Four writers have pooled their talents and resources to produce a series of books by or about the Baby Boomer generation.

The first two books in the series have been published -- Silver Boomers and Freckles to Wrinkles. Both books are $14 in trade paperback edition. A third collection, This Path, is due later this year or early next year.

More than 60 writers contributed poems or short essays for each book. Many of the writers are from Texas but contributions were solicited nationally, even internationally, over the Internet.

The four editors and collaborators are Barbara Rollins, an Abilene judge; Ginny Greene, president of the Abilene Writers Guild; Becky Haigler, a retired Texas teacher living in Louisiana; and Kerin Riley-Bishop, a West Texas poet and photographer. All have pieces published in the books.

One of the unique aspects of the books is what the editors call the "crawl line" that runs across the bottom of every page.

In Silver Boomers, the crawl line is a random listing of images, memories, personalities, song titles, events, developments, trends, and even Burma Shave signs from the 1950s to the present. A few examples: Rock Around the Clock ... iron lung ... made in Japan... Black Panthers... Where Is Jimmy Hoffa?... Sputnik... Kermit the Frog... leisure suits.

In Freckles to Wrinkles, the crawl line is a series of quotations about youth and age, such as this one by John Grier: You're only young once, but you can be immature forever. And from Anna Magnani: Please don't retouch my wrinkles. It took me so long to earn them.

The editors formed their own publishing company, Silver Boomer Books, and you can read more about them online at http://SilverBoomerBooks.com.

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Noted Texas storyteller Rosanna Herndon is the author of The Line from Here to There: A Storyteller's Scottish West Texas (Texas Tech University Press, $24.95 hardcover).

Herndon, who has been active in Texas storytelling circles for more than a quarter of a century, was encouraged by her daughter to write down some of the stories that she's told to family members and regional audiences over the years.

That was the genesis of A Line from Here to There, a collection of 18 stories with titles such as Sam and the Apples, Safety Pins and Polka Dots, Seeing Ghosts and Richard the Spy.

"It is my hope," Herndon writes, "that these stories of my family will inspire you to collect stories of your own, so that the people and places of your ancestry, too, may be remembered and celebrated for generations to come."

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The West Texas Book & Music Festival, Sept. 22-27 in Abilene, features Texas authors and musicians talking about their books or singing their songs. This is the eighth year for the West Texas festival.

Featured authors include Elmer Kelton, Joaquin Jackson, Dixie Cash, Mike Cox, Kathy Patrick, Jodi Thomas and Don Graham, who will receive the A.C. Greene Literary Award presented each year to a distinguished Texas author.

For more information, go to www.abilenetx.com/apl and click on the festival logo.

Glenn Dromgoole writes about Texas books and authors. Contact him at g.dromgoole@suddenlink.net.