Close Menu
The Baylor Lariat
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube LinkedIn
    Trending
    • Students react to emergency alert following campus lockdown
    • Baylor shelter-in-place lifted following police pursuit of robbery suspects
    • Baylor graduate charged after killing cats with pellet gun, hanging bodies over utility lines
    • Baylor Football’s Alex Foster dies at 18
    • Board of Regents confirms budget, renovations, new leadership in May meeting
    • How facilities responds to storms, flooding in campus buildings
    • Welcome Week leaders now paid in hopes of increasing numbers
    • 5 Baylor sports storylines to look forward to in 2025-26
    • About us
      • Spring 2025 Staff Page
      • Copyright Information
    • Contact
      • Contact Information
      • Letters to the Editor
      • Subscribe to The Morning Buzz
      • Department of Student Media
    • Employment
    • PDF Archives
    • RSS Feeds
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube LinkedIn
    The Baylor LariatThe Baylor Lariat
    Subscribe to the Morning Buzz
    Thursday, July 3
    • News
      • State and National News
        • State
        • National
      • Politics
        • 2025 Inauguration Page
        • Election Page
      • Homecoming Page
      • Baylor News
      • Waco Updates
      • Campus and Waco Crime
    • Arts & Life
      • Wedding Edition 2025
      • What to Do in Waco
      • Campus Culture
      • Indy and Belle
      • Sing 2025
      • Leisure and Travel
        • Leisure
        • Travel
          • Baylor in Ireland
      • Student Spotlight
      • Local Scene
        • Small Businesses
        • Social Media
      • Arts and Entertainment
        • Art
        • Fashion
        • Food
        • Literature
        • Music
        • Film and Television
    • Opinion
      • Editorials
      • Points of View
      • Lariat Letters
    • Sports
      • March Madness 2025
      • Football
      • Basketball
        • Men’s Basketball
        • Women’s Basketball
      • Soccer
      • Baseball
      • Softball
      • Volleyball
      • Equestrian
      • Cross Country and Track & Field
      • Acrobatics & Tumbling
      • Tennis
      • Golf
      • Pro Sports
      • Sports Takes
      • Club Sports
    • Lariat TV News
    • Multimedia
      • Video Features
      • Podcasts
        • Don’t Feed the Bears
      • Slideshows
    • Advertising
    The Baylor Lariat
    Home»News»Baylor News

    ‘Where Dreams Die Hard’ offers inspiration

    Baylor LariatBy Baylor LariatOctober 24, 2012 Baylor News No Comments3 Mins Read
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    By David McLain
    Reporter

    Journalist and nationally recognized author Carlton Stowers spoke Tuesday to several Baylor classes, offering writing advice from his own experiences.

    The event was in conjunction with One Book, One Waco, a program of the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce in which a new book is selected each year that community members will read simultaneously.

    “One Book, One Waco is a community literacy program that started at Baylor that [the Waco] Chamber took over in 2008,” said Alexis Weaver, director of community development for the chamber.

    Stowers’ book “Where Dreams Die Hard” was selected for One Book, One Waco for fall 2012.

    For the book, Stowers spent nearly a whole school year with the community of Penelope to chronicle the life of a small town that thrives on six-man football.

    “It’s a book about a town not far from here, with a population of about 200,” Stowers said. “It’s the 16th-poorest school district in the state of Texas. It’s a great place.”

    The week after it was published, Stowers said, he received a phone call from the office of the New York Times book review.

    “It told a story that hadn’t been told,” Stowers said. “It told what rural America is today. I had no expectations other than ‘I want this to be recognized as a good book.’”

    Stower said he has been writing for a long time.

    “I have always seen my role as a writer as that of a matchmaker,” Stowers said. “What I like to do is to seek out, and if I get lucky, find that person, place, situation that really interests me.”

    Emotion is an important part of writing a successful story, Stowers said He told students that much of his success as a writer comes from the emotion that he puts into his works.

    “You’ll hear that it’s important as a reporter that you stay detached. That’s bull. Forget that,” Stowers said. “If you have not evoked some kind of emotional response from your reader, there is something missing in what you’ve done.”

    Robert Darden, associate professor in the department of journalism, public relations and new media, introduced Stowers to the students gathered to listen.

    “He’s written a lot of true crime and straight history, but he’s probably best known in this part of the country for his book on sports,” Darden said.

    Stowers is a former reporter for the Dallas Morning News and has written articles for a variety of publications, including Sports Illustrated, Time and People. Much of his time at the Dallas Morning News was spent covering crime and police stories. Stowers’ books have been awarded Best Fact Crime Book of the Year by The Mystery Writers of America and nominated for a Pulitzer.

    “Everyone who writes has to find his or her niche,” Stowers said. “Whatever it is that gets your motor running is what you should write about.”

    Carlton Stowers Where Dreams Die Hard
    Baylor Lariat

    Keep Reading

    Students react to emergency alert following campus lockdown

    Baylor shelter-in-place lifted following police pursuit of robbery suspects

    Baylor graduate charged after killing cats with pellet gun, hanging bodies over utility lines

    Baylor Football’s Alex Foster dies at 18

    Board of Regents confirms budget, renovations, new leadership in May meeting

    How facilities responds to storms, flooding in campus buildings

    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Recent Posts
    • Students react to emergency alert following campus lockdown June 27, 2025
    • Baylor shelter-in-place lifted following police pursuit of robbery suspects June 26, 2025
    About

    The award-winning student newspaper of Baylor University since 1900.

    Articles, photos, and other works by staff of The Baylor Lariat are Copyright © Baylor® University. All rights reserved.

    Subscribe to the Morning Buzz

    Get the latest Lariat News by just Clicking Subscribe!

    Follow the Live Coverage
    Tweets by @bulariat

    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube LinkedIn
    • Featured
    • News
    • Sports
    • Opinion
    • Arts and Life
    © 2025 ThemeSphere. Designed by ThemeSphere.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.