John Graves was a celebrated Texas writer who wrote such well known books as Hard scrabble and Goodbye to a River. Graves was a native of Glen Rose and Somervell County. He was been a National Book Award finalist and received the 2004 Award for Excellence in Conservation from the Botanical Research Institute of Texas. Considered one of the greats in Texas literature, all of Graves’ books have dealt with Texas, the land and documenting its history.