Dancing Naked

Book excerpt: Almost every journalist asks the subjects of profiles to tell the truth. Only Mary Rogers requires them to “dance naked.” To Rogers, an award-winning columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, that term signifies a pact between the writer, the subject and the reader: only when stories eliminate artifice and express honest beliefs and emotions can they merit attention and trust. It’s a phrase and philosophy unique to Rogers, and as a result the stories in Dancing Naked: Memorable Encounters with Unforgettable Texans are unique, too. You’ve never read anything like them, and besides making you think, Rogers’ lyrical writing style and memorable insights into the traumas and triumphs of the human spirit will make you feel. Published in the Star-Telegram from 1991 through 2007, Dancing Naked presents the compelling stories of a variety of Texans (a few famous and all unforgettable) and adds a half-dozen essays from Rogers about her own colorful life. It’s a collection that will touch and inspire every reader, which is what fine writing is supposed to accomplish.