Tim Madigan joined the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in the summer of 1984, a cub reporter from a small town in the Upper Midwest. In the thirty years to follow, he would become one of the most decorated Texas newspaper journalists of his generation, three times named the state's Reporter of the Year. Now, for the first time, several of the stories that earned him that recognition, and a large and loyal following of newspaper readers, are collected in one place. A Life Among Humans begins with a heart wrenching scene--a beloved pediatric neuro-surgeon trying to allay the fears of the mother of one of his young patients. It ends with a remarkable act of kindness between strangers in a Fort Worth park. In between are the best and most dramatic examples of Madigan's narrative non-fiction; personal essays about his life as a husband, father and man; and memories of friends that included children's television icon Fred Rogers and legendary pianist Van Cliburn. The assembled pieces reflect the breath of Madigan's work, but share an overarching element. They are, as one journalism contest judge said, "drawn from the mother lode of human emotion."