In a few weeks, this newspaper’s editorial board will sit down with sandwiches, lock the door and take up our autumn ritual of picking a Dallas Morning News Texan of the Year.
Our readers are important to that ritual.
Readers help us compile a long list of nominees that we use to winnow down to a short list of contenders for debate.
Much of that short list typically consists of pretty obvious possibilities — people whose exploits dominated the news of the year. They are the headline-makers, outsize heroes or goats, often people whose names became familiar in your household and mine.
The longer list is the more interesting one. We get these names from all over Texas, from readers and emailers who know someone they’re burning to bring to our attention.
Some nominees make outsize contributions despite their obscurity, and we’re glad to know about them. Some nominees don’t have big names but tell us what our readers are thinking about.
One entry on last year’s list, for example, was “the drought.” Another was “workers busting their butts rebuilding LBJ.” Another was “Texans who put up with a lot but keep on keepin’ on.”
It wouldn’t surprise me to see these same nominations again this year.
People nominated their preachers, favorite actors and quarterbacks. They told us who they were grateful for, like electric company crews and postal carriers who worked despite the ice storm. Readers told us about people with big hearts whose impact through charities makes you want to whip out your checkbook. Readers told us about church leaders and special ways they touch people.
Military personnel usually show up on our nominations list, because readers are grateful. Twice, the military has been represented as Texan of the Year. Once it was the Heroes of Fort Hood, after the massacre at the base and sacrifices at the height of the Iraq war. The second time it was Adm. Bill McRaven, who directed the Navy SEALs raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
Both easily measured up against our criterion of having “uncommon impact” over the year.
If you’re familiar with the TOY feature, you know that we have one Texan of the Year, plus nine finalists. We publish individual editorials over two weeks highlighting those finalists, followed by a TOY essay on the cover of the Points section on the last Sunday of the year.
It always delights me to see obscure or surprise picks make our list of finalists so we can introduce readers to people they otherwise wouldn’t know about.
We’ve had medical researchers and people who fight injustice. We’ve had activists against such things as distracted driving and bullying and for such things as pollution-free neighborhoods.
Readers usually let us know about people who make a big difference in public education, and some of them have ended up as TOY finalists. Once it was a high school coach whose football team buoyed the spirits of his Gulf Coast community after it was ravaged by Hurricane Ike. Last year, it was a group of moms who lobbied like crazy in Austin for a rollback in standardized tests in public schools. This determined group of citizen-lobbyists got their way in the Capitol and ended up as TOY finalists.
You know, looking at the list of nominees we have so far this year, I’d say we’re light in the education category. Are there professors or teachers we should know about? Principals or superintendents? How have they made a difference in 2014?
Let us know, in whatever category you know someone who’s an impact player in Texas.
Rodger Jones is a Dallas Morning News editorial board member.
Reach him at rmjones@dallasnews.com.
Who has had the biggest impact in 2014?
“A Texan (or Texans) who has had uncommon impact, either positive or negative, over the past year”
Tell us who fits that definition for the annual Dallas Morning News Texan of the Year. Send us your nominations by the Sunday after Thanksgiving.
On the Web:
www.dallasnews.com/NominateTOY
Email:
Phone:
214-977-8205
Mail:
Texan of the Year
Editorial Board
The Dallas Morning News
P.O. Box 655237
Dallas, Texas 75265
