Fehrenbach, T. R.

Texas author and historian Theodore Reed Fehrenbach (1925--) was born in San Benito, Texas. His family relocated to Brownsville, Texas when he was five. They later moved to California, where he graduated from Hollywood High School at the age of 16. Fehrenbach entered Princeton University in 1941. After serving in WWII, he returned to Princeton to graduate magna cum laude in 1947.

A brief career as a cotton farmer was interrupted when Fehrenbach returned to active military duty during the Korean War as a platoon leader, company commander, and Intelligence Officer. He later served as part of the United Nations peacekeeping mission. After military service he started the Royal Poinciana Insurance Company in San Antonio, Texas, and began his writing career in earnest. Fehrenbach’s experience provided the material for This Kind of War, his account of the Korean conflict, which was published in 1963. This work is held in high esteem by the military and a portion of it is included in the U.S. Military Academy text Introduction to the Military Profession . This Kind of War is required reading for all soldiers stationed in Korea.

Lone Star, a history of Texas, published in 1968 is Fehrenbach’s best-known work. It has been used as a text in college history courses and has been included as a Book of the Month Club selection. In 1986, PBS produced a mini-series adaptation of Lone Star . Because of Fehrenbach’s knowledge of Texana, he often consults journalists on Texas history, politics, and current affairs.

Fehrenbach’s complete list of works reflects wide-ranging and diverse historical interests. Comanches traces the rise and fall of that tribe, while Fire and Blood recounts the history of Mexico. Swiss Banks delves into the mysterious and secretive world of the Swiss banking system and This Kind of Peace explores the development of the United Nations. Fehrenbach’s writings are not without controversy, however. Swiss Banks raised the attention of the U.S. Department of Justice, which censored part of the text. In addition, characterizations of an American businessman and an Iranian sheik provoked threats of libel suits.

Fehrenbach has published articles in T he Atlantic Monthly, Esquire, Elk, American Legion, and internationally in Zurich Woche, L’Express and the London Sunday Times . He also served as Secretary for the San Antonio Publishing Corporation, started in 1981, which published the magazine San Antonio Monthly .

Fehrenbach has served on or chaired numerous commissions and committees including the Texas 2000 Commission, the Texas Historical Commission, the Capitol Centennial Committee and the Texas Antiquities Protection Committee. Awards from associations ranging from the Knights of Mark Twain, Sons of the Texas Revolution, and the U.S. Army have been bestowed upon Fehrenbach. His many speaking engagements have included an invitation by Governor William Hobby to speak to a joint session of the Texas legislature on March 2, 1977, regarding the celebration of Texas Independence. In 1986 the Texas Historical Commission established the T.R. Fehrenbach Publications Award in his honor.

Fehrenbach currently lives in San Antonio with his wife Lillian. He is a regular columnist for the San Antonio Express-News .

From the guide to the Fehrenbach, T. R. Papers 94-217, 2002-031., 1925-2002, (Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin)