Ector -- The library at Ector High School has a new book on its shelves and this one was written by a very special author: an alumnus of Ector High School.
It was the spring of 1958. A 14-year-old Bobby Fisher had just won the United States Chess Championship, Castro's revolutionary army had Havana surrounded and the Beatles were still known as The Quarrymen.
In Fannin County, Barbara Lambert was graduating from Ector High School. Little did she know that 54 years later, after successful careers as a legal clerk and later a nurse, Barbara Lambert Holman Chandler would be back at Ector High School to tell about her book...or that her former high school basketball coach would be there to greet her.
Even the title -- So You Are a Lambert -- hints at the wit in this historical account of the Lambert family.
"The reason I wrote this book was for my family, so they wouldn't forget their history," Barbara explained.
"You get individual attention here," she said, fondly recalling her years at Ector High School.
Barbara described Leonard Gerner as a "most beloved teacher" who also made athletics available to all students.
"He never turned any kid down," remarked Barbara. "Every kid had a chance to play."
Mr. Gerner was a teacher and coach at Ector High School from 1949 until 1960.
Two other teachers who made a dramatic impact on a young Barbara Lambert as she sat at her desk in Ector High School were history teacher Elsie Smith and English teacher Jeannie Malone.
And how would Mrs. Malone grade her former student's book?
"If she saw my book right now, there'd be red marks all through it," Barbara said with a laugh.
In So You Are a Lambert, Barbara details how she traced her family history back to Jeremiah Lambert, born 1642 in Essex County, England. The family's connection to the U.S. began with Thomas Lambert, born 1698 in England, because three of Thomas's sons made their passage to America on a convict ship as a result of petty theft. Barbara's first ancestor to be born in America was John Lambert, born 1768 in Virginia.
Barbara told the attentive students that when her great-grandfather moved to Texas, in the wagon was a set of boards he had cut to be coffin planks.
"I found out the ironing board I used for 14 years was actually made out of those coffin planks," said Barbara.
One grandfather arrived in Ector in 1935 where he leased a house and farm.
"He stayed there 45 years and it was all done on a handshake," says Barbara. "The house was built before the war, but it looked like it had been through a war. I loved that big, old house."
She also has fond memories of a grandmother who lost her husband and went on to farm 201 acres with a pair of mules. Later on in life, that same grandmother would always bring her funeral dress during extended visits with relatives.
Along with the memories of a 1958 graduate of Ector High School, there was also plenty of advice for future graduates.
"Don't lose sight of your dreams," advised Barbara, "and don't get stuck in a job you don't like."
"You'll find independence comes at a cost," predicted Barbara. "There will be decisions to make that will affect the rest of your life."
She extolled the virtue of having family history documented so that it can be cherished over the years and then handed down to the next generation.
Sometimes Barbara says her husband jokes that he keeps catching her reading her own book.
"No," Barbara replies, "I'm hearing Grandma's voice."
