Charles E. Chupp

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Charles E. Chupp Author and artist 1929 - 2009

Overview

Chupp was most prominently an author who penned at least the 6 books listed below. He was born to Hugh Chupp and Thelma Bernice Brownlee Chupp on November 22, 1929 in De Leon Texas, where he grew up. He wrote about his childhood years there with his brothers, John Franklin and Benny Wayne, in his final book “Frankly Speaking” before his 2009 death at age 80. The only jobs in De Leon were raking peanuts for 50 cents per hour and the Army paid twice that amount so he enlisted in the Army on November 13, 1948 at the Abilene recruiting station. He was stationed at Fort Hood during the Korean War where he was an illustrator for the tank division’s newspaper, the jump start for his later accomplishments as an artist. He was reported in the late 80s to carry a business card claiming to be an “artist, author, blood donor, water witcher, and write in candidate”, the last probably accounting for his election as Mayor of De Leon where he returned after retirement and lived until his death.

Early life and influences

In 1950, still in the Army, he took a wife, Margaret, a child bride then only 15 when he was 20. After his discharge around 1953 he and his bride moved to Odessa where he took a job with Texas Electric Service Co in right of way acquisition. He would hold this job for the next 30 plus years until retirement in June 1985. That work kept him on the road much of the time all over the state where he met many of the Texas characters of whom he would later write.

He attended Odessa College at night studying World Literature on the GI bill, where one of his professors was Marjorie Morris. Mrs. Morris was the driving force in the late 50s to create a replica of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre on the Odessa College campus. She published a book of poetry called "Surf, Stars and Stones" which was illustrated by Chupp, and the proceeds of which were donated to the Globe. The first performance at the Globe was performed even before the theatres completion in celebration of Shakespeare’s birthday April 23, 1959. Richard Townley directed the comedy Taming of the Shrew performed together with a western parody of the famous work with actors in western wear written by Charles Chupp. It wasn’t Chupp’s first stage play. He had earlier written a cowboy version of "Frankenstein" for Mrs. Morris’s world literature class where she first recognized his talent. More than fifty years later, productions are still staged at this famous Odessa landmark.

He lived in Odessa for about 20 years before being transferred to Fort Worth. He and Margaret raised their children, and Charles practiced his art while on the road, usually pen and ink because the materials were easily transported. It was in Fort Worth in the mid-1970s before he got comfortable showing his art. He traveled to art shows in and around north central Texas and nearby states where he met other artists and his confidence grew. At one show in 1978 together with artist Harley Murray from nearby Granbury, they formed a group of professional artists they called the Texas Wild Bunch to organize their own art shows. They were soon joined by other well known Texas artists like Randy Souders, George Boutwell, George Hallmark, Russel Cushman and Charlie Boren, two of whom went on to be elected Texas State Artist by the legislature.

Art and authorship as second careers

Upon his retirement from the power company in 1985 Charles and Margret moved back to De Leon, remodeled an old house in which they built an art studio. Finally Charles felt he was a genuine artist declaring himself “full-fledged pedigreed artist full-time”. Still uncertain is the year in which he was first elected, but he was elected Mayor of De Leon without even being on the ballot. He claims to have won with the campaign slogan “You can do worse than voting for me; you always have.” The Texas Almanac’s 1994-1995 and 1996-1997 editions both indicate he was mayor of De Leon during those years.

He continued to show his work at Texas Wild Bunch shows and at his studio. Both Chupp and Murray were eventually named lifetime members. Chupp published a regional magazine “The Messenger", and a local newspaper "DeLeon’s Monitor", both of which earned him Texas Press Association awards. He also wrote a weekly column for the DeLeon free press called “I Got No Reason to Lie” some of which formed the basis for his first book of the same name published in 1991. Other books also found their origin in these columns. “The Nth Reader, Neglected Texas History” was not published until 2003 but he presented a talk by the same name to the Texas Folklore Society in 1991.

Books

Frankly Speaking, Of Texas in 1940 & one, 2008, ISBN 10: 1436331668, Xlibris Corporation

Waggin Tales, SeventySeven Years of Dogs, 2007, ISBN: 193464515X, Eakin Press

Coffee at la Don's, 2005, ISBN: 1571685243, Eakin Press

The Nth Reader, Neglected Texas History, 2003, ISBN: 1556229445, Republic of Texas Press

For Lands Sake, 2001, ISBN-10: 1571689559, Eakin Press

I Got No Reason to Lie, 1990, Nortex Press

References

• Kestner, Laura (December 24, 2009). "Chupp Reaches Quittin' Place". De Leon Free Press. 119 (26). Retrieved September 11, 2018.
• Dolan, George (March 18, 1988). "These artists get show on road". Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
• Smith, Tumbleweed (November 13, 2002). "De Leon's famous artist-in-residence". The Gatesville Messenger.
• Osborn, Skye (November 3, 1985). "Artist to auction watercolor". The Odessa American.

Further Reading

• Chupp, Charles. "I got no reason to lie". Retrieved September 12, 2018. see "Archive"

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