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NOTE: This blog was published on statesman.com in October 2017. I did eat the bugs. When my coworkers ignored this story and failed to promote it on the homepage, I didn't forgive them.

I ate this bug for journalism. At the State Fair, you can eat one, too.

NOTE: This story was published in the Austin American-Statesman in 2013.

Dawn of the Picnic: 40 years ago Eddie Wilson got Willie off to a steady start

DAVE DALTON THOMAS

MAGAZINE STORIES

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The “National Beer of Texas”
Isn’t as Old as It Claims

I pulled out a Lone Star tallboy from my cooler and looked at the “140” emblazoned on it. I opened Lone Star’s website and saw all the merch that’s labelled “Lone Star Beer 140 years.” It seems there’s a lot of room for misinterpretation.

Story at TexasMonthly.com

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The Original Threadgill’s Closes, Marking the End of a Defining Cultural Era in Austin

The convergence of Kenneth Threadgill and Eddie Wilson at the dawn of the 1980s was a cultural megamerger for Austin history and Texas music history. Wilson walked away from ownership of the Armadillo World Headquarters before the end of 1976, and by the end of the decade he was planning the move that would keep both him and Threadgill enshrined in the Austin consciousness up until today.

Story at TexasHighways.com

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The Dixie Chicken Celebrates
50 Years in Aggieland

Like Luckenbach, Gruene Hall, and the Broken Spoke in Austin, the Dixie Chicken is a snapshot of a Texas that now mostly exists only in nostalgia. And the Chicken is also the off-campus face of Aggieland, featured in commercials and name-checked during football broadcasts. Living up to those roles isn’t easy, but a vigorous social media presence and robust merchandise sales have given the Chicken the opportunity to thrive.

Story at TexasHighways.com

NEWSPAPER STORIES

Obituary: Beloved 'Sheriff Marge' watched over Luckenbach from behind the bar

"Sheriff" Marge Mueller was born not far from here and didn't like to stray far from this town that boasts "Population 3." She seldom traveled beyond Texas and spent a good chunk of her life working in a space that was no bigger than 2 feet by 12 feet. But from that spot behind the bar she met the world and, in her own way, became internationally famous.

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‘Trying not to get kicked off this curb’: In conversation with Threadgill’s owner Eddie Wilson

I’m here to nail down the questionable future of this restaurant at 301 W. Riverside Drive, but Eddie Wilson seems tired of the future right now. The interview begins off-subject and mostly stays there. I’d suspect he’s cheering himself up, telling old stories to an attentive new audience. “My life is like a yard full of leaves in a high wind right now,” he said.

BLOGS

What would Davy Crockett think?

I’m laughing now, trying to pay for the ice and beer without having a full-on comic breakdown. It’s a legitimate question. To me the coonskin hat is Davy Crockett, the Alamo, Fess Parker, old books and childhood memories. To the boy, the rack of fur and tails is easily just so many varmints, huddled together, and full of unknown intent.

MORE STORIES

40 years ago, Dripping Springs Reunion helped create Austin’s musical identity

The Cassowary died 31 years ago today: The genius life and sad death of an Austin ornithologist

I ate this bug for journalism. At the State Fair, you can eat one, too.

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