The 1985 Texas Longhorns football team represented the University of Texas at Austin in the 1985 NCAA Division I-A football season…..where the Longhorns finished the regular season with an 8–3 record….and went on to lose 24 – 16 to the Air Force Academy in the Bluebonnet Bowl on December 31, 1985 at Rice Stadium in Houston, TX in front of a crowd of 42,000 fans.
This video features the halftime show for the 1985 Bluebonnet Bowl….which included at look back at the Texas Longhorns season….with highlights from an 8 – 3 season….along with interviews with Texas Head Coack Fred Akers…..which is followed by a wonderful interview and piece with lo renowned author, James Michener…..a long time resident of Austin, Texas.
James Michener (February 3, 1907 – October 16, 1997) was an American author of more than 40 books….wherein most of which were fictional, lengthy family sagas covering the lives of many generations in particular geographic locales….and incorporating solid history. Michener had numerous bestsellers and works selected for Book of the Month Club….and was known for his meticulous research behind the books.
Michener’s novels include Tales of the South Pacific for which he won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1948….Hawaii, The Drifters, Centennial, The Source, The Fires of Spring, Chesapeake, Caribbean, Caravans, Alaska, Texas, Space, and Poland. His non-fiction works include Iberia, about his travels in Spain and Portugal….along with his memoir titled The World Is My Home…..and Sports in America…..whereas, Return to Paradise combines fictional short stories with Michener’s factual descriptions of the Pacific areas where they take place.
His first book was adapted as the popular Broadway musical South Pacific by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein….and later as eponymous feature films in 1958 and 2001….which added significantly to Michener’s financial success. He also wrote an analysis of the United States’ Electoral College system in a book which condemned it….entitled Presidential Lottery: The Reckless Gamble in Our Electoral System…..which was published in 1969 and republished in 2014 and 2016.
