Anytime you assemble a list ranking the 250 most influential Texans of the last 250 years, you’re bound to generate some kind of debate. So, when we revealed Texas 250: Who Shaped Texas, we prepared. Not in the Talking Heads’ “Life During Wartime” kind of way, but more like, “we’re going to write a story laying out all the people you thought we snubbed.”
Texas is a big state, 250 years is a long time, and 250 people is just a sampling of our wild, wonderful history. So we were bound to leave some folks out. Allow me, the project lead for Texas 250, to run through some of the names that didn’t make the cut, and offer some explanations or even mea culpas.
Bob Wills
Country swing singer and songwriter Bob Wills poses for a portrait circa 1965. (Michael Ochs Archives)
The name we’re hearing most in the first 24 hours since dropping Texas 250. Kosse-born Wills was a pioneer of Western swing, a style of music that took parts of honky-tonk, polka, jazz and blues and a lot more-basically if you want to hear the sound of Texas during the first half of the 20th century, listen to Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys put it down.
Wills influenced countless musicians, from Buck Owens to Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. I admit, we should’ve included Wills. Our list of musicians included folks who’ve influenced and championed all kinds of styles-without the pop star notoriety-including Doug Sahm (No. 199, Tex-Mex), T-Bone Walker (No. 175, electric blues) and Robert Earl Keen (No. 245, red dirt), so with that context, Wills certainly belongs. If I did this whole thing over again, I may have even entertained slotting him somewhere close to No. 100.
Tim Dunn
Tim Dunn, a West Texas oil executive and prominent donor to ultraconservative campaigns and movements in Texas. (Brett Buchanan/For the Texas Tribune)
Just two years ago, Texas Monthly’s Russell Gold wrote a profile of Dunn, which the magazine called the most powerful man in the state. Littlefield-born and Texas Tech alumnus Dunn is the CEO of CrownQuest Operating, an oil executive whose $1.5 billion and influence is powering conservative politics across the state. Dunn is one of President Donald Trump’s largest donors and has boosted plenty of Republican candidates statewide over the last decade.
Rich guys giving lots of money to political causes is a tale as old as time in Texas. Our list includes folks like H.L. Hunt (No. 23) and Sid Richardson (No. 77), towering public figures who over decades became part of Texas lore. Dunn certainly could make this list today, though I’d imagine he’d be more toward the bottom at this point. Give him another decade of this influence and he’d shoot right up into the top-200 or more.
Mary Lou Retton
Mary Lou Retton in action on balance beam during Women’s All-Around Team competition at Pauley Pavilion during the 1984 Summer Olympics. (Jerry Cooke/Sports Illustrated via Getty Ima)
Retton came to Houston to train with Bela and Martha Karolyi, which of course worked out well in those 1984 Summer Olympics. She stayed around, attending the University of Texas at Austin and then raising a family in Houston, before going back and forth to her native West Virginia in recent years. More recently she battled a severe case of pneumonia and legal issues.
Before Simone Biles (No. 12), Retton was pretty inarguably the most popular and successful gymnast in U.S. history. Here in Texas we’ve had some other outstanding gymnasts over the last few decades, including Nastia Liukin and Jordan Chiles, but Retton captured hearts nationwide in the mid- and late-1980s. She arguably belongs on the list, likely in that final fifth between 200 and 250.
Other possible snubs
Musician Daniel Johnston, photographed backstage before performing at the Athens Popfest 2007 at the 40 Watt Club on August 11, 2007 in Athens, Georgia. (Frank Mullen/WireImage)
I’ve heard a few other names over the past 24 hours. Frances “Sissy” Farenthold, born in Corpus Christi, ran for governor in the 1970s and represented the 45th District in the state House. She was heavily involved in human rights and environmentalist causes. She could’ve made it in the No. 200-250 range.
Craig Biggio spent his entire 20-year Hall of Fame career with the Astros, totaling 3,060 hits with a lifetime .281 batting average. Biggio was one of the top second basemen and hitters of the 1990s. Believe me, I’m a baseball guy, but Biggio falls just short of No. 250 for me. Jose Altuve (No. 186) gives you a similar career arc to date along with two world championships and a certain “it” factor that has turned Houston baseball crazy over the last decade.
Madalyn Murray O’Hair created American Atheist Magazine, supported atheism and worked hard to keep religion out of schools. She settled in Austin in the 1960s and created plenty of controversy along the way. In 2001, the bodies of O’Hair and both her son and granddaughter were found six years after going missing. Authorities ultimately determined they were murdered by a couple former associates. O’Hair would’ve definitely been someone to discuss for the back end of the list.
Finally, two from Austin: peace activist and “Keep Austin Weird” figure Leslie Cochran and the heroic indie musician Daniel Johnston. I think both could find a home on a redone Texas 250.
More Texas 250: Who Shaped Texas
Welcome to Texas 250 | Find out when it’s time to vote for the greatest Texans!
Methodology | How we came up with the Texas 250.
Top Musicians | See our list of the 10 most influential music figures in Texas history.
Top Politicians | Here are our 10 most influential political figures in Texas history.
Top Sports Figures | These 10 athletes, coaches, owners and more moved the needle most.
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This article originally published at Texas 250: Who was snubbed from our most influential Texans list?.