What Readers Are Saying
“Elaine puts as much effort into writing a story about a remarkable person like Houston newspaper columnist Leon Hale as she does a lowly donkey named Hansl. Both are equally enjoyable to read.”
“Elaine is a superb storyteller who writes from the heart. Through relating events that happened years ago, she helps us understand and appreciate the bravery, determination and foresight of our ancestors.”
New Stories I’ve Been Told- Volume 1
25 Portraits of Rural Texans
“Elaine Thomas’s incredibly charming Stories I’ve Been Told took me back to my 1950s childhood visiting relatives on their farms in Fayette County. With great affection and a rich abundance of personal anecdotes, her interviews capture rural and small-town life in the early and mid-twentieth century, when the Great Depression and World War II had a profound effect on that special neck of the woods.
“I was won over by these stories of good folks and their hardscrabble farming, military service and sacrifice, and their pursuit of proper schooling for children in challenging times.”
“This is a book to savor and admire.” – Thomas Zigal, award-winning author of Many Rivers to Cross
Do Memories Matter?

The story of telling stories
Have you ever wished you had asked someone in your family to share stories about their lives, but it’s now too late? I think we all share that regret. That’s why today is a great time to start writing down some of your memories.

What’s worth remembering
Years ago, the tradition of passing down stories in a family was very common, but that’s not the case today. Whether it’s because our lives are so busy and we spend less time together or we live greater distances apart, some of our cherished family stories are getting lost between generations. You can do something about that!