Who’s the host?

My name is Michael Sparkman.  My family roots run fairly deep in Texas.  One branch was in Montague County during the 1850s.  Other branches of the family tree arrived over the next fifty years.  One of the end results of all of these adventures is is me.  Denton, Cooke, and Montague Counties are where I grew up.

I've always had a great love for learning about the past.  A really special 7th grade Texas History teacher in Sanger, Texas made a lifelong impact on me.  I even have a copy of the Texas history textbook I had back then and I still get inspired when I open it and see the words, "History is adventure."  That passion, combined with the fact that I had many more excellent teachers from elementary to college insured that history a part of my life.

I received a bachelor's degree in history and economics from Austin College and a master's degree in history from the University of North Texas.  I thought about pursuing a doctorate, and for an assortment of reasons I decided to go a different route.  No matter where life took me in my various careers, history and a love for learning was always with me.

All of this leads to the present where I spend my days supporting my family through farm and ranch work.  I've never stopped studying history and I've worked on a variety of projects for myself and for a local municipality and a chamber of comerce.  Then I had an idea.  By creating the Texas History Lessons podcast I could continue my lifelong process of learning and relearning history and I could share the process with likeminded people that share in my interest and love of the past.  I benefited from studying under some of the most top notch historians around and I hope that I can share at least little of what I learned with you.