This collection of columns from the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal tells stories, and tells about telling stories. They also reflect boyhood dreams . . . and foolishness, fears, beliefs, customs, traditions, and sometimes things that are no longer part of our culture but we wish were. All reflect what was—and for many, still is—important. They celebrate the places, the people, the customs and traditions; the ways, the somethings, and the events that define the culture of West Texas, as viewed through the lens of a newspaper editor. If “the traditional knowledge of a culture” is how we define what folklore is, this volume provides an intimate look at the folklore of Lubbock, Texas, and the greater area of the South Plains. You don’t have to be an avid reader of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, or even be from Lubbock or know where Moran is to relate to the issues covered in these pieces. As a group’s culture changes, editorial columns capture the general attitude of the people affected, and over time they serve as a sort of barometer for the moral climate. Newspapers report on momentous events that record how we live and interact with one another—for an entire nation. An editor, acting as the collective voice for a region, expresses what is important on a local level. “The vast literature of Texas offers no more lyrical and loving a tribute to people and places than what you'll read in A Boyhood Dream Realized. Burle Pettit charms with his keen wit, moving nostalgia, and ever so deep appreciation for the beauty and magic of the written word.”—Carlton Stowers, two-time Edgar Award winner and member of the Texas Literary Hall of Fame Texas Folklore Society Extra Book 27 BURLE PETTIT worked in the newspaper industry for half a century, first as a sports writer and later as the editor of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.