of Marktplatz.  The book is available for purchase at the Pioneer Museum at 325 W. Main as well as at the Vereins Kirche in the center of Marktplatz.

Becky Crouch Patterson is the author of the Texas best seller, Hondo: My Father, a memoir of life with her folk-hero father, Hondo Crouch, who was a rancher, storyteller, humorist, and self-proclaimed mayor of Luckenbach, Texas.  A textile artist for more than forty years, Patterson has sewn appliquéd tapestries for many business and individuals.  She is also a liturgical artist and designer and has created stained glass windows and furnishing for churches throughout Texas.  She is the owner, with her sons Kit and Sky Patterson, of Stieler Hill Ranch, near Comfort, Texas where Sky is an artist and Kit continues the family’s 135 years of ranching.  Patterson helps out with the activities of the ranch, including the Texican Single Action Shooting Society, the hunters, art workshops, and her husband Oscar Barrales’s horse training business.