THE FACE OF TEXAS Ila Johnston's name doesn't appear in Texas history books. You won't read about her in Who's Who. But just about everyone knows her in Spur, TX (pop. 1,119), and most every adult sat in her classroom--and learned something--once upon a time. Many of them would not have attended college had it not been for her "Just try it for one year," she urged them, and most did, many of them earning degrees. Johnston, 94, who taught at Spur High School for 33 years, is one of many extraordinary characters in The Face of Texas. She joins Lady Bird Johnson, football legend Earl Campbell and a host of other subjects--both famous and unknown, but equally significant--in the book. The Face of Texas is a portrait of the state of Texas through portraits of its people. Photographer Michael O'Brien has worked as a freelance magazine photographer for two decades, photographing people for such magazines as Texas Monthly, the New York Times Sunday Magazine, National Geographic, Life, Esquire and Vanity Fair. He has photographed a fascinating and diverse array of native and adoptive Texans, ranging from the renowned, like Governor George Bush and singer/songwriter Willie Nelson, to the obscure, like artist Ran Horn, the "Van Gogh" of tiny Van Horn, TX, and Shannon Perry, the first "Gatorfest Queen," of Anahuac, TX. O'Brien has collected the best of these portraits into a book that celebrates the individuality and independent spirit of Texas through its people--from powerful, big-city movers to unique, small-town characters. Click the thumbnail images above to view excerpts from the book.