This month, Phil Collins — he of Genesis and “Sussudio” — received an honorary doctor of history degree from McMurry University in Abilene.
As an Abilenian born and raised, here’s what first struck me when I read about Collins’ honorary degree in the Abilene Reporter-News: McMurry gives honorary doctorates?
Then, of course, I thought, Phil Collins? In Abilene?
You wouldn’t necessarily know it by visiting Abilene or even living there, but Abilene is a college town. It’s the home of three church-affiliated universities — affiliations that explain why you don’t think of Abilene as a college town. There’s Abilene Christian University, affiliated with the Churches of Christ and the largest of the three Abilene colleges with around 4,700 students; there’s Baptist-affiliated Hardin-Simmons, with about 2,350 students; and there’s McMurry, the Methodist runt of the litter with only about 1,400 students.
The reason McMurry gave Collins an honorary degree to go with his seven Grammys and Academy Award — and this is the who knew? that counts — is because of his general interest in Texas history, his specific interest in the Alamo and the Texas Revolution, and his support for preserving the state’s history.
The result of all this interest is a book published in March titled “The Alamo and Beyond: A Collector’s Journey,” which Collins put together with the help of McMurry history professors Donald Frazier and Stephen Hardin.
The oversized, 400-page book documents Collins’ extensive collection of Texas artifacts. It’s published by State House Press, a small publisher of Texana located in Buffalo Gap a dozen miles south of Abilene, and isn’t cheap — $120 (though you can buy it online for $75). Austin’s Ben Powell was the book’s photographer.
Sales of the book at a May 11 book signing went to fund history scholarships at McMurry. Sales elsewhere — Collins also visited Dallas, San Antonio and Houston as part of a small book tour — helped out the Texas State Historical Society.