Mike Cox

Mike Cox

A fifth-generation Texan, Mike was born in Amarillo and grew up in Austin. As the son and grandson of writers, he began writing in elementary school and never stopped. In his life-long free-lance writing career, he has written myrid monographs, essays, stories, and journal articles on a wide variety of topics ranging from history to the outdoors.

Mike is the author of nine books: Texas Ranger Tales II (Republic of Texas Press, 1999); Historic Austin (Historical Publishing Network, 1998); Stand-off in Texas: Just Call Me a Spokesperson for DPS (Eakin Press, 1998); Texas Ranger Tales: Stories That Need Telling (Republic of Texas Press, 1997); The Confessions of Henry Lee Lucas (Pocket Books, 1991); The Texas Rangers: Men of Valor and Action (Eakin Press, 1991); Lure of the Land (with Joe Frantz, Texas A&M University Press, 1988); Fred Gipson: Texas Storyteller (Shoal Creek Publishers, 1980); and Red Rooster Country (Pioneer Book Publishers, 1970). He currently is working on several others.

Mike spent nearly 20 years as an award-winning journalist, writing for the Austin American-Statesman, the San Angelo Standard-Times, and the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. His Texas book column, "Texana," appears in the Austin American-Statesman, Amarillo Globe-News, and Lubbock Avalanche-Journal and on the Internet at Lone Star Junction (www.lsjunction.com).

Mike is an elected member of the Texas Institute of Letters, and has received numerous writing awards. He is an officer or member of a number of organizations, including the Austin Writer's League, Western Writers of America, and the National Association of Government Communicators. He is an accomplished public speaker on a number of communication, literary, and historical subjects.

In his day job, he is Chief of Media Relations for the Texas Department of Public Safety and has been the agency's principal spokesman during several nationally and internationally publicized law enforcement crises.

In his spare time, Mike helps his wife Linda operate Saddlebag Books, their used, rare, and out-of-print book business that specializes in books on Texas. He is an avid book collector, hunter, and fisherman, as well as a lay historian and longtime collector of Texas lore. He hopes to instill in his six-year-old daughter Hallie his love of writing, books, and Texas history.