Tom Lea’s other books include both fiction (The Wonderful Country, The Primal Yoke, and The Hands of Cantú) and nonfiction (The King Ranch, A Picture Gallery, and In the Crucible of the Sun). He also served as a correspondent for Life magazine in the South Pacific during World War II. At the end of his life, he became friends with soon-to-be President George W. Bush, who used Lea’s sunrise side of the mountain image in his acceptance speech at the 2000 Republican National Convention.