The author and editor of eight books, Steven L. Davis has told the inside story of LSD guru Timothy Leary’s prison escape; he’s unveiled the far-right activists in Dallas who were violently opposed to John F. Kennedy’s presidency; and he’s also brought to life the rambunctious “literary outlaws” who helped turn Austin into a cultural mecca and made Texas (almost) chic.
Davis’s awards include the PEN Center Literary Award for Research Nonfiction. He’s also won the Writers League of Texas Award for Best Nonfiction. He’s been a finalist for top nonfiction prizes from the Texas Institute of Letters and the Philosophical Society of Texas. His books have made “Best of” lists at National Public Radio, Amazon, Kirkus, The New Republic, and The Daily Beast among others.
Davis is a Past President of the Texas Institute of Letters, a literary honor society founded in 1936 with an elected membership consisting of the state’s most respected writers. After his presidency, he was named a Fellow of the Texas Institute of Letters and is one of five living Fellows.
His latest book, co-written with Bill Minutaglio, is The Most Dangerous Man in America: Timothy Leary, Richard Nixon & the Hunt for the Fugitive King of LSD.
His previous books include Dallas 1963, winner of the PEN Center Literary Award for Research Nonfiction. He is also the author of the acclaimed books, J. Frank Dobie: A Liberated Mind and Texas Literary Outlaws: Six Writers in the Sixties and Beyond.
He is the longtime literary curator at the Wittliff Collections at Texas State University in San Marcos, which holds the literary papers of many major authors. He has developed and curated over 40 exhibitions at the Wittliff.
He’s served as a Series Editor for two university presses, where he has guided the publication of twenty books — including Hecho en Tejas, the first-ever anthology devoted to Texas Mexican literature. His edited volumes include The Essential J. Frank Dobie, Land of the Permanent Wave: An Edwin "Bud" Shrake Reader and (as co-editor) Lone Star Sleuths: Mystery-Detective Fiction in Texas.
Davis is a public speaker who has given talks across Texas and the nation. His writing has appeared in many publications, from The Daily Beast and Politico to the Southwestern Historical Quarterly and Texas Observer.
He is married to the artist and historian Georgia Ruiz Davis and lives with his family in the Texas Hill Country.