“Roo Tales: The Rivals & Legends of Austin College” is all done and now available for purchase!
As you may already know, this all started on a whim. I left AC in my rearview mirror after my 1992 graduation. But a 2015 trip back to campus rekindled a long dormant interest in the stories of my alma mater. Those stories started small and were targeted only to friends. But they slowly got bigger and better, thanks in part to a growing AC community.
“Rivals & Legends” is Roo Tales book #4. Amazingly, every single AC story I’ve ever written is found in one of the four Roo Tales books (Football, Athletics, History, Rivals & Legends). I’ll always write AC stories as long as they remain fun; there’s still more to say. Having said that though, the fact that every story since 2015 is now in book form does elicit a strong “Famous Last Words” feeling, the song written by Billy Joel to describe one of his musical transitions:
“These are the last words I have to say That’s why it took so long to write There will be other words some other day Ain’t that the story of my life?”
It’s neat that I still enjoy the AC stuff even after seven years of writing. But I guess there’s no secret why that is. It’s the AC community that continues to make it fun. That appreciation for community comes through loud & clear in the Introduction (below) to “Rivals & Legends:”
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Introduction:
My Austin College experience was so good, it just wasn’t fair.
I arrived in the fall of 1988, unsure of my decision to attend. Austin College responded with a championship football team that seemed to say “welcome Marc.” The spring of 1989 brought the fraternity family, a band of brothers with whom I would bond for life. By the end of my freshman year, I had found my home and was eagerly anticipating another year.
The fall of 1989 introduced me to International Studies, an exciting course of study at any time. But from 1988 to 1992, a time of dramatic change not seen since World War II? I could not have timed it any better. The spring of 1990 brought All-Conference & MVP tennis awards in tennis, capping off a sophomore year I suspected could not be topped. I was wrong.
Austin College gave me a junior year abroad in Spain, and by extension the world. As the Cold War continued to ebb, the European continent from Madrid to Moscow became my intellectual playground. In addition to the friends acquired that year, little AC also gave me fluency in a second language. I returned to Sherman almost feeling guilty of my good fortune.
After a senior year which rivaled the previous three, I found myself reluctant to leave as graduation approached. Why so soon? There were still Roos to meet and AC experiences to undertake. I decided that such an attitude was greedy, as little AC had already given me more than I could have ever imagined. I moved on to graduate school, career, and family. My wonderful relationship with Austin College was over.
Wrong again.
Twenty-five years later, a simmering intellectual interest in AC history led to research, writing, and storytelling. Miraculously, that storytelling led to a growing community of like-minded AC alumni, eager to replicate a portion of their past AC experience. This unexpected Roo community was a gift and had a big impact on my “return home” to AC by way of the “A” Board, Legends, Homecoming, and alumni groups both online & in-person. This community also turned a simmering intellectual interest into books dedicated to stories about Austin College. This book, “Roo Tales: The Rivals & Legends of Austin College,” is the latest.
There are many AC alumni “legends” within this community; most have their own non-AC ties to “rival” institutions within the state of Texas. I’m grateful to call many of them friends. These friendships during the publication of the Roo Tales books has been a blessing for me, and something I never expected to encounter after my graduation from Austin College in 1992.
My AC student loans have long since been paid off, and yet that little school in Sherman continues to give and give. The Roo Tale books are a debt to Austin College I’ll never be able to fully repay. What was true then is still true today. My Austin College experience is still so good, it just isn’t fair.
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Hope you enjoy “Rivals & Legends.” And no Billy Joel, these aren’t the last words I have to say. – Marc
