Govenar, Alan 1952- (Alan Bruce Govenar)

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Govenar, Alan 1952- (Alan Bruce Govenar)

PERSONAL:

Born 1952.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Dallas, TX. Office—Documentary Arts, P.O. Box 140244, Dallas, TX 75214. E-mail—alan@docarts.com.

CAREER:

Author, musician, artist, and filmmaker. Documentary Arts (nonprofit preservation organization), Dallas, TX, founder, 1985—; producer of films and recording albums.

WRITINGS:

(Coauthor) Leonard L. St. Clair, Stoney Knows How: Life as a Tattoo Artist (also see below), University of Kentucky Press (Lexington, KY), 1981, reprinted, Schiffer Publishing (Atglen, PA), 2003.

Paradise in the Smallest Thing: Poems, Canicular Press (Racine, WI), 1988.

Meeting the Blues, Taylor Publishing Co. (Dallas, TX), 1988.

The Life and Poems of Osceola Mays, Arcadian Press (Racine, WI), 1989.

The Light in Between: Poems and Photogravures, Arcadian Press (Racine, WI), 1990.

The Early Years of Rhythm & Blues, photographs by Benny Joseph, Rice University Press (Houston, TX), 1990.

Casa di Dante, Arcadian Press (Racine, WI), 1991.

The Blues and Jives of Dr. Hepcat, Arcadian Press (Racine, WI), 1993.

(Author of foreword) Michael P. Smith, Mardi Gras Indians, Pelican Publishing (Gretna, LA), 1994.

Portraits of Community: African American Photography in Texas, Texas State Historical Association (Austin, TX), 1996.

(Author of introduction and interviewer) Michael P. Smith, A Joyful Noise: A Celebration of New Orleans Music, Pelican Publishing (Gretna, LA), 1998.

Jay F. Brakefield, Deep Ellum and Central Track: Where the Black and White Worlds of Dallas Converged, University of North Texas Press (Denton, TX), 1998.

(Editor with Phillip Collins), Facing the Rising Sun: Freedman's Cemetery, African American Museum and Black Dallas (Dallas, TX), 2000.

(Editor) Osceola: Memories of a Sharecropper's Daughter, illustrated by Shane W. Evans, Hyperion Books for Children (New York, NY), 2000.

African American Frontiers: Slave Narratives and Oral Histories, ABC-CLIO (Santa Barbara, CA), 2000.

Masters of Traditional Arts Biographical Dictionary, ABC-CLIO (Santa Barbara, CA), 2001.

(Editor) Stompin' at the Savoy: The Story of Norma Miller, illustrated by Martin French, Candlewick Press (Cambridge, MA), 2006.

Extraordinary Ordinary People: Five American Masters of Traditional Arts, Candlewick Press (Cambridge, MA), 2006.

Untold Glory: African Americans in Pursuit of Freedom, Opportunity, and Achievement, Harlem Moon/Broadway Books (New York, NY), 2007.

Texas Blues: The Rise of a Contemporary Sound, Texas A & M University Press (College Station, TX), 2008.

FILMS

(And producer) Stoney Knows How (based on his book), Flower Films, 1981.

(And director with Les Blank) Living Texas Blues, Documentary Arts (Dallas, TX), 1985.

(And director with Pacho Lane) Texas Style, Documentary Arts (Dallas, TX), 1986.

(And director) Black on White/White and Black, Documentary Arts (Dallas, TX), 1990.

(And director with Bob Tullier) Masters of Traditional Music, Documentary Arts (Dallas, TX), 1991.

(And director with Bob Tullier) The Hmong: Cultural Preservation through Music, Documentary Arts (Dallas, TX), 1993.

(And director with Bob Tullier) The Photography of Curtis Humphrey, Documentary Arts (Dallas, TX), 1993.

(And director) The Hard Ride: Black Cowboys at the Circle 6 Ranch, Documentary Arts (Dallas, TX), 1996.

(And director) Osceola Mays: Stories, Songs, and Poems, Documentary Arts (Dallas, TX), 1996.

(And director) The Human Volcano, Documentary Arts (Dallas, TX), 1997.

(And director) The Shipwreck of La Belle, Documentary Arts (Dallas, TX), 1998.

(And director) Everything but the Squeak!, Documentary Arts (Dallas, TX), 1998.

(And director) The Devil's Swing, Documentary Arts (Dallas, TX), 1999.

(And director) Sacred Steel: The Steel Guitar Tradition of the House of God Churches, Documentary Arts (Dallas, TX), 2001.

Also author of films, including (and director) Monkey See, Monkey Do, Documentary Arts (Dallas, TX).

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, February 15, 2001, review of African American Frontiers: Slave Narratives and Oral Histories, p. 1174; March 15, 2001, review of Osceola: Memories of a Sharecropper's Daughter, p. 1378.

Horn Book, May/June, 2006, review of Stompin' at the Savoy: The Story of Norma Miller, p. 341.

Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 2006, review of Stompin' at the Savoy, p. 183.

School Library Journal, May, 2002, Ginny Gustin, review of Masters of Traditional Arts: A Biographical Dictionary, p. 95; March, 2006, Joyce Adams, review of Stompin' at the Savoy, p. 210.