Texas Writer Robert Flynn to Speak at A&M International

Texas A&M International University invites the community to attend the fourth of its 1998-1999 A.R. Sanchez Sr. Distinguished Lecture Series, featuring Texas writer Robert Flynn on "Truth and Beauty: Confessions of a Hoehand."

The lecture is scheduled for Monday, April 5 at 7 p.m. at the Great Room of the Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library.

The author of novels such as North To Yesterday, In the House of the Lord, The Sounds of Rescue, The Signs of Hope and Wanderer Springs, Flynn has made a name for himself as a true Texas writer by sharing stories of his life in rural Texas.

As a young man growing up in rural Texas, Flynn knew it was not going to be easy to become a writer. In his eyes, writing was a talent reserved for those living in metropolitan areas. Having learned the power of the English language in the cotton field, however, Flynn decided to combine his knowledge of Texas and its beauty to produce literary works uniquely his own.

A former Marine, Flynn worked as a war correspondent in Vietnam in the early 70's. His dramatic adaptation of Faulkner's As I Lay Dying was the United States entry at the Theater of Nations in Paris in 1964 and won a Special Jury Award. He is also the author of a two-part documentary, "A Cowboy Legacy," shown on ABC-TV; a collection of short stories, "Seasonal Rain;" a non-fiction narrative, "A Personal War in Vietnam;" and an oral history, "When I Was Just Your Age."

North To Yesterday received awards from the Texas Institute of Letters and the National Cowboy Hall of Fame, and was named one of the Best Books of the Year by The New York Times. His collection of stories, Seasonal Rain, was co-winner of the Texas Literary Festival Award. Wanderer Springs received a Spur Award from Western Writers of America. His work has been translated into German, Spanish, Dutch, Afrikaans, Malayalam, Arabic, Tamil, Hindi, Kanada, and Vietnamese. Flynn is a member of The Texas Institute of Letters, The Authors Guild and The Writers Guild of America. He is currently novelist-in-residence at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

The next and last speaker for the 1998-1999 A.R. Sánchez Lecture Series will be Nobel Prize winner and chemist Mario Molina on "Depletion of the Ozone Layer." The lecture is scheduled for Thursday, April 22 at 7 p.m. at the Great Room.

For further information on the A.R. Sánchez Lecture Series, please contact the College of Arts and Humanities at 326-2460. University office hours are 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests and interviews should contact the Office of Public Affairs and Information Services at pais@tamiu.edu