Richard L. Fluker
Other writing news (besides the Cows)
​​​​Article to appear in prep booklet for STAAR test
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Sirius Education Solutions has bought the (non-exclusive) rights to my article “Paying the Light Bill,” which appeared in Texas Co-op Power Magazine in 2014. Sirius plans to use the article in its State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) test prep and practice booklets for reading in grade 8.
My article will be in the booklet’s literary nonfiction section. Students will be required to read the passage, then answer questions related to it.
Sirius plans an initial print run of 250,000, with publication in August 2019. The booklets will be sold to Texas school districts as a tool for preparing students to take the state-mandated standardized test.
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(March 2019)
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Baylor Library purchases copy of The Cows Are Out
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In February I received an email notifying me that someone had purchased a copy of The Cows Are Out off of this website. To my surprise--and delight--that someone was the acquisitions department of the Baylor University Library. My book is now in the Moody General Collection at Baylor!
(February 2015)
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My (unexpected) short story is published
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Never thought I'd write any fiction. Somehow, though, an idea got stuck in my mind during the 2013 Holiday Season, and over the next couple of months, I wrote "A Hole in Santa's Bag." This December I produced a few copies to sell locally, and I placed the story on Amazon.com as a Kindle download (search for Richard Fluker on the website). I also read the story at the Metro Rotary Club's Christmas dinner and at a Friends-sponsored event at the Marshall Public Library.
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From the back cover of the book:
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"Arlie first saw it at Jensen’s General Store in Gentry, a small farming community in Texas, and it became his heart’s desire. Trouble is, it cost $5.98, a tidy sum to spend on one nine-year-old boy in 1953. He asked, he dropped hints, he requested an allowance. Birthday maybe? Then he had a grand idea—he’d ask Santa. That way, it wouldn’t cost his family anything. That hope died when his mother told him about Santa’s “budget.” Now what? Arlie needed that present before next summer.
Arlie’s 14-year-old friend, Ricky, rode the same school bus and knew about the dilemma. Maybe he could help."
(December 2014)1
"Footsteps in the Depot" lives on
Actually, I thought I had done this for the last time. In 1999 I wrote "Footsteps in the Depot" for the opening of Marshall's Texas and Pacific Railroad Depot Museum and performed it at a big gala and other related events. Someone remembered and asked if I would sing it at a program to be held in conjunction with a six-week-long Smithsonian display at the Weisman Center in Marshall. This program, "Railroads Span the Nation," was on September 23.
There's more--I also sang three 1840s-era songs at the last Smithsonian program, on October 28. The theme was "Around the Campfire."
(October 2014)
New story published in Texas Co-op Power
"Paying the 'Light' Bill," another story that goes back to my family's early days on the farm, has been published in the August issue of Texas Co-op Power Magazine. Here's the link:
http://www.texascooppower.com/texas-stories/history/paying-the-light-bill
(August, 2014)
The Marshall News Messenger helps me tell my story
On Sunday, August 17, the Marshall News Messenger published a lifestyle feature on my mission of encouraging others to preserve their family memories, as I have. Here's the link:
(August 2014)