Early life and education Roy Bedichek was born on June 27, 1878, in
Cass County, Illinois, to parents James Madison Bedichek and Lucretia Ellen Craven. The family relocated to
Falls County, Texas, in 1884. Bedichek attended country schools and the Bedichek Academy, founded by his father in
Eddy, Texas. He enrolled at the
University of Texas at Austin in February 1898. He received his
Bachelor of Science in 1903. In 1925, after returning as an employee of the University system, he earned his
Master of Arts.
Employment His first job after college was as a reporter for the
Fort Worth Record. Soon after, he was a high school teacher, first in
Houston, Texas, and then in
San Angelo, Texas. Next, he worked as the secretary of the Chamber of Commerce in
Deming, New Mexico. While in Deming, he was the Editor of the
Deming Headlight. By 1913, Bedichek had returned to Austin and became the secretary of the Young Men's Business League, which later was merged with the chamber of commerce. Subsequently, he was executive secretary of the Organization for Promoting Interest in Higher Education in Texas. Then, he served as city editor of the
San Antonio Express. Finally, in the fall of 1917, he began work in Austin with the
University Interscholastic League (UIL), which was then a part of the University of Texas Extension Bureau. He became the second Director of the league in 1922. He retired from this position in 1948.
Writing At the urging of his friends,
Walter Prescott Webb and
J. Frank Dobie, he took a leave of leave in February 1946 to write his first book,
Adventures with a Texas Naturalist. His second book and third books were awarded the Carr P. Collins Award for the best Texas book of the day by the
Texas Institute of Letters (TIL). His last book was released posthumously.
Friends While his friends J. Frank Dobie and Walter Prescott Webb are more renowned outside of Austin, in the community all three are respected equally. In the late 1960s to the early 1970s, the
Austin Independent School District opened Middle Schools (then known as Junior Highs) named after all three men. Also, in 1994 a sculpture, known as Philosopher's Rock, portraying Roy Bedichek, J. Frank Dobie and Walter Prescott Webb was installed at
Barton Springs Pool in Austin. The sculpture was fashioned in honor of their promotion of the preservation of Barton Springs. ==Media==