My book on Texas A&M traditions is due out in January 2027 from the Texas A&M University Press! Here’s my post on how the book has come together for publication: “Behind the scenes : My upcoming book on Aggie traditions.” Learn more and pre-order here.
A few samples of my work for The Association of Former Students (2014-present):
- What in the heck is ‘Hullabaloo, caneck, caneck’? (2026)
- How we got to ‘Here’: The history of Muster (2025)
- Aggie Ring Day: How a tradition was born (2025)
- Your guide to Texas A&M Corps uniforms (2025)
- 100 years of Elephant Walk – and every T-shirt design! (2025)
- Paris 1945: An Aggie’s account of Muster (2025)
- The History of Silver Taps (2024)
- Strength of the Aggie Ring: Why is it No. 1 in the country? (2024)
- 130 years of family feuding: Texas A&M/UT football rivalry returns (2024)
- Roads of Aggieland: Local street names record Texas A&M history (2024)
- Physics behind inverting Aggie Ring spin (2024)
- President Rudder’s bulldog now rests at his feet (2024)
- Maroon stripe on Aggieland Whataburger was first in country (2023)
- 3-ton Haynes Ring bears Class of ’46 Aggie’s name, year (2022)
- 50 years of Mount Aggie’s different locations on A&M campus (2022)
- How Aggie flyovers are timed to the second (2020)
- Jazz hit of 1939: “I’d Rather Be A Texas Aggie” (2020)
- The Association of Former Students: Connecting Aggies since 1879 (2019)
- Listen: Audio resurfaces of Gill telling 12th Man story (2019)
- How did Texas A&M settle on the term “former students”? (2018)
For the Austin American-Statesman, here are a few of my 2011-2013 PolitiFact Texas stories:
- Do 11 states have more people on welfare than working? (online) (archived)
- Has drilling hurt the endangered turtles on Padre Island? (online) (archived)
- Do scientists agree an epidemic will kill 80 to 90 million people worldwide? (online) (archived)
- Did the head of the IRS claim his employees don’t want Obamacare? (online) (archived)
- Did Sam Houston oppose slavery? (online) (archived)
I was a reporter, editor and designer at the Austin American-Statesman from 1995 to 2014; my LinkedIn profile has details. In September 2011 I joined the Statesman’s PolitiFact Texas team — you can see more of the stories I wrote or helped with at http://www.politifact.com/texas/staff/sue-owen/. Over the years, I worked in news, business, sports and features, largely on the copy desks doing everything from Friday night high school football madness to laying out business sections and a long stint as the features copy chief, plus working in the Williamson County bureau as an assistant metro editor.
I served as a 2007 Journalist-in-Residence at Texas A&M, my alma mater, and am a past president of A&M’s Former Journalism Students Association. To help A&M journalism students and graduates, I created the Aggie Journalists blog, where I posted news, photos, job openings and advice; the blog’s Facebook and LinkedIn groups connected some 400 members.
In March 2019, I was one of two primary organizers of The Battalion’s 125th Anniversary Gala, with more than 250 in attendance (tickets sold out three times!) spanning eight decades of Battalion staffers, and $16,000 raised to help the Batt.
My colleagues have been nice enough to write me a few recommendations on LinkedIn:
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