Everything’s Bigger in Texas: The Life and Times of Kinky Friedman

Kinky Friedman is a true renaissance man. He picketed segregated businesses in college and served in the Peace Corps in Borneo. A singer/songwriter/satirist who called his country band the Texas Jewboys, he was the first full-blooded Jew to play the Grand Ole Opry, and put on the only show in Austin City Limits history deemed too offensive to air. He performed with Bob Dylan, traveled with Led Zeppelin on its private plane, and partied with John Belushi, Robin Williams, Don Imus, Lowell George, Levon Helm, Iggy Pop, Mike Bloomfield, and Dennis Hopper. When his cocaine habit almost killed him, he returned to Texas and wrote 30 books, including 18 detective novels, as well as memoirs with Willie Nelson and Billy Bob Thornton. Bill Clinton and George W. Bush invited him to the White House. Former Texas governor Ann Richards served on his advisory board when he cofounded Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch, and Dwight Yoakam headlined a fund raiser. More than 547,000 Texans voted for him when he ran for governor in 2006. Friends Willie Nelson, Jimmy Buffet, and Lyle Lovett helped with fund raisers. Currently in his 70s, the Kinkster continues to write songs, record CDs, and perform for enthusiastic fans throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia.