New article out there ..
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Bush recalls fondness for West Texas ‘home
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posted: Sunday, March 11, 2012 8:10 pm | Updated: 8:59 pm, Mon Mar 12, 2012.
Jimmy Patterson
Fewer than 50 towns in America can claim to be the hometown of a president. That Midland is one of those is just one of the many things that sets it apart.
Some people may quibble over whether Midland was or wasn’t the hometown of George W. Bush — he was actually born in New Haven, Conn. But no one would argue that the president spent formative years of his life here — years that Bush readily admits shaped his character.
Bush has said West Texas is his home, and during two rallies that bookended his presidency, more than 100,000 people witnessed the president say on those two occasions: “This is my home.”
In a recent interview, the former president spoke fondly of his boyhood in Midland:
“I remember well riding my bicycle from our house on Ohio Street to Sam Houston Elementary School,” Bush said. “I also remember our little dog chasing me to school, and me having to tell the teacher I’d be right back after I took the dog back home. And even though I’d miss the opening bell, the teacher was very sympathetic of a young lad having to return his dog.”
Bush, the former principal owner of the Texas Rangers, also spoke of his lifelong affinity for baseball.
“I remember a lot of outdoor activities in Midland, particularly baseball,” he said. “When I got older — older being 11 or 12 — we moved to the outskirts of town on Sentinel Drive. We had a buffalo wallow in the back of the house that became a baseball park. I used to spend hours playing baseball with my pals, as well as little league ball.”
Jimmy Patterson interviewed George W. Bush for his book, “A History of Character: The Story of Midland, Texas,” which will be published in early 2013.
Read more: Bush recalls fondness for West Texas ‘home’ - Mywesttexas.com: Top Stories http://www.mywesttexas.com/top_stories/article_ec3e6b60-a7ee-5e28-8ca2-0dbda4914895.html#ixzz1p7o3qsGH
George W. poses with his family in this 1959 photo, our earliest photo of the future president during his youth in Midland. Also pictured, top row: father George H.W. Bush, and mother Barbara (who was pregnant with sister W.'s sister Dorothy at the time). In front, siblings Jeb, Neil and Marvin.