Mayhaw, Texas

Mayhew, Texas is loaded with colorful characters attached to twin brothers who land in Mayhaw, a small Texas town named for a tree that produces fruit turned into tasty jam, jelly and wine. Self-made and natural problems are solved by fictional folks such as the barbering Beaukiss brothers, Wes and Ches; Shine Parker, their shoe-shine man; and a three-legged dog named John Bell Hood, who solves a criminal case. Also included are a Baptist preacher named Catfish Kincheloe, who smokes White Owl cigars and drives a big car; Hoojay, a Czech immigrant who creates a legendary barbecue restaurant; Wes' enigmatic wife, Becca; and some baseball and football heroes. The Mayhaw gang encounters some real people along their 1930s journey, where fact and fiction are allowed to blend. Segregation was a fact of life in Texas at that time, and the Ku Klux Klan was still a feared commodity. Religion ands sports were important in Mayhaw -- and still are.

About the Author

James Dawson grew up in small-town Texas where football, dominoes and politics were blood sports. He wrote about things that actually happened during his 45-year newspaper career, revealed in his autobiographical book Life in the Toy Department.


He lives in Rocklin, California with his wife, Barbara and their rat terrier, Repeaux. At 85 years of age, he conjured up short stories in Lagniappe: The Piddling Oaks Gang and Other Tales From the Microwave.
Now he has written about a make-believe town called Mayhaw, where make-believe people in the 1930s encounter make-believe trouble, a few real people -- and things that could have been. "The characters in this book are all imagined, though there are kernels of fact sprinkled about. "I had fun writing it and at 90 years old, I'll take my pleasure any way I can get it."