Living on the edge: collected essays on coastal Texas.

The Texas Gulf Coast is a patchwork of peoples, landscapes, and economies -- from the Chicanos of Brownsville and South Padre to the Cajuns of Beaumont and Port Arthur; from barrier islands to back-bay estuaries; from petro-chemical refineries to fishing piers; from work-a-day wharves to weekend beach condos. It is, both literally and figuratively, a marginal environment whose boundary has been shaped by the intrusive curve of the Gulf of Mexico. The essays collected in this anthology address several concerns from a variety of perspectives. Their authors were part of a study group that looked at the coast for clues about how Texas could prepare itself for life in the 21st century. This anthology may help demonstrate the diversity that is Texas. Its reputation as the home of dryland cowboys has overshadowed its wetland resources. But we are also a coastal people, living in a maritime state. If we are to see our way clearly into the 21st century, we must look to our coast as well as to our plains and mountains.