Davy Crockett: My Own Story

Even as a child, Davy Crockett "always delighted to be in the very thickest of danger." Better known to us as "King of the Wild Frontier," Davy Crockett was not only a frontiersman but also a politician who became a celebrity and a folk hero during his lifetime. Here, in his own inimitable style, he describes his earliest days in Tennessee, his two marriages, his career as an Indian fighter, his bear hunts, and his electioneering. His reputation as a "b'ar" hunter sent him to Congress with an eye on the White House; but at the Alamo, he would cap off a legend that still holds Americans in its spell.

Legendary frontiersman Davy Crockett uses the master storytelling abilities that made him a dynamic political campaigner to record this narrative of his life.

David Crockett (1786–1836) was a frontiersman and U.S. representative, born near present-day Rogersville, Tennessee. He was a poor farmer but an excellent hunter and scout, and served under General Andrew Jackson in the Creek War (1813–14). He was a justice of the peace and a Tennessee legislator, and he served in the U.S. House of Representatives (Democrat, Tennessee, 1827–31; Whig, Tennessee, 1833–35). With little formal education, Crockett was not especially well-informed on public issues, and he was always ready to take a break from public service to go bear hunting. He made a celebrated tour of the major Northern cities in 1834 and, failing in his re-election effort that year, went to Texas to aid the Anglo-Americans in their struggle for independence. He was killed while defending the Alamo. Jonathan Reese was trained from an early age in music and theater. Of his many credits he was proudest of being a founding memberof Berkeley's Straw Hat review. Formidably intelligent, deeply sympathetic, and highly sensitive to his material, he was perfectly suited for literary narration. His many audiobooks include The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer, Just as I Am by Billy Graham, Travels in Alaska by John Muir, and Without a Hero by T. Coraghessan Boyle. A native Californian, Reese died in San Francisco in 1999.