today on book tv, author robert sturgeon discusses his book about the book of the former texas lieutenant governor bill ratliff. >> everything he did the senate was in the problem-solving move. how did he fix this, make this better? he did that without ideology. he did that without partisanship. him greatly loved in austin. he was, hands-down, both parties, a person people could work with. >> on sunday on american history tv, we visit with abi evans, former engineer for the tyler district texas department of transportation, and the father of the atop the highway program. >> 1994, i took a trip to south dakota, the highway meeting. i had to give this teach to a civics club, and i challenge you to adopt a highway, to get rid of litter. and of course, that was just part of my speech and i didn't expect anybody to jump up and do anything. the more i thought about that, it might be something we could try. >> then we will visit this mouth county historical society to look about the history of race at robert ely high school. >> the school board, all white, decided to name the school robert e lee

we will visit the university of texas at tyler, where we will hear from robert sturgeon, who shares the story of state senator bill ratliff. his stature rests on a single trait that sets him apart from the great mass of the senate. he is a free man, free of partisanship. he cast a rare republican vote to raise taxes. he's free of egotism, free of ambition, free of the lobby, free to act as every senator should but few actually do. he would look at every issue from both sides and decide what was right. it is remarkable. he was just one of those good guys. from our cable partners, for the next 45 minutes we will explore the literary life of this city. we begin at the home of luanne stroup, author of "out: a courageous woman's journey," as she describes hiding her homosexuality in texas for 60 years. >> i start off talking about my parents, because they had such an influence on the direction that my life took. they were southern baptists, so i was brought up in the baptist faith tradition. they were leaders in the church. my dad was a deacon and my parents both taught sunday school classes

around the city, we will visit the university of texas at tyler, where we will hear from author robert sturgeon. here's the story of texas tenant governor and state senator bill ratliff. >> reckless rest on a single trait, that sets him apart from the great mass of the senatehe's a totally free man. free of partisanship . he cast a rare republicanvote to raise taxes . he's free of egotism. free of ambition. free of the lobby. free to ask as every center should but few actually do. you would look at every issue from both sides and decide what was right. >> it's remarkable. he was just one of those good guys. >> with the help of our usa cable partners, for the next 45 minutes we will explore the literary life of this city. we began at the home of luanne smoot, author of, a courageous woman's journey as she explains the struggles of hiding or homosexuality in texas for 60 years. >> i start off talking about my parents, because they had such an influence on the direction that my life took. they were baptists, southern baptists so i was brought up in the baptist faith tradition. they were leaders of

around the city, we will visit the university of texas at tyler, where we will hear from author robert sturgeon here's the story of texas