Just what is it about texas?

No one, it seems, is ever neutral about Texas. Pro or con, the place inevitably evokes passion, all over the country, the world. I am a native New Yorker, who lives contentedly, some might say smugly, in the city of my birth, and yet I have long shared this widespread fascination with the Lone Star State.

And I ask, "Just what is it about Texas that arouses such strong feelings?" Surely the gun-toting, Wild-West image counts for something in the equation, but that answer is inadequate. Matters go deeper. John Steinbeck hinted at the roots when he described Texas as ...