A Book Lover in Texas

Book excerpt: A personal and professional memoir of a major literary catalyst in the state—on radio and the lecture platform, as author, agent, teacher, and book collector. Her review broadcasts hold the national record for fifty years on the air. Oppenheimer pulls no punches in her evaluation of books, writers, and the society and organizations related to them, including anecdotes about such literary and artistic stars as Irving Stone, Willie Morris, Peter Hurd, Agatha Christie, Herman Wouk, Leon Uris, James Michener, Jacqueline Susann, and Alistair Cooke. She also tells of her own life and that of a grander and more elegant generation of Dallasites.