Lon Tinkle

Julien Lon Tinkle (March 20, 1906 – January 11, 1980) was a historian, writer, and book critic, who specialized in French literature and the history of Texas. Tinkle, professor at Southern Methodist University and long-time book editor and critic for the Dallas Morning News, was known for his award-winning books, including a widely-read history of the battle of the Alamo and a biography of J. Frank Dobie. He was president of the Texas Institute of Letters from 1949 to 1952 and is today the namesake of its highest honor, the Lon Tinkle Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Early life and education Tinkle was born in Dallas, Texas on March 20, 1906, to James Ward Tinkle and Mary (née Gardenhire) Tinkle. His grandfather had been a rancher and farmer in Rockwall, Texas, a community co-founded by his great-grandfather. His French grandmother, who spoke the language and made wine, gave him what he later described as an instinctive love of France. According to Evelyn Oppenheimer in her book A Book Lover in Texas, after Tinkle became the book editor, "book reviewing in The Dallas Morning News rose to a level of notable quality and was nationally recognized". From 1949 until 1952, Tinkle served as president of the Texas Institute of Letters. A.C. Greene, a book critic at a competing Dallas newspaper, listed Thirteen Days to Glory in his book The 50+ Best Books on Texas in 1998. According to Greene, Tinkle's book "gives the essence of the Alamo story without attempting to exhaust history's explanation", and "is more revealing of the minds and wills that were behind the fateful decision to stay on to death" than other, later treatments of the battle. The book won two awards in 1959, from the Texas Institute of Letters and the Sons of the Republic of Texas. In 1985, the book was reprinted by Texas A&M University Press. Tinkle was also paid $800 for allowing the title of his book to be used in the theme song for this movie. He was also a member of the Philosophical Society of Texas and the Dallas Chamber of Commerce Fine Arts Committee. "Culture Gulch," as this area near Turtle Creek is called, was also home to John Chapman, head of University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, and the artists Jerry Bywaters and Ed Bearden. The Tinkle home, designed by the architect O'Neil Ford, was controversially demolished in 2013.

Tinkle described his three greatest enthusiasms as tennis, Paris, and his wife Maria. He identified as a lifelong Democrat and a Christian.