Fayetteville Community Speaker Series Features Four Under-Told Stories In Texas History May 17
Michael Vance, Texas historian, raconteur, author, sportswriter and stand-up comedian, will give a free talk at the Fayetteville Community Center at 3 p.m. on Sunday, May 17, about four events in Texas history with which you may not be acquainted. One is a about the origins of Texas Chili, which is the official state food of Texas since 1977. It’s a very interesting tale. Another is about a member of the Clyde Barrow Gang of the 1930s (that’s Bonnie & Clyde in popular culture) who had a falling out with Clyde and then became Public Enemy #1 on his own — a good outlaw tale. Also on the agenda are artifacts of the Texas Revolution and a South Texas pre-Civil War story.
Mike founded Houston Arts and Media in 2005, a nonprofit focused on teaching history through documentaries, books and other media. This non-profit is now called Night Heron and strives to make history, culture and arts entertaining and accessible. This work is used to teach Texas History in 7th grade classrooms.
At age 17, Mike started his creative career by performing stand-up comedy. He toured the English speaking world on stages for 16 years as a solo act before segueing into media. He began hosting a weekly regional history television program and co-hosted both a television sports show and an afternoon talk radio program in Houston. He has performed a litany of awardwinning national and regional voice over work and script and content writing. Vance has an extensive background writing, directing and producing educational documentary videos, several of which aired on select PBS television stations.
Mike is the author of three historical fiction novels and 11 non-fiction books on Texas and Houston history, true crime, sports, and comedy. His fiction work includes The Devil’s Lease and A Convenient Scapegoat, the first two books in the Duckworth Historical Crime Novel Series. This series revolves around a colorful Texas defense attorney who often stretches the boundaries in representing his clients in murder cases. The action takes place in the first decade of the 20th century as Texas is trying to transform from a rough frontier into the modern world. You might surmise that the state still has a ways to go. Today, Mike Vance is known as one of the best history story tellers in Texas. He does the irreverent American history podcast Prick the Balloon, has served on three different county historical commissions in Texas, is a member of the Historical Novel Society, and has taught various Texas history courses at Rice University’s Glasscock School of Continuing Studies.
Fayetteville Community Center Speakers Series is in part funded by a generous grant from Second Chance Emporium.