William Murchison thinks there's more to life than politics.

That's the title of his mold-breaking look at modern culture, with foreword by William F. Buckley Jr.

In There's More to Life Than Politics (Spence, 1999) Murchison smacks around the prevalent notion that politicians and power can fix everything in need of fixing. His own assumption is a quieter one -- that family, religion, memory, and the little things of life outweigh our usual anxieties. That assumption anchors all his widely published writings.

He's Radford Distinguished Professor of Journalism at Baylor University, in Waco, Texas, a post he assumed after retiring from nearly 40 years with Texas newspapers, including the Dallas Morning News, where he was associate editor and senior columnist, and won numerous prizes for writing.

A seventh-generation Texan, Murchison (commonly known as Bill) was graduated from the University of Texas in 1963 and received a  master of arts degree from Stanford University in 1964. Besides There's More to Life Than Politics, he has published Reclaiming Morality in America, with foreword by Bill Bennett. His most recent book, Mortal Follies: Episcopalians and the Crisis of Mainline Christianity, was published in 2009.

His writings are found in publications like the Wall Street Journal,  the Weekly Standard,  Human Life Review,  First Things, Touchstone and National Review. His syndicated column, distributed by Creators since the '90s, began in 1981.

Married for 32 years, the Murchisons live in Dallas, in a saltbox house designed (and partly executed) by Nancy Murchison. The once-a-week commute to Waco takes less than two hours. The Murchisons have two grown sons and one new daughter-in-law, as well as a taste for wine, opera  and Texas art. They participate actively in community affairs and in the life of their Episcopal parish and diocese.