A SMILE FROM KATIE HATTAN was Leon Hale’s first collection of columns from The Houston Post. Its 155 individual stories, selected by the author, showcase the qualities that made Hale beloved for six decades as a Houston newspaper columnist. 

In this collection Hale tells the story of Texas as it was being lived by the people he encountered in the cafes, country stores, and crossroads of the state. His writing evokes smiles, the occasional tear, a conviction of fellow feeling—always wrapped in something unexpected yet deeply human. And, often, you’ll laugh out loud. 

Maybe that’s why, although the people he wrote about are mostly gone, his work feels largely timeless. After all, a small-town, rural world produced so many of us and our families. And, now, draws us back in life, or in print (and eBook), as cities become more stressful and crowded.  

This volume initiates Winedale Publishing’s forthcoming reprint series of the author’s books that have never before appeared in paperback or eBook. A SMILE FROM KATIE HATTAN is available through any bookstore, as well as online, and from Texas A&M University Press. Hale was the author of eleven other books. He died in 2021.