Life & Arts

Texas Book Festival 2013

More than 200 authors and about 40,000 book fans will descend on the Texas Capitol October 26-27 for the 2013 Texas Book Festival. Throughout the year KUT News speaks with authors about their lives and their work. To celebrate the upcoming festival, we have collected some of those interviews here. From 9-11 to Scientology to the Kennedy assassination, it's a diverse set of works from a fascinating group of authors.

Interview: The White House Photographer Inside the Bush Presidency on Sept. 11

KUT 90.5 | By David Brown

Published September 11, 2013 at 6:35 AM CDT

1 of 5

Bush inside a Sarasota, Fla. classroom the morning of Sept. 11. “He picked up a notepad and started to collect his thoughts for his first statement,” Draper says.";s:

Eric Draper, White House

2 of 5

Bush on the phone the morning of Sept. 11. Draper recalls “seeing the expression on the president’s face change and knowing that something really big was happening.” ";s:3:

Eric Draper, White House

3 of 5

Draper recalls being aboard Air Force One on Sept. 11. “Out of the left side of the plane you can see the fighter jets and out of the right side of the plane you can see the plume of smoke still rising from the Pentagon.”";s:

Eric Draper, White House

4 of 5

George W. Bush at the former site of the World Trade Center. Draper’s work on Sept. 11 “amounted to suppressing a lot of my feelings.”";s:3:

Eric Draper, White House

5 of 5

A photo of George W. Bush from Draper's book "Front Row Seat." Draper served as White House photographer during the Bush presidency.

Eric Draper, White House

On Sept. 11, 2001, Eric Draper presumed the morning trip to Florida would be a routine affair. Or, at least as routine as anything ever can be when you’re traveling with the President of the United States.

Draper was, at the time, the official White House photographer. On the schedule that day: a visit to a Sarasota classroom to promote an education program. But as the events of the morning unfolded, Eric Draper witnessed history as few others could have.

Draper is a longtime photojournalist. His book, "Front Row Seat," includes a chapter on 9/11 and its aftermath.

“For me, it amounted to suppressing a lot of my feelings in order to do my job of following the president and actually capturing his feelings,” Draper said as he described how he handled working that day. “I had to put my feelings aside, and luckily I had the camera as a distraction.”

Listen to KUT's interview with Draper in the Soundcloud player above, and view his images in the slideshow player at the top of this page.