MEET JENNA MCEACHerN
Author.
Wife, mom, auntie.
Longhorn.
Proud Texan.
Christ Follower.
To get to know her better, read her story below.
Jenna McEachern was born in 1954 in Denton, Texas, the middle child and the only girl sandwiched between two brothers. Her mother was both a stay-at-home mom and a school teacher; her dad was a successful high school football coach. She was reared in small towns in south Texas, so despite living in Austin now for fifty years, she is still a small town girl.
She moved to Austin in 1972 to attend The University of Texas, and fulfilled a childhood dream by being elected cheerleader during her sophomore and junior years. During that time she worked for the men’s Sports Information Department at Texas, developing editing skills, keeping her in the middle of the athletics scene, and forming lifelong friendships with journalists who encouraged her writing career.
Jenna is the co-editor of What It Means to be a Longhorn, author of 100 Things Longhorn Fans Should Know and Do Before they Die, and DKR: The Royal Scrapbook. She’s currently working on Just For Three Months, a memoir of her white family of four becoming a mixed-race family of five.
She and her husband, Randy, a former Longhorn quarterback, live in Austin and have three adult children, Bailey, Hays, and Lester.
early life
What an idyllic childhood I had. My young, beautiful parents had very little money, but they were devoted to one another—and to their three children. Long Sunday rides, vacations taken in the un-airconditioned 1953 Buick, Mother and Daddy singing in the front seat, church every Sunday….a beautiful life.
COLLEGE YEARS
Such fun. Too much fun. Started out on the Dean’s List, but by the time I was a junior, I was on Scho-Pro.
FAMILY
Quite simply, there are no finer people on earth, no one funnier, no one I’d rather spend my time with.
TRAVEL
Our family vacations consisted of car trips centered around new experiences, history, and frugality, often staying in places offering free lodging if one were willing to tour the property. Randy and I have made family travel a priority, blessedly with a slight upgrade.
