# Hondo Crouch > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Hondo_Crouch > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Hondo_Crouch.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hondo_Crouch > Source revision: 1329211154 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American folklorist}} '''John Russell "Hondo" Crouch''' ([pen name](/source/pen_name) '''Peter Cedarstacker'''; December 4, 1916– September 27, 1976) was a [Texas](/source/Texas) rancher-folklorist-humorist and one of the owners who founded and made famous the town of [Luckenbach, Texas](/source/Luckenbach%2C_Texas). == Early life == Crouch was born in [Hondo, Texas](/source/Hondo%2C_Texas) to Ione and Harry Crouch. A self-taught [swimmer](/source/Swimming_(sport)), Hondo was named an all-American swimmer at the [University of Texas](/source/University_of_Texas) (UT) and in 1939, was elected captain of the swimming team.Hondo Crouch. The Texas Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame.https://www.tsdhof.org/hondo-crouch He attended UT until 1941, when he graduated with a bachelor's degree in physical education. He was a swimming coach at various Texas children's camps from the 1930s until the 1970s. In 1964, he was president of the Hall of Fame for UT athletes. In 1975, he played a major role in persuading the university to build the [Texas Swimming Center](/source/Lee_and_Joe_Jamail_Texas_Swimming_Center). == Career == Using the pen name Peter Cedarstacker, Crouch wrote hundreds of "Cedar Creek Clippings" for ''[The Comfort News](/source/The_Comfort_News)''. His characters in the mythical town of Cedar Creek presented satirical takes on politics, government, ecology, deer hunters, social life, everyday country problems and small town celebrations.Part of The Wittliff Collections Repository. Texas State University. https://archivesspace.library.txstate.edu/repositories/4/archival_objects/138340 Crouch took part in a Folklife Festival for Texas at the [Smithsonian Institution](/source/Smithsonian_Institution) in 1964. That year the ''[Saturday Evening Post](/source/Saturday_Evening_Post)'' ran a photograph of Crouch with a story called “LBJ Country.”Patterson, Becky Crouch. "Crouch, John Russell [Hondo]". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved May 28, 2024. In 1971, he, his wife, and actor Guich Koock bought the town of Luckenbach,Fredericksburg Funeral Home. Helen "Shatzie" Crouch. https://www.fredericksburg-funerals.com/obituaries/print?o_id=7287236 a small community in the [Texas Hill Country](/source/Texas_Hill_Country) that was first established as an Indian trading post by Albert Luckenbach, a German immigrant, in 1849.Guich Koock. Internet Movie Database. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0465515/Guich Koock. Texas Archive of the Moving Image. https://texasarchive.org/taxonomy/term/115689 The town included a post office, general store, bar, and dance hall.John Davidson. '“The Man Who Dreamed Up Luckenbach”’’ [Texas Monthly](/source/Texas_Monthly), published 1984–07. Retrieved 2016-07-19. https://www.texasmonthly.com/travel/the-man-who-dreamed-up-luckenbach/ Acting as the town's mock mayor, he established a series of farcical celebrations, including the Luckenbach World's Fair, the first Texas "women only" chili cook-off, and the Return of the Mud Daubers. It was a well-known gathering space for songwriters, musicians, and artists in central Texas.Jason Dean Mellard. 2009. “Cosmic Cowboys, Armadillos, and Outlaws: The Cultural Politics of Texan Identity in the 1970s.” PhD Dissertation, University of Texas. [see esp. p 201] Crouch was interviewed on [Our Fellow Americans](/source/Our_Fellow_Americans), a Canadian documentary television miniseries which aired on [CBC Television](/source/CBC_Television) in 1976. The eight-episode series featured interviews with various people in the United States in recognition of that nation's bicentennial. Crouch received coverage for urging the Non-Buy Centennial, to protest the commercialization of the bicentennial of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. == Personal life == He was married to Helen Ruth "Shatzie" Stieler. They had four children. In 1979, his daughter Becky Crouch Patterson published his biography called ''Hondo, My Father''.Becky Crouch Patterson. ''Hondo, My Father.'' 1979. Austin, Tex.: Shoal Creek Publishers. https://archive.org/details/hondomyfather0000patt Their daughter Cris and her husband established a restaurant and live music hall in Fredericksburg, Hondo's on Main, in a historic stone building that once produced and housed plows, wagons, and guns.Elaine Acker. From Plows to Plates: The Story of Hondo's on Main. The Cookbook Creative. Apr 18, 2024. https://www.thecookbookcreative.com/blog/hondos-on-mainFredericksburg Texas Online. https://www.fredericksburgtexas-online.com/plan-your-trip/hondos-on-main-restaurant/ Crouch died of a heart attack in 1976.Milestones, Oct. 11, 1976. ''Time Magazine.'' https://time.com/archive/6879784/milestones-oct-11-1976/ == References == {{reflist}} == External links == * https://www.hondosonmain.com/hondocrouch * Hondo Crouch: Mayor of Luckenbach (1977) (documentary) Texas Archive of the Moving Image. https://texasarchive.org/2019_00972 {{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Crouch, Hondo}} Category:1916 births Category:1976 deaths Category:Texas Longhorns men's swimmers Category:American swimming coaches Category:Sportspeople from Texas Category:People from the Texas Hill Country Category:University of Texas at Austin alumni --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Hondo Crouch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hondo_Crouch) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hondo_Crouch?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.