Larry J. Sechrest

Sechrest died from heart failure on October 30, 2008. He was survived by his wife and by two children from an earlier marriage.

In 2004, Sechrest created controversy with an article he wrote for Liberty magazine. In the article, titled "A Strange Little Town in Texas", he described the town of Alpine, Texas, where Sul Ross State is located. He praised its weather, open spaces, and low crime rate, but said the residents were "stupid" and "inbred", dubbing the area "the proud home of some of the dumbest clods on the planet." He extended this critique to his employer, the university, declaring that its graduates were "still operating at about a tenth-grade level" and only got degrees "via the malfeasance of professors and administrators." When copies of the article circulated around town, the reaction was mostly hostile. He received death threats and obscene messages, and his property was vandalized. The president of Sul Ross State disavowed Sechrest's views, but could not take any formal action against him since Sechrest had tenure. Students threatened to boycott his classes. The town's mayor responded by declaring a "We Love Alpine Week" with a rally and parade. The controversy eventually tapered off and Sechrest continued teaching at the university.

After working as an instructor at the University of Texas at Arlington, Sechrest joined the faculty of Sul Ross State University in 1990. In 1991, he became director of its Free Enterprise Institute. In 1993, his book Free Banking: Theory, History, and a Laissez-Faire Model was published by Quorum Books. He became a full professor in 2002.

Larry James Sechrest (/ˈsiːkrɛst/; October 12, 1946 – October 30, 2008) was an American economist who advocated the ideas of the Austrian School. He was a professor of economics at Sul Ross State University and was director of the university's Free Enterprise Institute.

Sechrest was born on October 12, 1946, in Detroit, Michigan. At the age of 11 he moved with his family to Arlington, Texas. He graduated from Grand Prairie High School, and then received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1968. He worked for many years in the hotel business, but eventually returned to the university to obtain his master's degree in 1985 and his Ph.D. 1990.